Confronting the Demagogue: Celebrate the 70th Anniversary of Margaret Chase Smith’s Declaration of Conscience.

Seventy years ago this month, Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-Maine) broke the reign of silence and condemned the demagogue Joseph McCarthy on the floor of the United State Senate.

Four years later, Edward R. Murrow delivered a memorable summary of McCarthy’s wickedness. “Accusation is not proof….we will not walk in fear, one of another, we will not be driven into an age of unreason….”