| Lincoln Day Address → Global Index → Works Index |
| Talk given by Joseph McCarthy at a Lincoln Day dinner of a Republican Women's Club in Wheeling, West Virginia., February 9, 1950 |
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No audiovisual recording of the speech is extant (Doherty 2003: 14).
Griffith's (1970: 49) reconstruction "[a]ccording to the radio and newspaper men who followed his [McCarthy's] rough draft" reads: Griffith (1970: 50) goes on to trace the figure 205 to "a letter from Secretary of State James F. Byrnes to Congressman Adolph J. Sabath of Illinois, dated July 26, 1946 [sic!], which had appeared in the Congressional Record. In his letter Secretary Byrnes explained that a preliminary screening of some 3,000 federal employees transferred into the State Department from wartime agencies had resulted in recommendations against the permanent employment of 285. Of these 285, the employment of 79 had already been terminated as of July 1946; 285 minus 79 leaves – if your arithmetic and logic are none too scrupulous – 205 'Communists' in the State Department." The version of the speech filed in the Congressional Record as well as a telegram McCarthy sent to Truman claim that figure to have been 57: "In my opinion the State Department, which is one of the most important government departments, is thoroughly infested with Communists. I have in my hand 57 cases of individuals who would appear to be either card carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party, but who nevertheless are still helping to shape our foreign policy." (cf. Excerpts from Senate Proceedings on Senator Joe McCarthy's Speech Relating to Communists in the State Department, February 20, 1950) |
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