During the 1950s, the American people began to develop a fear of internal communist subversion. The Korean stalemate, the "loss" in China, and the development of a Soviet atomic bomb were setbacks in the American battle against communism. Searching for people to blame, the American people were attracted to the idea of a communist conspiracy within American borders. This resulted in the era known as McCarthyism, where the frustration and fear of communism evolved into …showed first 75 words of 365 total…

…showed last 75 words of 365 total…people from opposing him. His movement provided for his followers with an issue into which they could channel a wide range of resentment: fear of communism, animosity toward the country's "eastern establishment," and frustrated partisan ambitions. Eventually McCarthyism died down when the government condemned and censured him in December 2, 1954. McCarthy lost the chairmanship of his committee. He was without a power base and soon the media lost interested in his claims of a communist conspiracy.