Senator Joe McCarthy's "Enemies from Within" Speech

Margaret Brennan talked about Senator Joseph McCarthy’s (R-WI) “Enemies from Within” speech and the impact it had on his political career. Senator McCarthy delivered the speech at a Lincoln Day dinner hosted by the Ohio County Republican Women’s Club on February 9, 1950, at the McClure Hotel in Wheeling, West Virginia. In his speech, Senator McCarthy attacked the Truman administration and accused more than 200 Americans of being members of the Communist Party.

C-SPAN’s Local Content Vehicles (LCVs) made a stop in their “2014 LCV Cities Tour” in Wheeling, West Virginia, from December 14-17, to feature the history and literary life of the community. Working with the Comcast Cable local affiliate, they visited literary and historic sites where local historians, authors, and civic leaders were interviewed. The history segments air on American History TV (AHTV) on C-SPAN3 and the literary events/non-fiction author segments air on BookTV on C-SPAN2. close