June 1, 1950
Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R–Maine) stepped forward to denounce Senator Joe McCarthy for his reckless anti-Communist demagoguery. Sen. Smith’s speech was titled a “Declaration of Conscience.” Senate Republican leaders punished her by removing her as a member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. They gave her seat to Sen. Richard Nixon (R–California), who had already built his career on relentless attacks on alleged Communists in government. She said,in her 15-minute-long speech: “I don’t want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny — Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear. I doubt if the Republican Party could — simply because I don’t believe the American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest. Surely we Republicans aren’t that desperate for victory.”
