Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Teaching the Cold War: Was There Really a Red Scare?

Teaching the Cold War: Was There Really a Red Scare?

Last updated on: August 2, 2021 at 12:21 am by Philip Jenkins

Teaching the Cold War: Was There Really a Red Scare? 2021-08-01T17:25:19-04:00 Philip Jenkins

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I have been posting about my forthcoming book on the Global History of the Cold War. Today’s post concerns language, and some terms that I really would avoid in writing and particularly in teaching – or if I was to use them, it would be with multiple quotation marks. I’ll make the case that we should never use terms like red scare, witch-hunt, or paranoia in a Cold War context, except with those multiple caveats. And we should be very careful how we use “McCarthyism.”

I have myself used the “Red Scare” phrase in the past, and even (with some discomfort) in a book subtitle of mine from many years back. Here’s the problem. In a US context, to speak of a red scare without further qualification suggests that US concern over Communism, particularly during the 1950s, was wholly a matter of a “scare” or panic, without substance. That is simply incorrect, misleading, and tendentious. Being scared is, after all, a subjective reaction, with no necessary basis in the real world. To speak of some issue as a “scare” suggests that it exists only in the minds of some individuals, for their own particular reasons, but it is not a “real” thing. To use a modern-day analogy, many people would be very offended if someone referred to the “police brutality scare.” No, the speaker would be told, firmly. Police brutality is a very real problem, and speaking of it as a scare trivializes and delegitimizes it. Would you talk about the “global warming scare”? And that is what is wrong with the term “red scare.”

The Communist Party in the US in the 1940s commanded widespread support, and it was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Soviet government and its intelligence agencies. In the 1930s and 1940s, many thousands of Americans joined the Communist Party for a variety of reasons, many of which seem laudable today. They supported international peace and disarmament, campaigned for the civil rights of racial minorities, or favored labor movements and economic equality. In modern language, they were progressives, a label that became a Communist buzzword in the 1940s before entering the general usage that we know today. In many areas, a Communist sphere offered a wide range of social and cultural activities.

But before romanticizing these “progressive” activists, do recall that they were required on a very frequent basis to affirm, defend, justify, and actually believe a series of monstrous lies about the behavior of Communist states worldwide, their very bloody deeds, and their cynical shifts of policy. The Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939 was the best known example. It helps to think of the Communist Party (CPUSA) on the lines of a stereotypical religious cult, members of which affirm anything the leader declares, the more far-fetched the better, and however often he reverses his opinions.

And it got worse. The CPUSA was utterly compromised in its subservience to Soviet policy, and its close cooperation with Eastern bloc agencies and intelligence. The Party had a special category of clandestine members, and some worked directly with Soviet spies. The Soviets heavily funded the Party and its activities. A Soviet-oriented party genuinely was dangerous in the world as it developed after 1946, with the ever-growing likelihood of war. It was not difficult to imagine domestic Communists serving as spies or saboteurs against the US war effort. That prospect was all the more perilous given the strong Communist presence in labor unions, in key centers of war production, and major cities. It would have been impossible for any government concerned about its survival not to be investigating Communists, and removing them from key positions of influence. At the same time, there was a very delicate balance between civil liberties and the legitimate defense of national security.

I offer one specific example of a man who became a potential symbol of the “red scare” at work. Born in Croatia, Steve Nelson became a US citizen. From the 1920s, he was a leading figure in the CPUSA, and he served with distinction in the Spanish Civil War. He was a courier and later agent for Soviet intelligence, the NKVD, tasked with finding information about the Manhattan Project, and was in contact with some scientists in that project. The widow of one of his close Communist friends from Spain married J. Robert Oppenheimer, who later headed the Manhattan Project. By any reasonable standard, Nelson was a grave security threat. In 1950, at the height of the fighting in Korea, Pittsburgh authorities raided the headquarters of the Pennsylvania Communist Party, prosecuting Nelson and others for sedition. A federal trial followed, but the cases collapsed in 1957, and Nelson was ultimately freed. Through the 1950s, he was presented regularly as a victim of a bogus “red scare.” He was nothing of the kind, and we should not use any language that supports that idea. Any country that would tolerate someone like Steve Nelson had lost the will to survive.

I am bemused to see that the Wikipedia page refers to him as “Steve Nelson, activist” to distinguish him from the footballer. Oh wow… an activist! Must have been a fine man, right?

The same point applies to “witch-hunts.” We often think of Arthur Miller’s lauded 1953 play The Crucible, which ostensibly concerned the Salem witch trials of 1692, but which was commonly recognized as a thinly veiled attack on Senator McCarthy. But that witch-hunt analogy is troubling in its implication that the various investigations were attacking individuals who were blameless or innocent. Particularly in the late 1940s, the great majority of those targeted genuinely were Communists, and many were keenly active in the Party and in many associated organizations. A good number, like Steve Nelson, really were foreign agents.

Witches did not really exist. Communists did, and so did East Bloc spies, moles, and saboteurs.

If you think what I am saying here is based on empty assertion, then you really need to look at VENONA. Since the 1920s, the Soviets had operated intelligence operations in the United States. The sheer scale of those ventures was revealed by the VENONA program, which was only publicly acknowledged in 1995, and it has been the subject of much subsequent scholarship. VENONA was a successful effort by U.S. intelligence agencies, together with British, Canadian, and Australian allies, to decipher the secret communications of their Soviet counterparts from the mid-1940’s onward. The project produced a vast trove of information that pointed to legions of Soviet spies operating in the West. In virtually every case, agents were identified only by code names, but these could be penetrated easily enough by incidental information about times, places, and travels. Even so, many cables remain unbroken, and literally hundreds of agents’ names still cannot be convincingly associated with named individuals. Most died undetected and unpunished.

The VENONA documents leave no doubt about the scale of Soviet espionage in the US, and of the existence of high level defectors and agents of influence. If Franklin Roosevelt had died between 1941 and 1944, his successor would have been Vice President Henry Wallace, who had identified Laurence Duggan as his favored candidate for Secretary of State, and Harry Dexter White as his Treasury Secretary. VENONA records show that both were Soviet agents. So was President Roosevelt’s aide Lauchlin Currie. So was senior OSS officer Maurice Halperin. This suggests a degree of successful penetration at least comparable to anything the Soviets achieved in Britain, or indeed any Western country. Harry Dexter White was a key architect of the 1944 Bretton Woods agreement that laid the foundation for the post-war financial system. And yes, Alger Hiss was definitely a Soviet agent.

To use a phrase we associate with this era, the US faced a Catch-22. Through VENONA, US authorities and law enforcement knew very well about all these spies and Soviet agents on their soil. But if they revealed their knowledge, then that would destroy the VENONA program, as the Soviets would immediately realize how badly they had been penetrated, and upgrade their security. The first rule of VENONA was: you did not talk about VENONA. Hence, many of the exposés of Soviet activities had to proceed without publicizing the killer information that would have settled so many of the long-controversial cases. And that’s why a generation grew up believing that Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs were martyrs of the Red Scare.

Here is a sobering fact. In a large proportion of the cases in the 1940s and 1950s when Americans were accused of being Soviet spies and agents, that is what they indisputably were. That also applies to suspects named and accused by some of the controversial defectors and celebrity informants of the era, who were so mocked at the time and since. If they were not infallible, those informants, including the much maligned Elizabeth Bentley, were usually right.

Red Scares, witch-hunts… and please, never talk about Cold War “paranoia.” Paranoia indicates an irrational or pathological suspicion or fear of enemies or dangers. If the enemies are real, it’s not paranoia. American anti-Communism of itself was not “paranoia,” although it could on occasion lapse into it. Nor was fear of nuclear annihilation “nuclear paranoia.” If you were not terrified of nuclear destruction at any point between, say, 1954 and 1962, you must have been living in a cocoon. By 1961, the only irrational or pathological people were the ones who thought that the world might conceivably make it through intact to the end of the decade.

And finally, be careful with “McCarthyism.” Joseph McCarthy was a dreadful and reprehensible human being, who became the highly visible face of anti-Communist inquisitions between 1950 and 1954. His investigations did disgusting things, and used unforgivable methods – although actually, far more of his targets really did have Soviet ties than we often think today. But here is the problem. If you want to denounce McCarthy and the work of himself and his committee, that is fine, and necessary. But don’t use the McCarthy label to apply to any and all investigations and exposés of Communism in the years between (say) 1945 and 1960. Many of the most important activities were carried out by responsible agencies and media, whose own politics were often liberal, centrist, or (often) Democrat. By using the “McCarthyite” label, all those investigations are stigmatized as coming from a deranged and cynical far Right, which they did not.

If we use the language of witch-hunts or red scares or paranoia, then we have already decided all the main issues and points in a discussion of the Cold War era, and in such a way that closes off debate or argument. As the phrase goes, language speaks us.

Previous Post

July 30, 2021

Writing the Cold War: Globalizing the Eve of Destruction

Next Post

August 3, 2021 The Olympics: Competition as Striving Together

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abolitionism Abortion Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Kuyper Abraham Lincoln Academia Activism Adam Renberg Advent Adventist africa African American Religion Agnes Howard Albert Camus American History American Religious History American Revolution American West Anabaptists Ancient History Andrea Turpin Andrei Tarkovsky Anglicanism Annales Ansley Lillian Quiros anti-Catholicism Antisemitism Anxious Bench apologetics Apparitions Arash Azizi Archaeology archives art Artificial Intelligence Asia Asian Americans Augustine Authors Bad Bunny Baptism Baptists Barack Obama Battle of Hastings Benjamin Franklin Bernard-Henri Levy Beth Allison Barr Beth Moore Bethany Mannon Bible Bill Cunningham Billy Graham Black Music Bob Dylan Body Boenhoffer Books Breastfeeding Bruce Springsteen C.S. Lewis Calvinism Cancel Culture Capitalism Carmelites Catholicism Cedric Robinson Cesar Chavez Charismaticism charity Charles Dickens Charles Lindbergh Che Guevara Chicago Children Chinese Christianity Chris Gehrz Christ Christian death Christian Higher Education Christian life Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christianity Today Christmas Church life Church Practice cinema Civil Religion Civil Rights Movement Civil War civility Classics Climate Change Cold War Colonial Mexico colonialism Comer Communism community complementarianism Conference on Faith and History Congregationalism Conspiracies Conspiracy Conversion Narratives Coronavirus Costa Rica Council of Nicaea Covid-19 Creation Critical Race Theory Crusades Culture culture wars Daniel K. Williams David Barton David Swartz Death Ways death with dignity DEI democracy Democratic Party Devotion Digital Age Diplomacy discipleship diversity Donald Trump Drama Dua Lipa Early Church early modern Early modern Catholicism Easter Eastern Christianity economic exploitation Education elections Elie Wiesel Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor emotions Empire Engineering England enslavement Entertainment Episcopal Church Erica Ramirez eschatology Eurocentrism Evangelicalism Evangelicals Exegesis Family Feminism Film Flannery O'Connor folk music Food Foreign Policy founding fathers Franciscans Franciscus Junius fundamentalism Funerals G.K. Chesterton Gender Genocide genre geography George W. Bush George Washington George Whitefield Global Christianity Global church Grief Guadalupe guest post Guest Post gun control gun violence Gustavo Gutierrez Hamid Dabashi Harold John Ockenga Harvest Hate Hawaiian Christianity Healing health care Heather Cox Richardson Hell Heresy Hermeneutics Higher Education Hinduism Hippocratic oath Historical Fiction Historical Methodology Historical Profession Historical Profession Historical Theology Historical Thinking historiography Holidays Holocaust horror movies Human rights Humanitarian Work humanities Hummingbirds Hungary hymns Imago Dei Immigration Injustice Interviews Iran Islam Islamophobia Israel Ivan's Childhood Jacob Randolph James Bratt Janine Giordano Drake Japanese history Japanese Literature Jean Paul Sartre Jesse Miranda Jesus Jesus Christ Jimmy Carter Joan Baez Joan Didion Joanne Freeman João B. Chaves Joao Chaves Joey Cochran John Calvin John Fea John Tillotson John Turner Johnny Cash Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Tran Joseph Smith Josh Howerton Journalism Jr. Judaism Jürgen Moltmann Just War Justice Justin Brierley Karl Barth Katelyn Beaty koi ponds Kris Kristofferson Kristin Kobes Du Mez Latin American Religious History Latino Americans Lectio Divina Leisure Lent Leonard Cohen liberal arts liberalism Liberation Theology Linda Ronstadt Lisa Clark Diller Literature Lou Reed Lynchings Lynneth Miller Renberg Mainline Protestantism Malcolm Foley Marilyn Monroe Maritime history Mark Noll Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masih Alinejad mass shootings material culture medieval Christianity Medieval Ethiopia Melissa Borja memory Mennonites Mental Health Mental Illness Methodism Mexican Americans Mexicans Mike Madrid Miles Mullin Min Jin Lee Miscarriage Missionaries Mister Rogers Mitt Romney modernity Monasticism Mormonism Motherhood Mothers of the Church Moving Music Musicals Nadya Williams Nahua Christianity Native Americans Natsume Sōseki New Contributor New England New Year New York Nico Non-Violent Protest Orthodoxy pacifism Paleo Evangelicals Palestinians Parenting Patti Smith Paul Kingsnorth Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pentecostalism Philip Jenkins Phillis Wheatley physician-assisted suicide pilgrimage Pilgrims Piracy pluralism Plutocracy Poetry Politics Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV post-modernism prayer preaching Presbyterians prosperity gospel Protest Public Executions Public history Publishing Puritans purity culture Quakers race Race Massacres Racial Capitalism racial reconciliation racialization Racism Raha Bahloulipour Re-Enchantment reading Reformation Refugees religion and the university religion and war Religious Freedom Religious Nones Religious Pluralism Religious Symbols religious violence Republican Party Revival Rita Coolidge Ritual Roger Williams Roman Catholic church Royalty Russell Moore same-sex marriage Sarah Irving-Stonebraker Scandinavia Science Science and Technology Scopes trial Scriptural Interpretation secularism Selena Quintanilla seminary Seventh-Day Adventists sexual morality Sexuality Sikhs Silence slaveholders theology Slavery Slavoj Zizek social justice Social Media Southern Baptist Convention Southern Religion Spain Spiritual Autobiography Spiritual but not religious Spiritual Discipline Sports Stanley Hauerwas Suffering Summer Camps Sunday Night Odds and Ends Supernatural Supreme Court Syriac Christianity Tal Howard Taylor Swift Teaching Technology Television Thanksgiving The Beatles The Mission theater TheoBros Theology Thomas Dixon Thomas Jefferson Thomas Kidd Thomas Merton Tim Gloege Tim Walz Tom Holland Tourism tradition Tragedy Translation Transnationalism Travel Trump Ukraine Uncategorized Unitarians United Methodist Church US History Vanessa Chan Velvet Underground Verónica A. Gutiérrez Veronica Gutierrez Vikings Violence Virgin Mary Virtue Virtue ethics Visions Voting War WCTU Wendell Berry Westminster Assembly White Evangelicalism Wildfires Winnie the Pooh Witches women Women in Ministry Women's and Gender Studies Work Worship writing Yasunari Kawabata Zena Hitz

Select a Month November 2026 October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In Revelation, what color is the horse ridden by Death?

Select your answer to see how you score.

White Black Pale (or green) Red