Clay Risen

Julius Rosenberg and his circle did steal atomic secrets and give them to the Soviet Union. We do know that the Communist Party of the United States facilitated a lot of this. But what we also know is that there weren't many. Aside from Rosenberg, they didn't have much impact. And most importantly, by the end of World War II, The Soviets had largely dismantled their espionage efforts.

They didn't think they were worth it. They weren't happy with the results. They later restarted them, of course. But what's important is during the Red Scare, there wasn't really espionage going on. And yet that's what everyone was afraid of. And so after that, for McCarthy to come along and say, well, I have evidence of spies and

They didn't think they were worth it. They weren't happy with the results. They later restarted them, of course. But what's important is during the Red Scare, there wasn't really espionage going on. And yet that's what everyone was afraid of. And so after that, for McCarthy to come along and say, well, I have evidence of spies and

They didn't think they were worth it. They weren't happy with the results. They later restarted them, of course. But what's important is during the Red Scare, there wasn't really espionage going on. And yet that's what everyone was afraid of. And so after that, for McCarthy to come along and say, well, I have evidence of spies and

It was hard, at least initially, for anyone to say he's completely wrong because, hey, there's evidence that there were spies. But you're right that his ultimately, as crazy as he was in terms of just, not clinically crazy, but his just shoot from the hip willingness to say anything, his manipulation, his understanding of how the media worked and his manipulation of the media was insane.

It was hard, at least initially, for anyone to say he's completely wrong because, hey, there's evidence that there were spies. But you're right that his ultimately, as crazy as he was in terms of just, not clinically crazy, but his just shoot from the hip willingness to say anything, his manipulation, his understanding of how the media worked and his manipulation of the media was insane.

It was hard, at least initially, for anyone to say he's completely wrong because, hey, there's evidence that there were spies. But you're right that his ultimately, as crazy as he was in terms of just, not clinically crazy, but his just shoot from the hip willingness to say anything, his manipulation, his understanding of how the media worked and his manipulation of the media was insane.

was genius. And, you know, just for example, one thing he would do would be to wait until right before deadlines, right before you had to file a story. And this is back when there was only print, so there was no option other than you've got to get this story in. And he would identify the thirstiest, most driven reporters who, you know, all they wanted was that, to get in that deadline.

was genius. And, you know, just for example, one thing he would do would be to wait until right before deadlines, right before you had to file a story. And this is back when there was only print, so there was no option other than you've got to get this story in. And he would identify the thirstiest, most driven reporters who, you know, all they wanted was that, to get in that deadline.

was genius. And, you know, just for example, one thing he would do would be to wait until right before deadlines, right before you had to file a story. And this is back when there was only print, so there was no option other than you've got to get this story in. And he would identify the thirstiest, most driven reporters who, you know, all they wanted was that, to get in that deadline.

Give me the scoop. Yeah, get that scoop. And he would tell them, you know, just the most outlandish thing, that they didn't have time to fact check, that they couldn't start to call around and verify. And they were faced with choice. Do I print this scoop and hope that it's true? Or do I lose this scoop, someone else gets it, and I look bad? More often than not, they went with the scoop.

Give me the scoop. Yeah, get that scoop. And he would tell them, you know, just the most outlandish thing, that they didn't have time to fact check, that they couldn't start to call around and verify. And they were faced with choice. Do I print this scoop and hope that it's true? Or do I lose this scoop, someone else gets it, and I look bad? More often than not, they went with the scoop.

Give me the scoop. Yeah, get that scoop. And he would tell them, you know, just the most outlandish thing, that they didn't have time to fact check, that they couldn't start to call around and verify. And they were faced with choice. Do I print this scoop and hope that it's true? Or do I lose this scoop, someone else gets it, and I look bad? More often than not, they went with the scoop.

And more often than not, in fact, pretty much always, it was completely fabricated.

And more often than not, in fact, pretty much always, it was completely fabricated.

And more often than not, in fact, pretty much always, it was completely fabricated.

You know, Eisenhower is an interesting character in this story because he definitely, I think, drew a line and said – Anything beyond this is unacceptable in terms of anti-communist activity. And certainly, McCarthy was in that beyond the pale category. But there were a lot of things that he did allow. And he had his own version of a much more aggressive loyalty test than Truman did. He also...

You know, Eisenhower is an interesting character in this story because he definitely, I think, drew a line and said – Anything beyond this is unacceptable in terms of anti-communist activity. And certainly, McCarthy was in that beyond the pale category. But there were a lot of things that he did allow. And he had his own version of a much more aggressive loyalty test than Truman did. He also...

You know, Eisenhower is an interesting character in this story because he definitely, I think, drew a line and said – Anything beyond this is unacceptable in terms of anti-communist activity. And certainly, McCarthy was in that beyond the pale category. But there were a lot of things that he did allow. And he had his own version of a much more aggressive loyalty test than Truman did. He also...

oversaw and reinforced what today is called the Lavender Scare, in which anti-communism or fear, you know, allegations of subversion were used to fire hundreds of gay men from the federal government, mostly in the State Department. And so Eisenhower tolerated a lot of stuff that today we would look at and say that's disgusting that he would be for that. But