On January 30, 1954, army captain Dr. Irving Peress appeared before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and Senator Joseph McCarthy. Peress had been drafted into the army in October 1952, and was promoted automatically through the provisions of the Doctor Draft Law in November 1953. Peress had not signed a loyalty oath and had been recommended for discharge, but somehow, nothing was done. McCarthy investigated Peress’ promotion on December 5, and called for an immediate discharge. When Peress appeared before the committee he refused to answer McCarthy’s questions by claiming his Fifth Amendment rights. McCarthy then sent a message to Secretary of the Army Robert Stevens demanding that Peress be court-martialed. At the same time Peress requested that he be discharged from the Army immediately, and the next day, Brigadier General Ralph Zwicker, the commanding officer at Camp Kilmer in New Jersey, gave Peress an honorable discharge. Zwicker was summoned to appear before the committee on February 18, and on the advice of counsel, refused to answer all of the questions McCarthy asked. McCarthy accused Zwicker of perjury and said that he had the brains of a “five year old” and was “not fit to wear the uniform.” Secretary Stevens ordered General Zwicker not to return to the hearing. Stevens then agreed to meet with Senators McCarthy, Dirkson, Mundt and some other Republians over lunch, where he signed a memorandum of understanding, in which he agreed to most of McCarthy’s demands. McCarthy told a reporter that Stevens “could not have given in more abjectly if he had got down on his knees.” This whole incident lead to the Army-McCarthy hearings which were televised live by the ABC television network, and an estimated 80 million people watched part of them. On December 2, 1954, the Senate voted by a two-thirds majority to censure him.
Greenfield Recorder-Gazette. “Stevens May Resign If He Does Not Receive Support From Eisenhower.” February 25, 1954. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l06-068/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
Please note: Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.