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House Un-American Activities Committee

2007-03-14T01:55:07Z

Athoswhite:

The '''House Un-American Activities Committee''' or '''HUAC''' (or, rarely, '''HUAAC''') (1945-1975) was an investigating committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to the '''Committee on Internal Security'''. The House abolished the committee in 1975 and its functions were transferred to the House Judiciary Committee.

==Dies Committee (1938-1944)==

The House Committee on Un-American Activities grew from a special investigating committee established in May of 1938 chaired by [[Martin Dies Jr.|Martin Dies]] and co-chaired by [[Samuel Dickstein (congressman)|Samuel Dickstein]], himself named in the Venona project as a Soviet agent. In pre-war years and during World War II it was known as the '''Dies Committee'''. Its work was supposed to be aimed mostly at German-American involvement in [[Republican Party|Nazi]] and [[Republican Party|KKK]] activity. As to investigations into the activities of the "Klan," the Committee actually did little. When HUAC's chief counsel Ernest Adamson announced that: "The committee has decided that it lacks sufficient data on which to base a probe," committee member John E. Rankin added: "After all, the KKK is an old American institution." Instead of the Klan, HUAC concentrated on investigating the possibility that the [[American Communist Party]] had infiltrated the [[Works Progress Administration]], including the Federal Theatre Project.

In 1938 Hallie Flanagan, the head of the Federal Theatre Project was subpoenaed to appear before the committee to answer the charge that the project was overrun with [[communism|communists]]. Flanagan was called to testify for only a part of one day, while a clerk from the project was called in for two entire days. This may have had something to do with the fact that one of the members of the committee embarrassed himself by asking whether the Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe was a member of the [[Communist Party]].

And in 1939 the committee investigated leaders of the [[American Youth Congress]], a [[Comintern]] affiliate organization.

==Post War subversion investigations==

HUAC became a standing (permanent) committee in 1946. Under the mandate of Public Law 601, passed by the Seventy-ninth United States Congress|79th Congress, the committee of nine representatives investigated suspected threats of subversion or propaganda that "attacks the form of government guaranteed by our [[United States Constitution|Constitution]]."

The committee came into its own when it acted on suspicions that some people with Communist sympathies and affiliations worked within the United States government. The background to this was the fact that radicals in the 1930s had often been attracted to [[Marxism]], particularly to the "[[Popular Front]]" . Several of these people had reached positions of power during World War II and the late 1940s.

In 1947 HUAC investigated Wartime shipment of uranium to the [[Soviet Union]]. The Committee found that in 1943, with high-level protection inside the government, the United States government issued export licenses for delivery of millions of pounds of [[atomic bomb]]-making materials. Restrictive orders of the [[Manhattan Project]] were by-passed by an American firm called the Canadian Radium and Uranium Corporation. Security concerns at the National Laboratories also came under review.

There were also fears agents were still actively working to subvert American foreign policy, and needed to be removed from positions of influence. In particular, the committee, with the leadership of Congressmen such as [[Richard Nixon]], brought about the trial and conviction of State Department employee [[Alger Hiss]].

The committee investigated so-called "Communist front" organizations, or Comintern affiliates, to determine if the group was effectively under the control of the [[CPUSA|Communist Party]] or party members. Individuals such as W. E. B. DuBois and [[I. F. Stone]] were found to have been affiliated with literally dozens of Comintern sponsored groups, although, in reality, many of the groups were nothing more than glorified petition drives, and disappeared after a single publicity campaign on behalf of a particular cause. The Committee determined that some of the groups were petition drives involved in election fraud. A "front organization" acts like a "cutout", often by their sheer number, it helps to consume the limited resources of investigators and slowdown counterintelligence operations. In the late 1940s the committee held nine days of hearings into Communist inspired propaganda by Hollywood. After being convicted of contempt of Congress charges several where "blacklisted" by motion picture industry producers.

==Further reading==
*US House of Representatives, 81st Congress, 2nd Session, Committee on Un-American Activities, Hearings Regarding Shipment of Atomic Material to the Soviet Union During World War II (DC, US Gov Printing Office [GPO], 1950)

==External link==
*[http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/pdf/10.1525/hsps.2001.32.1.145 The National Laboratories and the Atomic Energy Commission in the Early Cold War]
*[http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/cointelpro/theoharris.htm ''Political Counterintelligence''] Subversive Activities Control Board (SACB)

Adolf Hitler

2007-03-14T01:52:08Z

Athoswhite:

[[Image:Adolf_hitler.gif|thumb|right|200px|Adolf Hitler]]
'''Adolf Hitler''' was a [[Germany|German]] dictator, born in [[Austria]] (which he later attempted to unify with Germany), in the 1930s and 1940s.

Hitler was a great orator who made the people of Germany believe that he could lead them out of their economic problems. He also inspired a strong sense of nationalism and [[Republican Party|racism]] in the German people. He was the dictator of Germany, and brought an end to the Weimar Republic. He led Germany into [[World War II]], and was responsible for the deaths of millions of [[Jew]]s, many disabled persons, and [[homosexual]]s, along with many other groups, through the so-called "final solution".
[[Category:Biographies]]

Bill Clinton

2007-03-14T01:40:53Z

Athoswhite:

[[Image:billclinton.jpg|thumb|right|150px|United States President Bill Clinton]]
'''Bill Clinton''' (full name: William Jefferson Clinton) served as the 42nd [[President of the United States of America]] from 1993-2001, following [[George H. W. Bush]] and preceding [[George W. Bush]].

== Early Life ==
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Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946 AD in Hope, Arkansas. His father, William Jefferson Blythe Jr. died in a car accident while his mother was pregnant with him. Clinton's mother later married Roger Clinton, and the four year-old William was given his stepfather's name.[http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/bc42.html]

Clinton was active in high high school, participating in various student government organizations as well as playing the saxophone. Roger Clinton, however, made Bill's family life unpleasant by repeatedly abusing Clinton's mother and her children.'''(sources needed)''' Bill Clinton would eventually stand up to his stepfather in high school, forcing him to stop beating his mother and kicking him out of the house. '''(sources needed)''' After Roger Clinton underwent alcohol rehabiliation, he would eventually rejoin the family.

Clinton attended [[Georgetown University]], then [[Oxford University]] after winning a [[Rhodes Scholarship]], and finally earned a Juris Doctorate from [[Yale University]] in 1973 ADE. At Yale he met [[Hillary Rodham]], whom he would later marry [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/bc42.html].

== Early Political Career ==
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After returning to live in Arkansas, Clinton was elected [[Attorney General]] of Arkansas in 1976 AD. Two years later, he was elected Governor of Arkansas, becoming the youngest governor in the country as a 32 year-old. Though defeated in 1980 AD, Clinton won back the governorship in 1982 AD and held it until becoming President in 1992 AD. During his time as governor, Clinton was known for his bipartisan leadership. '''(sources needed)'''Some business transactions he while made were extensively investigated for years (the [[Whitewater]] scandal), though apparantly there was not enough evidence found to warrant an indictment. '''(sources needed)'''

== Presidency ==
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Clinton's presidency is notable as he never won a majority of the popular vote, only a bare plurality. Interestingly, his successor, George W. Bush, also won election without receiving a majority of the popular vote--or a plurality. Clinton won in 1992 with 43% of the popular vote versus President [[George H. W. Bush's]] 37%, capitalizing on public discontent with a weak economy and public displeasure with Bush's proposed tax increases, and Ross Perot, a popular third candidate. In his first two years in office, 1993 through 1994, Clinton was unable to "reform" health-care in the United States by some sort of government-backed universal health-care insurance, which many conservatives felt would result in effective government control of the health care system. '''(sources needed)''' His approach consisted of appointing a planning committee with secret members to reshape this important sector of the economy. '''(sources needed)''' The [[Association of American Physicians and Surgeons]] successfully sued to force disclosure of the committee members, and Clinton was ultimately unable to pass the program.'''(sources needed)'''

In 1994, voters expressed their high disapproval of Clinton by giving a landslide victory to Republicans in Congress, where Republicans won 49.9% of the popular vote (compared to the Democrat's 44%). This event was tagged the "Republican Revolution," and began a series of showdowns with the Republican-led Congress.'''(sources needed)''' These showdowns were epitomized by the budget conflict with then-Speaker of the House [[Newt Gingrich]] in 1995. Gingrich refused to pass Clinton's budget proposal, and the latter threatened to shut down the government if he did not have his way. '''(sources needed)'''When Clinton called his bluff, Gingrich caused the federal government to shut down for several days.'''(sources needed)''' Clinton did not cave, however, and eventually had his budget passed [http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/commentprint082800d.html]. This showdown backfired for the Republicans, as it reinvigorated Clinton's flagging approval ratings, which would remain above 60% for most of his presidency[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Clinton_approval_rating.JPG].

Clinton was reelected in 1996 with 49.2% of the popular vote against Republican candidate ([[Robert Dole | Bob Dole]]), who won 41%, and "populist" candidate, [[H. Ross Perot]], who won 8%. Clinton spent a lot of the remainder of his presidency combating scandals. '''(sources needed)''' A special prosecutor was named to investigate Clinton for allegations of impropriety in the Whitewater real-estate scandal, an investment of Clinton's in a failed real estate venture. '''(sources needed)''' Although nothing came out of this investigation, and it turned out that Clinton actually lost money on his investment, one of the results of the investigation was that the special prosecutor turned to investigating other Clinton activities, one of which (the [[Monica Lewinsky]] scandal) resulted in his impeachment.'''(sources needed)''' After a brief trial, the Senate acquitted all charges.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/02/12/impeachment/</ref>

Clinton was impeached by the US House of Representatives during his second term for lying in grand jury testimony connected to the Paula Jones lawsuit.'''(sources needed)''' However, the US Senate voted not to remove him from office. His term also saw an increase in terrorism directed at the United States. '''(sources needed)''' These incidents included the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, the Alfred P. Murrah building bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995, the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and the attack on the USS Cole in 2000. '''(sources needed)''' Clinton responded by striking back at [[al Qaeda]], the organization responsible for the attacks. '''(sources needed)''' He launched cruise missile strikes aimed to kill al Qaeda's leader [[Osama bin Laden]] [http://www.cnn.com/US/9808/20/us.strikes.01/], and began planning to invade [[Afghanistan]] in order to capture bin Laden and overthrow the [[Taliban]] government[http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/nov2001/afgh-n20.shtml].

Clinton also signed into law the [[Violence Against Women Act]], which opened the federal courts to claims of domestic disputes between men and women, which had always been handled under state rather than federal law. '''(sources needed)''' A key provision of this law was later ruled unconstitutional in [[United States v. Morrison]].<ref>http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-5.ZS.html</ref>

Under Clinton's presidency, the economy boomed, creating the largest ever budget surplus. <ref>http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/09/27/clinton.surplus/</ref>

Clinton devoted much time during his two terms to the peace process in Northern Ireland. '''(sources needed)''' He made interventions including 3 trips to Ireland during periods of stagnation in negotiations which coincided in major breakthroughs which ensured the province didn't slide back to the violence of the 70's and 80's. '''(sources needed)'''

== After the Presidency ==
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Clinton has spent much of time since leaving office working for charitable causes such as support and fundraising for the victims of AIDS and the Asian tsunami.

Bill Clinton's wife, [[Hillary_Rodham_Clinton|Hillary Clinton]], may be seeking the presidency as well. She was elected Senator to New York in 2000. Reelected in 2006, she is now running for president in 2008.

Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff was John Podesta between 1998-2001.

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'''Sources:''' <references/>

[[Category:Biographies]]
[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]