Millard Tydings

Millard Tydings

Millard Evelyn Tydings (born April 6, 1890 in Havre de Grace , Harford County , Maryland , † February 9, 1961 ) was an American engineer , lawyer , author and politician of the Democratic Party . He served in the Maryland House of Representatives from 1915 to 1916, then from 1919 to 1921, and in the Maryland Senate from 1921 to 1923 . From March 4, 1923 to March 3, 1927 he was a member of the 2nd Congressional Constituency of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives (68th and 69th Congress ) and from March 4, 1927 to January 3, 1951, he was a member of the US -Senats .

Early years

Millard Tydings was born in Havre de Grace, Harford County, to Millard F. Tydings and his wife Mary B. (née O'Neill). After attending public schools in Harford County, he began studying engineering at Maryland Agricultural College (today: University of Maryland, College Park ). In 1910 he completed his studies with a BS ( Bachelor of Science / Scientae Baccalaureus) and then worked for a short time for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Railway Company, Baltimore (today: CSX Transportation ).

But then he decided to study law at the University of Maryland School of Law , Baltimore . In 1913 he completed his second degree. Immediately after passing his exams, he was admitted to the bar and practiced as a lawyer in his hometown of Havre de Grace for two years. In 1915 he was elected as a member of the Democratic Party to the Maryland House of Delegates.

After the USA entered the First World War , Tydings volunteered for the United States' armed forces in 1916 and was deployed in the European theater of war. He commanded the 111th Machine Gun Battalion and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross , then the Distinguished Service Medal , for outstanding valor . Tydings returned from the war with the rank of lieutenant colonel back (lieutenant colonel).

In 1919 he was re-elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, a short time later appointed Speaker of the House and remained in this capacity until 1921, when he was elected to the Maryland Senate. He held this mandate until 1923.

US House of Representatives and US Senate

In 1923 he was elected to the US Congress (US House of Representatives) and in 1926 to the US Senate.

Re-elected in 1932, 1938 and 1944, he was a member of the US Senate without interruption from March 4, 1927 to January 3, 1951.

Tydings Committee

On February 9, 1950, held Republican senator from Wisconsin , Joseph McCarthy , a speech to the Ohio County Women's Republican Club in Wheeling , West Virginia , in which he described the American government, but in particular accused the US State Department, penetrated by spies, Communists to be infiltrated.

McCarthy waved a piece of paper during his speech, explaining:

"While I cannot take the time to name all the men in the State Department who have been named as members of the Communist Party and members of a spy ring, I have here in my hand a list of 205 individuals that were known to the secretary of state as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department. "

("I [now] don't have the time [to] enumerate by name all the men in the State Department who [have been named] as members of the Communist Party and members of a spy ring. Here in my hand I hold a list of 205 people, whom the Foreign Minister knows are members of the Communist Party, but who still work [in the Foreign Ministry] and determine the policy of the Foreign Ministry. ")

On February 20, 1950, the US Senate dealt with McCarthy's speech and the allegations made in it, particularly against the State Department. And although the Democratic Senator Scott W. Lucas (D-Illinois) repeatedly asked McCarthy to finally reveal the 205 names, he did not mention a single name.

(Later it turned out that he would not have been able to do this either, as there was no such list at all).

The US Senate, or the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations , then decided to set up a subcommittee to review the allegations made by McCarthy for their veracity.

The chair of this "Subcommittee on the Investigation of Loyalty of State Department Employees" ("Subcommittee for the review of loyalty / state loyalty of employees of the State Department") was transferred to Millard Tydings.

After him, the committee was later also - for simplicity - called Tydings Committee - Tydings Committee. Other committee members included: Brien McMahon (Democratic Party, Senator from Connecticut ), Theodore F. Green (Democratic Party, Senator from Rhode Island ), Bourke Hickenlooper (Republican Party, Senator from Iowa ), and Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (Republican Party, Senator from Massachusetts ). (cf. Richard M. Fried, Nightmare in Red, p. 125)

The mandate of the Tydings Committee was:

"... to conduct a full and complete study and investigation as to whether persons who are disloyal to the United States are, or have been, employed by the Department of State." (Senate Resolution 231, 81st Congress - 1950).

("... to conduct a comprehensive investigation into whether there are [actually] persons who have been or are in the past disloyal to the United States and who were or are employed by the State Department.") .

The hearings of the Tydings Committee were held from March 8, 1950 (1st meeting) to July 17, 1950 (publication of the final report).

McCarthy was also unable to reveal 205 names during the hearings. Eventually he deviated from his original (and actually nonexistent) list of names, but then used the subcommittee hearings to bring allegations against 10 people and accuse them of espionage. This time he also gave names:

Dorothy Kenyon , Esther and Stephen Brunauer , Gustavo Duran , Haldore Hanson , Harlow Shapley , Frederick Schuman , Philip Jessup , Owen Lattimore and John Stewart Service . (see Richard M. Fried, Nightmare in Red, p. 125)

Some of those actually named had never worked in the Foreign Ministry, or they had not been in the service of the Foreign Ministry for some time.

However, some of the named had previously fallen victim to anti-communist smear campaigns in one way or another. (such as John Stewart Service in connection with the so-called Amerasia affair).

Attacks on the China Hands

Four of those named by McCarthy - Haldore Hanson, Philip Jessup, John Stewart Service and Owen Lattimore - were proven East Asia experts (so-called China Hands ). Their mention made it clear that McCarthy has now received massive support from the so-called China lobby , while at the same time allowing himself to be instrumentalized for their goals. Right-wing conservative politicians (such as the former American ambassador to China, Patrick J. Hurley , the Senators Pat McCarran , William F. Knowland , Styles Bridges , the House of Representatives Walter Henry Judd ) had come together in the China lobby . Up until the very end, they had campaigned for massive financial and military support for Chiang Kai-shek's ruined Kuomintang regime, completely misjudging developments . After the proclamation of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, they began to look for culprits for the Loss of China , which they lamented . Unable to understand the real causes of the Loss of China, they could explain the defeat of the Kuomintang regime, which was bankrupt in every respect, solely through “treason in their own ranks”. The "real culprits" were believed to have been found in the China Hands of the Foreign Ministry. They were accused of having secretly cooperated with the Chinese communists, influencing American foreign policy in their favor. In a speech to the US Senate, McCarthy had defamed the entire Far East department of the State Department as the

"... home base of individuals who are loyal to the ideals and designs of Communism rather than those of the free, God-fearing half of the world."

( "... homeland of people are more loyal to the ideals and plans of communism than to the free, godly [other] half of the world." ) (Quoted in New York Times December 24, 1999)

In the reports of the China Hands about the inexorable decline of the Kuomintang regime and the simultaneous rise of the Chinese communists, the members of the China Lobby were unable to recognize an objective description of the political realities in their limited perspective, but instead assessed the realistic descriptions solely as expressions of sympathy for them communist movement. They held the opinion

"... that the Foreign Service officers planned to slowly choke to death and destroy the government of the Republic of China and build up the Chinese Communists for postwar success."

("... that the diplomats of the Foreign Office wanted to slowly strangle the Chinese national government [Chiang Kai-sheks] to death, destroy it and [at the same time] wanted to rebuild the Chinese communists for the post-war period.") (Quoted from: Time , 6 October 1975: Unwarranted Ordeal)

However, Haldore Hanson, John Stewart Service, Philip Jessup and Owen Lattimore were only the first East Asia experts from the US State Department to be accused by McCarthy and his supporters. Numerous other "China Hands" should soon have to defend themselves against false accusations before the various committees of inquiry, in particular before the Judiciary Committee's Internal Security Subcommittee ( subcommittee for internal security of the justice committee - for simplicity after the chairman Senator Pat McCarran also called McCarran Committee ).

Owen Lattimore

McCarthy finally stiffened on one person - Owen Lattimore, whom he described as the "top Soviet agent in the United States" ( "top agent of the Soviet Union in the United States" believed to have identified). For McCarthy, Lattimore was the "chief architect of a United States foreign policy that resulted in the Communist party's conquest of mainland China" . ( "... leading architect of a US foreign policy that resulted in the [Chinese] Communist Party conquering [entire] mainland China". )

Final report of the Tydings Committee

After five months of intensive investigation, the Tydings Committee published a 313-page final report on July 17, 1950, which, however, was only signed by the majority of the committee, which belonged to the Democratic Party.

On July 20, 1950, Tydings officially submitted the report to the US Senate.

In his speech, he pointed out that none of the people named by McCarthy were communists, nor could it be said that they sympathized with communism, and that the security checks that had already been carried out for State Department employees were completely sufficient. Tydings characterized the baseless accusations made by Joseph McCarthy as

"... fraud and a hoax perpetrated on the Senate of the United States and the American people ... Perhaps the most nefarious campaign of half-truths and untruth in the history of this Republic."

("... [It all consisted of] ... hoax and [based on] fraud by the Senate and the American people ... It was perhaps [one of the] most vicious campaigns in the history of this country, [pasted together] of half-truths and lies." ) (quoted from Michael J. Ybarra: Washington Gone Crazy, p. 502; see also Richard M. Fried, Nightmare in Red, p. 128)

The report stated that McCarthy had only achieved with his hysterical actionism

"... to confuse and divide the American people ... to a degree far beyond the hopes of the Communists themselves."

("... to confuse the American people and turn them against each other ... to an extent that even communists could only dream of.") (The Tydings Committee Report on McCarthy's Charges, 1950)

He deliberately compared McCarthy's approach to that of the recently overthrown Nazi regime:

"We have seen the technique of the 'Big Lie,' elsewhere employed by the totalitarian dictator with devastating success, utilized here for the first time on a sustained basis in our history ... We have seen the character of private citizens and of government employees virtually destroyed by public condemnation on the basis of gossip, distortion, hearsay, and deliberate untruths ... .. The spectacle is one we would expect in a totalitarian nation where the rights of the individual are crushed beneath the juggernaut of statism and oppression; it has no place in America where government exists to serve our people, not destroy them. "

(“We could see how with the technique of the“ Big Lie ”- which was used elsewhere by a totalitarian dictator [already] with devastating consequences - for the first time in our history [this time] here with us, and with a legal basis provided, applied ... We could see how this worked, the annihilation of individuals and government officials through public condemnation, condemnation based on gossip, distortion of the truth, rumors and deliberately falsehoods. .. Such things we would [normally] expect in a totalitarian state where individual rights are being crushed by a juggernaut of surveillance and oppression. That [but] has no place [here] in America, in America, where the government is there to serve the people and not to destroy them. ") (The Tydings Committee Report on McCarthy's Charges, 1950)

The Republicans in the US Senate vehemently rejected the results of the report.

There were even violent riots.

The outcry from Indiana Republican Senator William E. Jenner highlighted the amalgamation of foreign and domestic policy:

"How can we get the Reds out of Korea if we can't get them out of Washington?"

("How are we supposed to get the Reds out of Korea if we [not even] get them out of Washington?") (Quoted from Michael J. Ybarra: Washington Gone Crazy, p. 502)

And the unmoved Republican Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy, commented:

"The most loyal stooges of the Kremlin could not have done a better job of giving clean bill of health to Stalin's fifth column in this country."

("Even the most loyal henchmen of the Kremlin could not have issued a better certificate of purity to Stalin's fifth column in this country.") (Quoted from Michael J. Ybarra: Washington Gone Crazy, p. 502)

And William E. Jenner said - a little calmer, a little more to himself again, but still unwaveringly stubborn:

"Tydings gave a green light to the Red fifth column" ("Tydings gave the green light to the red fifth column ")

And: "... [Tydings] was guilty of the most brazen whitewash of treasonable conspiracy in our history."

("... [Tydings] is guilty of the largest single treason in the history of the United States.") (Quoted from Michael J. Ybarra: Washington Gone Crazy, p. 502)

The US Senate plenary voted three times on whether or not to approve the final report, and each time it voted, the result ran right along the party lines.

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

McCarthy's dirt campaign

Millard Tydings paid a heavy price for his unwavering crackdown on McCarthy. When his re-election to the US Senate was due in 1950, McCarthy's supporters staged a so-called "smear campaign" ("dirt campaign"). They distributed a photomontage showing Tydings with former US Communist Party (CPUSA) leader Earl Browder .

Tydings did not know Browder and met him for the first time - and exclusively - on the occasion of Browder's interrogation before the Tydings committee. On the photomontage, a photo of Tydings from 1938 (!) Was pasted together with a picture of Browder from 1940 (!) To suggest a close connection between Tydings and Browders, which of course did not exist at all.

In the heated atmosphere of the Cold War and Communist hatred, McCarthy and his supporters succeeded in deceiving voters: Tydings was beaten by his opponent John Marshall Butler .

In 1956, Tydings ran again as a Democratic Party candidate for the US Senate, but then withdrew his candidacy himself for health reasons before the election took place.

Millard E. Tydings died on February 9, 1961 on his Oakington farm near Havre de Grace, Maryland.

Honors

The Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge on the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway was named in honor of Millard E. Tydings .

This is the bridge where Interstate 95 traffic crosses the Susquehanna River.

The Millard E. Tydings Hall of the University of Maryland, College Park, where the Faculty of Politics and Economics is located, is also named after him.

Private

Millard Tydings married in 1927 Eleanor Cheeseborough (née Davies), daughter of Joseph E. Davies (born November 29, 1876 in Watertown , Wisconsin , † May 9, 1958 ).

Joseph Edward Davies, American lawyer and diplomat, was chairman of the Federal Trade Commission from 1915 to 1916 under President Woodrow Wilson , then economic policy advisor during the Paris peace negotiations after the First World War .

From 1936 to 1938 he was appointed US ambassador to Moscow and from 1938 to 1940 US ambassador to Belgium. From 1942 to 1946 he was chairman of the War Relief Control Board . In 1945 he took part in the Potsdam Conference . In his book "Mission to Moscow" , 1941 (German: "As US Ambassador in Moscow. Authentic and confidential reports on the Soviet Union until October 1941" , Zurich 1943), he described the situation in the USSR before the attack Nazi Germany.

The book was filmed in 1943 under the title of the same name "Mission to Moscow" (Director: Michael Curtiz ).

Shot at a time when the USA and the USSR were fighting together as allies against Nazi Germany, the film showed the USSR in a predominantly positive light. This resulted in the period of McCarthyism to the fact that the strip from the House Un-American Activities Committee (House on Un-American Activities Committee - HUAC) was attacked as an example of pro-communist propaganda.

(See the article in the English Wiki about Joseph Edward Davies)

From the marriage between Eleanor Davies and Thomas Cheeseborough the son Joseph (born May 4, 1928 in Asheville , Buncombe County , North Carolina ) was born. When Joseph was 6 years old, that marriage ended in divorce. After Millard E. Tydings married Eleanor Cheeseborough (Davies), he adopted Joseph, who has been named Joseph Tydings ever since . Joseph (Davies) Tydings followed in his father's footsteps and became a Senator from Maryland from 1965 to 1971.

Eleanor Tydings is the author (under the name: Eleanor Davies Tydings Ditzen) of the book “My Golden Spoon. Memoirs of a Capital Lady. ” , Published 1997 by Madison Books.

Millard Tydings is the grandfather of actress Alexandra Tydings.

Fonts

• Before and After Prohibition. New York: Macmillan Co., 1930.
• Counter-Attack: A Battle Plan to Meet the Depression. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1933.
• The Machine Gunners of the Blue and Gray Division. Aberdeen, MD: Harford Printing Publishing Co., 1920.

literature

• Ditzen, Eleanor Davies Tydings Born with a Golden Spoon: Memoirs of a Capital Lady. Lanham, MD: Madison Books, 1997.
• Keith, Caroline H. For Hell and a Brown Mule: The Biography of Senator Millard E. Tydings. Lanham, MD: Madison Books, 1991.

Web links

• Millard Tydings in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Millard Tydings in the nndb (English)
• Overview of the University of Maryland Libraries Millard E. Tydings Papers

Individual evidence

1. ↑ United States of America Congressional Record, 2004, 14345
2. ↑ Book: Congressional Record: Bound Volumes, page 14345, by Congress
3. ↑ University of Colorado ( Memento of the original from April 25, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Book: War and Democracy: A Comparative Study of the Korean War and the Peloponnesian War from 2001
5. ↑ Book: Free Expression and Democracy in America: A History by Stephen M. Feldman
6. ↑ Book: The Politics of Fear: Joseph R. McCarthy and the Senate by Robert Griffith
7. ^ The Milwaukee Journal - July 18, 1950