Army -McCarthy Hearing transcript

Joe Welch and Joe McCarthy at one of their fabulous garden parties Many Americans likely remember the most famous line to come out of the 1954 Army- McCarthy hearings when army counsel Joseph Welch asked Senator Joseph McCarthy, "Have you no decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" It was and continues to be regarded as someone finally giving voice to the collective disgust the nation felt with McCarthy and his tactics. However, the conversation leading up to the famous remark is not as well known. A man sitting near me indicates that television was invented only moments before Mr. Welch uttered his query, so no electronic record exists of what preceded it. The Vince College Review has also discovered that the observers, staff members, reporters and Senators who were also in the room that day were so excited in the minutes leading to the history-making pronouncement they knew was coming that they did not pay attention to the back- and- forth between Welch and McCarthy. Drawing upon our vast resources and historical expertise, the staff of the Vince College Review can now, for the first time, present a wholly accurate reconstruction of what we believe led to the infamous rapprochement: M = McCarthy W = Welch C = Roy Cohn M: Mr. Welch, do you require anything further from the staff here? You had mentioned water. Have you got water? W: Yes, Senator. M: I'm having a bourbon myself. C: Senator – M: Mr. Cohn isn't having a bourbon. C: Senator- M: Mr. Cohn doesn't care for bourbon much. Or sports. W: Senator, I think we can get started. M: Very well. Mr. Welch, what is your favorite television program? W: Senator, I don't see how— C: Answer the question, Mr. Welch. W: Well, I suppose it is See It Now with Edward Murrow. M: How could you possibly justify that statement? W: Senator, I believe that it is a good program. M: And I suppose Sid Ceaser and Jack Benny are there to make us frown? I suppose that Milton Berle is there to destroy the republic? My God, Murrow is so dry. And nit- picky. C: Mr. Welch, don't you enjoy programming such as The Tonight Show? W: Mr. Cohn, the Tonight Show is on too late for me. [crowd erupts in jeers and catcalls] M: Order. I will have order in this hearing room. Now, Mr. Welch, I'm going to give you a chance to consider your statements more carefully. You would honestly prefer boring stupid "See It Now" to "Your Show of Shows"? Or even Milton Berle? W: Senator, I don't have to answer any more of these questions. M: About television or about Milton Berle? W: Milton Berle. And TV. M: Let the record show that Mr. Welch is hiding behind the constitution and refused to answer the questions posed by this committee with regard to Milton Berle and other critical issues of our day. C: Mr. Welch, have you had occasion to watch Ed Sullivan or American Bandstand? W: No, Mr. Cohen, I have not. C: Why not? Don't wait for the translation, answer me now! W: I am not a fan of popular music. I prefer classical. [crowd erupts again] M: My God. C: Senator, these are very grave statements. Perhaps we should give Mr. Welch a moment to collect himself. M: No. No. We're going to press on. Mr. Welch, don't you know that the comedy/variety show is the wave of the future? Can't you see that a spectacular hour-long or 90 minute program such as "Tonight," "Your Show of Shows" or "Ed Sullivan" gives the viewer the opportunity to see a musical act, a comedy act, a dramatic act, a plate- spinning act and some of the greatest actors and musicians of our time? W: I suppose so. M: Then I ask again, why can't you bring yourself to enjoy them along with every other decent, red- blooded American? C: Yes, yes, answer the question, Mr. Welch. W: I guess they just don't suit me. Or I don't have the time. C: Unbelievable. Shocking. M: Who is that man to your left, Mr. Welch? W: That is my colleague, Mr. Fred Fisher. M: Ladies and gentlemen. I have information here in my hand that clearly shows that Mr. Fisher thought about buying a television in the year 1951, but did not do so because of the cost and to this day, still does not own one. How do you respond to that, Mr. Welch? W: Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. No, you've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency? You, Mr. Chairman, may, if you will, call your next witness. M: He should call Milton Berle to the witness table. C: Uncle Miltie! [the audience breaks into overwhelmingly, nearly hysterical applause]