The second Red Scare occurred after World War II (1939 -- 45), and was popularly known as "McCarthyism '' after its most famous supporter, Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthyism coincided with increased popular fear of communist espionage consequent to a Soviet Eastern Europe, the Berlin Blockade (1948 -- 49), the Chinese Civil War, the confessions of spying for the Soviet Union given by several high - ranking U.S. government officials, and the Korean War.
who started the red scare in the united states in the 1950s
Senator Joseph McCarthy