Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin likes attention and he knows how to get it . What will capture headlines? The Communist danger! At a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, he waves a piece of paper and says it contains the names of fifty-seven Communists who work in the State Department. He is lying, but who would believe that of a Senator McCarthy begins a witch-hunt for supposed Communists . He accuses hundreds of people of Communist activity. He never proves a single case. But it doesn't seem to matter. Those he accuses lose jobs, and friends, and careers. Their lives are ruined . The nation gets infected with anti-Communist hysteria. It is sick. What about free speech and the guarantees of the First Amendment? Those rights are in trouble. People are afraid to speak out. They are afraid to buy books, subscribe to magazines, or join organizations that might have left-wing leanings. But in a free country it is not a crime to hold any kind of belief—including communist beliefs. Those who understand America's values and history understand that. One of Maine's two senators, Margaret Chase Smith, has the courage to speak out. She says, "I think it is high time we remembered that the Constitution speaks not only of the freedom of speech but also of trial by jury instead of trial by accusation."

That doesn't stop McCarthy. He keeps attacking. He accuses top army officers of being Communist sympathizers. Hearings are held, and McCarthy's true colors come out. Joseph Welch serves as the Army's attorney . He is appalled by what he calls McCarthy's "recklessness" and "cruelty." At one point he turns to McCarthy and says, "At long last, have you left no sense of decency ?"

The Senate votes to censure McCarthy for outrageous behavior. The man who has terrorized much of the nation is, at last, disgraced. Later, most Americans become ashamed of McCarthy's witch hunts. But they make us aware of how easy it is to take our basic right of free speech for granted.