Francis E. Walter, the namesake of the term Walterism
Walterism is the practice of making accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to communism and socialism. The name is attributed to the controversial politics of Pennsylvania Representative Francis E. Walter, head of the House Un-American Activities Committee throughout the late 1940s until his death in 1955.
History[]
Francis E. Walter was a US Representative from Pennsylvania from 1933 until his death in 1956. He was one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress, being an ardent opponent of civil rights and labor laws. However, unlike other members of the Conservative Coalition, Walter was one of the pioneers of a conservative movement which emerged in the post-war United States known as the New Right which was more vocally anti-communist and advocated for interventionist foreign policy in order to combat the global communist threat. As a result, Walter emerged as one of the leading voices of this new conservative movement, gaining support among high profile people in Washington such as Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona and former army general Curtis LeMay.
In 1951, Francis E. Walter would become head of the House Un-American Activities Committee. In his position, Walter would begin a crusade against supposed communists who Walter asserted had infiltrated the U.S. Government and cultural institutions across the country. In the late 1940s, he had accused the Robert Taft administration of being sympathetic towards the Soviet Union due to the administration pursuing continued isolationism which benefitted the Soviet Union. Walterism would use the House Un-American Activities Committee to attempt to subpoena members of the Taft administration to testify in front of the committee. However, the Taft administration would not comply and would ignore these subpoenas. Despite little success in subpoenaing Taft administration officials, the House Un-American Activities Committee would see success throughout the late 1940s in subpoenaing private sector employees, especially within the film and entertainment industries. In a 1947 speech, Francis Walter claimed that Hollywood was "infested with communist sympathizers", thus starting a panic and beginning the process of many Hollywood actors and screenwriters testifying before Congress.
This panic would only intensify amongst American Conservatives following the Progressive Union's victory in the 1948 Presidential Election, as well as having made significant gains in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. In February of 1949, Walter provided a list of purported communists present within prominent American institutions such as film and government. Walter, HUAC, and many conservative Democrats had gotten behind Walter's anticommunist crusade.
See also:[]
Sources:[]
- Wikipedia Contributors. “McCarthyism.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Nov. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism.
- “New Right.” Wikipedia, 12 Mar. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Right#United_States. Accessed 15 Mar. 2022.
- “House Un-American Activities Committee.” U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, www.visitthecapitol.gov/exhibitions/congress-and-world-wars/house-un-american-activities-committee. Accessed 15 Mar. 2022.