A bombastic political figure who rocketed into the public consciousness by outlining an alarming conspiracy theory and pursuing aggressive campaigns against those he saw as enemies of the state, Senator Joseph McCarthy was a divisive figure in his time.
Some saw his crusade against Communism—in a campaign that became known as the “Red Scare”—as a noble and patriotic attempt to protect the American people and the American Way. Others criticized him as a reckless demagogue who trampled civil liberties, made unsubstantiated accusations, and unfairly ruined many reputations and careers.
McCarthy’s eventual downfall—punctuated by the famous question asked in June of 1954 by a lawyer at one of his hearings, “Have you no sense of decency?”—and his subsequent censure by the Senate ended his moment in the national spotlight.
In retrospect, he is remembered mostly as the man behind a dark moment in American history, and for a term based on his name and the climate of fear and suppression of free speech that he fomented. “McCarthyism” is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as “The practice of publicizing accusations of political disloyalty or subversion with insufficient regard to evidence” and “The use of unfair investigatory or accusatory methods in order to suppress opposition.”
But in April of 1954, McCarthy was still flying high, and as Fortune reported, he was being discussed as a possible challenger to Dwight Eisenhower for the presidency in 1956. The question Fortune asked then is one many in the media are asking today: “What does the business community think of the nation’s most controversial political figure?” To answer it, the magazine conducted a detailed survey of 253 top executives in 30 cities.
They’re a fascinating read, ranging from enthusiastic applause (“I’m for him 100 percent”); to grudging approval (“the job needs doing”); to concern about his methods (“our enemies abroad have capitalized on the way McCarthy has handled these investigations”); to mockery of his disposition (“just another loudmouthed politician” who is “overly interested in headlines”); to harsh criticism. “It disturbs me to hear businessmen support McCarthy,” the president of an insurance company told Fortune. “For them to do so, in light of his behavior and his mentality, seems to me to show a lamentable lack of maturity. It shows a failure to appreciate their social and political responsibility.”
This week, the term McCarthyism was used by many, including the American Civil Liberties Union, to describe Disney’s removal of comedian and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel from his ABC show following criticism of his commentary by President Donald Trump and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr.
But many business executives have avoided weighing in publicly on the controversy, perhaps using the same reasoning as L. S. Wescoat, president of Pure Oil, who declined comment to Fortune on McCarthy in 1954: “We’ve got Republican stockholders and Democratic stockholders—maybe some Socialist and even some Communist stockholders. It doesn’t behoove me to discuss politics.”