Washington Gone Crazy : Senator Pat McCarran and the Great American Communist Hunt

Rating:
Summary: The Political Life and Cultural Times of Senator McCarran
Review: This is another book yearning to be the definitive word on a particular political era. Mr. Ybarra wants to explain how the New Deal of the 1930's indirectly lead to the Red Scare of the 1950's. He uses the political career of Senator Pat McCarran of Nevade to highlight his thesis. He traces the early days of this now-forgotten Senator to concentrating on the post-war years.

Democratic Senator McCarran (1876-1954) was the worker ant of anti-Communist legislation in contrast to his better known counterpart Republican Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin. Corrupt and a law only to himself, Senator McCarran answered to no one and acted as he saw fit to do.

This biography is well-written but long (over 800+ pages) with a lot of legislative details and cultural background of the 1950's. Frankly some of this material has very little to do with McCarran's life and can be skimmed without losing any of the story. Overall, for the reader with a political interest, I recommend this book as a primer on American politics.