American Presidency: The Cold War

It is 1952 and you are President Harry Truman. The Cold War has begun in earnest and America is
gripped by anti-communist hysteria fanned by Senator Joseph McCarthy. You simply must show
Americans that you are tough on communism or your Presidency will be destroyed and you have
assembled a Loyalty Review Board to ferret out any communists that are working in the U.S.
government. The Republicans are particularly critical of the State Department because former State
Department employee Alger Hiss was found to be a communist in the 1930s and Republicans blamed the
State Department for the loss of China to communism in 1949. The Loyalty Review Board has
investigated State Department Employee John Carter Vincent. The Panel did not find Mr. Vincent guilty
of disloyalty, but reluctantly concluded that there is reasonable doubt to his loyalty to the Government of
the United States and recommends his termination. You cannot afford for anyone questionable to be
working in the Government of the United States, but there is no proof of Mr. Vincent’s disloyalty and all
the evidence against him is hearsay. What do you do Mr. President? Do you terminate Mr. Vincent or
not?
I would recommend that you consult JSTOR: search
for terms such as “Pendleton Act,” “civil service reform,” and “Chester Arthur,” alone or in
combination with each other. Be mindful of the types of sources that you find: book reviews will
not help you but journal articles will. The correct form for Social Sciences (History) is Turabian:
see below for examples (MLA is NOT the correct form). Part of your grade will come from
citing your source(s) correctly.
5) Use correct grammar and spelling. Part of your grade will come from mechanics.
6) Your response should be a minimum of 300 words, maximum of 500 words (double spaced,
12 point font)