Herbert Block coined the term McCarthyism in the Washington Post cartoon of March 29, 1950. The word is used to describe the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence. The man, Joseph McCarthy, and the phenomenon, McCarthyism, were two essentially distinct entities. The man was motivated by an overweening personal ambition which was allied to a penchant for opportunism. 

Over four years McCarthy never unearthed a single Communist but there was an attitude of where there's smoke there's fire so people would defend him and he was able to escape exposure. He was touching a raw nerve and people were responding to him. He had the answer to why it was all going so bad in the USA at the time, and the answer was that the Communists were ruining it for everyone else.

It was the New York Post who penetrated the Senator's armour in 1951. The paper published a well-researched series of articles in which McCarthy's background, his methods, and his charges were subjected to close scrutiny. These articles discredited McCarthy and led to similar pieces in other newspapers. It was the beginning of the end for Senator McCarthy. 

Produced by Breandan O Ciobhain & presented by Myles Dungan