How to Spot a Communist Using Literary Criticism: A 1955 U.S. Army Handbook

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In 1955, the United States entered the final phase of McCarthyism or the Second Red Scare. During this low point in American history, the US government looked high and low for Communist spies. Artists, educators, government employees and union members were often viewed with suspicion, and many careers and lives were destroyed by the most frivolous allegations. Congress, the FBI, and the U.S. military all fueled the 20th-century version of the Salem Witch Trials, in part by encouraging Americans to seek out Communists in unsuspecting places.

In the short Armed Forces information film above, you can see the dynamics at work. Some Communists were out in the open; however, others worked quieter. So how do you find these hidden communists?

Don’t worry, the US Army had it all covered. In 1955, US First Army Headquarters prepared a manual called How to Spot a Communist. Later published in popular American magazines, the propaganda piece warned readers that there is no foolproof system for spotting a communist. American Communists come from all walks of life, profess all religions and practice all trades and professions. In addition, the Communist Party USA has made concerted efforts to go underground for the purposes of infiltration. And yet, the pamphlet adds, leaving readers to breathe a sigh of relief, there are, fortunately, clues that may betray it. These indications are often subtle but always present, because the communist, because of his faith, must act and speak along certain lines. In short, you will recognize a communist not by the way he walks, but by the way he talks. Calling on citizens to become literary critics in the name of national security, the publication urged readers to pay attention to the following:

While the preference for long sentences is common to most communist writing, a distinct vocabulary provides the most easily recognizable feature of communist language. Even a cursory reading of an article written by a communist or a conversation with a communist will probably reveal the use of some of the following expressions: integrative thought, vanguard, comrade, hootenanny, chauvinism, auto-da-fé, syncretic faith, bourgeois nationalism, chauvinism, colonialism, hooliganism, ruling class, progressive, demagoguery, dialectic, witch hunt, reactionary, exploitative, oppressive, materialistic.

This list, drawn by lot, could be extended almost indefinitely. While all of the above expressions are part of the English language, their use by Communists is infinitely more common than by the general public…

Rather chillingly, the pamphlet also warned that communists were coming clean if and when they spoke of McCarthyism, civil rights abuses, racial or religious discrimination, or peace. In other words, they were guilty if they suggested that the government was overstepping its bounds.

According to Corliss Lamont’s book Freedom Is As Freedom Does, the First Army withdrew the pamphlet after Murray Kempton criticized it in the New York Post and the New York Times wrote its own scathing editorial. In 1955, the press could take these risks. The year before, Joseph Welch had faced Joe McCarthy, asking him with his immortal words: Have you no sense of decency, sir? Finally, have you left no sense of decency?

Note: An earlier version of this article appeared on our site in 2013.

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