nt sometimes dragged its feet in taking cases to Court, but Hoover and the FBI argued that such an approach was evidence that the Truman Administration was lax on the issue of internal security. Hoover disobeyed the Justice Department senior officials, and put surveillance on people without authorization. By 1956, Judges in many Courts became wary of fictitious testimonies, and made prosecutions difficult. In response, the FBI developed a secret program (COINTELPRO) of political sabotage, unauthorized surveillance and disinformation directed against communists and other groups. This was revealed to the American public two decades after the fact.
McCarthy and Hoover were critical of Truman and his administration. John Steward Service of the State Department was accused. At the White House, David Demarest Lloyd, Administrative Assistant to President Truman and Philleo Nash, Advisor to the President, were under investigation. Truman became a victim of his own Executive Orders. He expressed the view that the FBI could become a Gestapo. The year before the 1952 elections, he appointed a nine-member citizens commission to examine the thorny issue of subversion and loyalty in a free society. He was quoted to have said: "We must be sure that our laws and procedures at home are adequate to preserve our National Security against treason, espionage, sabotage and other subversive acts . At the same time, we are concerned lest measures taken to protect us from these dangers infringe the liberties guaranteed by our Constitution and stifle the atmosphere of freedom ." Clearly, Truman excelled in "double speak." The appointment of a commission at the end of his term of office was insufficient to rewrite history or to excuse him for having promoted and condoned the violation of the Constitution, human rights and the persecution of American citizens. As for J. Edgar Hoover, he seemed to have been "reborn" in the person of Montesinos of Peru!
EISENHOWERS EXECUTIVE ORDER
One might have thought that the election of a new President, particularly a man who led the worlds military might against Nazism and Fascism, would have brought relief to the victims of fascistic forces which had gained prominence in America. That was not to be. Richard Nixon, a former member of HUAC was Vice President. Senator Joseph McCarthy and other prominent anti-communists were Republicans. Consistent with his party, Eisenhower on April 27, 1953 issued Executive Order 10450, better known as the Employee and Security Program. The new Order went a step further in tightening the "rope" around the "necks" of federal employees by abolishing all recourse to appeals. The Heads of Agencies and Departments were given final powers. The Civil Service Commission was instructed to develop a Security Investigation Index to cover all employees. George M. Moore, US Civil Service Commissioner, in defense of the Order "barefacedly" argued that it would free the government from disloyal employees and from security risks. Under Executive Order 10450, four thousand three hundred and fifteen (4,315) employees resigned, there were 6,926 separations and 1,743 dismissals attributed to subversive activities.
In the latter half of the 1950s, McCarthy began to be exposed. He treaded on the feet of the Army. The Army Intelligence disseminated information on him regarding allegations of alcoholism and perversion. He also made a fool of himself in the Hearings of a Congressional Committee. It was aired on television. McCarthy lies were exposed to such an extent that he was marginalized in the Senate. One Head of an important American Corporation told President Eisenhower to do something about McCarthy. Finally, the President asked Vice President Nixon to attack McCarthy publicly. Nixon, the only "risen star" of the HUAC did just that in a public statement, but insisted that communism had to be fought, learning from the mistakes of McCarthyism!
The political phenomenon of McCarthyism, which was the extensive practice in the abuse of power by the US Government, clearly qualifies as an example of path