Date of Graduation
2007
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MA
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
History
Committee Chair
Elizabeth Fones-Wolf
Committee Member
Ken Fones-Wolf
Committee Member
Jack Hammersmith
Abstract
In the years following World War II, the United States faced a new enemy in the Soviet Union. Not only was America combating the threat of Soviet expansion in areas across the globe, it experienced a heightened sense of insecurity at home, popularly known as the Second Red Scare. Many scholars have argued that the climate of the anticommunist hysteria placed many liberal politicians on the defensive, forcing them to either abandon their principles or face defeat at the ballot box. In looking at the postwar career of Harley Kilgore, a liberal Congressional leader from West Virginia, this thesis argues that liberalism could survive the Second Red Scare. A close examination of Kilgore’s involvement in the passage of the Internal Security Act of 1950, as well as his bid for reelection in 1952, shows that politicians could attempt to combats the threat of communism while still maintaining their liberal ideals.
Recommended Citation
Smith, James H., "Surviving the Second Red Scare: Senator Harley Kilgore and the issue of communism in postwar American politics." (2007). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 11033.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/11033