Red Scare Timeline

The first Red Scare in the United States accompanied the Russian Revolution (specifically the October Revolution) and the Revolutions of 1917–1923, revolving around a perceived threat from the American labor movement, anarchist revolution, and political radicalism.

After World War I ended in November 1918, the number of strikes increased to record levels in 1919, with more than 3,600 separate strikes by steel workers, railroad shop workers, the Boston police department, and many others.

In the 1919 case of Schenck v. United States, the Supreme Court, introducing the clear-and-present-danger test, effectively deemed the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 constitutional.

Image source: Schenck v. United States

In 1919–20, several states enacted "criminal syndicalism" laws outlawing advocacy of violence in effecting and securing social change, further suppressing radical political activity.

The Justice Department launched the Palmer Raids (1919–21), a series of raids and arrests targeting suspected anarchists, communists, and other radicals during the First Red Scare.

Image source: Palmer Raids

In April 1919, authorities discovered a plot for mailing 36 bombs to prominent members of the U.S. establishment, intensifying public fear of anarchist and leftist violence.

On 2 June 1919, in eight cities, eight bombs exploded simultaneously, prompting Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer to launch the Palmer Raids against suspected radicals.

Defensively, Attorney General Palmer warned that a government-deposing left-wing revolution would begin on 1 May 1920—May Day, the International Workers' Day. When it failed to materialize, his credibility collapsed.

In July 1920, Palmer's once-promising Democratic Party bid for the U.S. presidency faltered as the predicted revolutionary uprising never came and criticism of his tactics mounted.

Image source: A. Mitchell Palmer

Wall Street was bombed on 16 September 1920, near Federal Hall National Memorial and the JP Morgan Bank, killing dozens and deepening fears of anarchist terrorism.

Image source: Wall Street bombing

In Canada, the 1946 Kellock–Taschereau Commission investigated espionage after top-secret documents concerning RDX, radar and other weapons were handed over to the Soviets by a domestic spy-ring.

Image source: Gouzenko Affair

In March 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9835, creating the Federal Employees Loyalty Program establishing political-loyalty review boards that determined the "Americanism" of federal employees and required loyalty oaths. This led to more than 2,700 dismissals and 12,000 resignations from 1947 to 1956.

Image source: Executive Order 9835

The Berlin Blockade (1948–49), along with the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe and the end of the Chinese Civil War, contributed to an increased and widespread fear of communist espionage that coincided with McCarthyism.

Image source: Berlin Blockade

The trial of Alger Hiss was among the events of the late 1940s and early 1950s that surprised the American public and influenced popular opinion about U.S. national security and communist infiltration.

Image source: Alger Hiss

In 1949, anti-communist fear and fear of American traitors was aggravated by the Chinese Communists winning the Chinese Civil War against the Western-sponsored Kuomintang and their founding of the People's Republic of China.

Image source: Chinese Communist Revolution

The formal establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and the beginning of the Korean War in 1950 meant that Asian Americans, especially those of Chinese or Korean descent, came under increasing suspicion of being Communist sympathizers. Laws such as the China Aid Act of 1950 and Refugee Relief Act of 1953 assisted Chinese students who wished to settle in the United States.

The Soviet Union's first nuclear weapon test in 1949 (RDS-1) shocked the American public, intensifying fears of Soviet power and espionage and influencing popular opinion about U.S. security.

Image source: RDS-1

From 1950, senator Joseph McCarthy played a key role in disseminating fears of communism. In 1950 he addressed the Senate, citing 81 separate cases, and made accusations against suspected communists.

Image source: Joseph McCarthy

Senator Pat McCarran (D., Nev.) introduced the McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950, which was passed by the U.S. Congress to combat perceived communist threats within the United States.

Chinese intervention (October–December 1950) in the Korean War (1950–1953) against U.S. forces further aggravated anti-communist fear and suspicion of Asian Americans in the United States.

Image source: Korean War

The film My Son John (1952), about parents' suspicions their son is a spy, reflected and contributed to popular works depicting feared communist espionage during the era.

Image source: My Son John

The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg in 1953, which ended in their execution for spying for the Soviet Union, shocked the American public and intensified fears of communist espionage.

Image source: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

In 1954, Congress passed the Communist Control Act of 1954, which prevented members of the communist party in America from holding office in labor unions and other labor organizations.

In 1954, after accusing the army, including war heroes, Senator Joseph McCarthy lost credibility in the eyes of the American public, and the Army-McCarthy Hearings were held in the summer of 1954, televised nationally.

Image source: Army–McCarthy hearings

From 1955 through 1959, the Supreme Court made several decisions restricting how the government could enforce anti-communist policies, including limiting the federal loyalty program to those with access to sensitive information, allowing defendants to face their accusers, reducing congressional investigation committees' strength, and weakening the Smith Act.

In the 1957 case Yates v. United States, the Supreme Court limited Congress's ability to circumvent the First Amendment, part of a broader judicial retreat from the excesses of McCarthyism.

In the 1961 case Scales v. United States, the Supreme Court addressed Congress's ability to circumvent the First Amendment in relation to membership in the Communist Party.

Image source: Scales v. United States

In 1967, during the Supreme Court case United States v. Robel, the Court continued to limit governmental anti-communist measures, further winding down the legal apparatus of the Red Scares.

In 1995, the American government declassified details of the Venona Project following the Moynihan Commission, which, combined with the opening of the USSR Comintern archives, provided substantial validation of intelligence gathering, outright spying, and policy influencing by Americans on behalf of the Soviet Union from 1940 through 1980.

Image source: Venona project

Between 2000 and 2023, there were 224 reported instances of Chinese espionage directed at the United States, fueling contemporary concerns about Chinese influence and intelligence operations.

According to The New York Times in 2019, China's growing military and economic power has resulted in a "New Red Scare" in the United States.

The fourth iteration of the Committee on the Present Danger, a United States foreign policy interest group, was established on 25 March 2019, branding itself Committee on the Present Danger: China (CPDC).

In 2026, scholars began to use the terms "New Red Scare" and "Third Red Scare" to refer to Donald Trump's recent campaign against his political opponents, most notably the Democratic Socialists of America and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.