This
paper looks at how the Cold War with the Soviet Union fed fears of Communism and feelings of paranoia and, ultimately,
allowed Joseph McCarthy to wield tremendous political and social power in the United States. The
paper describes the history of McCarthy's anti-communist campaign, his obsession with the communists-in-government issue, the conditions at the time that
allowed him to feed on the American fear of Communism, why he was so popular, and how he was finally defeated.