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McCarthyism's Strategic Mistake
- Americans universally supported the army in the 1950s, making McCarthy and Cohn's efforts to attack it a strategic error.
- President Eisenhower's reluctance to confront McCarthy allowed McCarthyism to persist, prioritizing political capital over fighting bigotry and fear.
Welch's Rebuke Ends McCarthyism
- The televised Army-McCarthy hearings exposed McCarthy's cruelty when he attacked a young, earnest army lawyer.
- Joseph Welch's famous rebuke, "Have you no sense of decency, sir?" marked the beginning of McCarthyism's decline.
Cohn Shapes Trump's Legal Tactics
- Roy Cohn met Donald Trump in the 1970s and immediately began helping Trump fight a government lawsuit over racist housing practices.
- They staged a media spectacle with a public countersuit to disrupt the narrative, a tactic Trump later adopted extensively.