Smith Defies McCarthy: A Declaration of Conscience
Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine delivered her "Declaration of Conscience" on the Senate floor on June 1, 1950, becoming the first Republican senator to publicly challenge Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist witch hunt. Without naming McCarthy directly, she condemned "the Four Horsemen of Calumny: Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear." Six other Republican senators co-signed the declaration. McCarthy retaliated by removing Smith from the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and referring to the group as "Snow White and the Six Dwarfs." Smith won reelection by the largest margin in Maine history in 1954. She served four terms in the Senate and in 1964 became the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for president at a major party convention. She served until 1973.
June 1, 1950
76 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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