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AP Success - AP US History: Richard Nixon on Alger Hiss Case

The Second Red Scare of the 1950s made American political leaders rethink how they fought communism on the homefront.

The Hiss case taught the nation...about the most effective methods for fighting Communism in the United States. Communism cannot be fought successfully by...ignoring the danger because of the small number of Communist Party members...The nation finally saw that the threat of Communism in the United States is multiplied...because of its direct connection with...the world Communist conspiracy centered in Moscow...we also must not resort to Communist methods to fight Communism...The most effective weapon the Communists...use against their opponents is to complain of unfair play...Even when the most impeccably correct procedures are used, they will cry "foul."...There is nothing more irresponsible than for the radicals of the right to make a racket of anti-Communism...they raise doubts as to the very real danger that Communist agents in the United States in fact present...it is just as irresponsible for the radicals of the left to pooh-pooh the danger of Communism at home by denying it exists...

Richard Nixon on Alger Hiss Case, Six Crises, 1962.

Question 1

Short answer

Briefly identify ONE perspective about Communist Americans expressed in the excerpt.

Question 2

Short answer

Briefly explain ONE specific historical development between 1945 and 1962 that influenced the opinions expressed in the excerpt.

Question 3

Short answer

Briefly compare ONE similarity or difference between the opinions expressed in the excerpt and those of Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s.

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