December 1, 1954

A bipartisan coalition in Congress—put together by Democratic senator from Arkansas Bill Fulbright and others—condemned Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy. Fulbright was the only senator to vote against appropriations for McCarthy’s Senate Permanent Investigative Subcommittee. During Richard Nixon’s tenure in office, Fulbright led the way in defeating the nomination of G. Harold Carswell, an outspoken opponent of the civil rights movement. He also later combated the John Birch Society, the Christian Crusade, H. L. Hunt, Strom Thurmond, and the other organizations and individuals that made up the radical right.