Fellow Travelers True Story: The Army-McCarthy Hearings & Controversial Fabrications Explained

The critically acclaimed Showtime series Fellow Travelers follows the true story of the Arm-McCarthy hearings, with some scenes being picture-perfect representations of historical events. After five episodes of the eight-part miniseries, Fellow Travelers has proven to be a robust and thoughtful portrait of one of the darkest periods in American history with regard to the Red Scare of communism, the Lavender Scare of the LGBTQ+ community, and the radical and discriminatory ideologies of McCarthyism. Matt Bomer’s Hawk Fuller is one of the most rich and complex characters on television in 2023, with the suave bravado of a Don Draper that only masks a delightful sensitivity.

Fellow Travelers episode 5 takes a deep dive into the real-life Army-McCarthy hearings that captured the American public’s fascination in 1954, a time when oppression in all forms was a paramount factor in determining the status quo. While Hawk is a fictional character in the series, his circumstances were true for many politicians and government employees working at the U.S. Capitol during that time period. If nothing else, Fellow Travelers sheds light on the sheer hypocrisy at the core of McCarthy’s tyrannical campaign to gain political influence in the Senate, exploiting the lines of suspected “deviants” and “subversives” and using them as scapegoats to improve his public image.

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McCarthy’s Subcommittee Investigated The United States Army In 1953

The U.S. Army retaliated by inquiring about David Schine’s special privileges

McCarthyism inspired the creation of several committees that were determined to identify and remove “subversives” such as communists and members of the LGBTQ+ community from positions of power in both government and entertainment. McCarthy appointed Roy Cohn to lead his Subcommittee of Investigations, which is arguably one of the worst decisions he made during his political career. Cohn ran away with the power that McCarthy offered him, using it to leverage personal favors for recent Harvard University graduate David Schine and taking on the U.S. Army in a legal battle that ended up damaging both his and McCarthy’s political careers.

Cohn and McCarthy, who were evidently fueled by self-importance and grandiosity, were the first to “poke the bear”, accusing the U.S. Army of concealing communist activity at a laboratory in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. The Army denied these allegations and responded by inquiring about Cohn’s special interest in Schine, who had been granted the military classification “4F” (unable to serve) despite being a seemingly well-bodied and capable young man. As depicted in Fellow Travelers episode 3, Schine was eventually stripped of his 4F classification was was drafted into the Army but still received special privileges such as weekend passes and custom boots through Cohn’s flexing of his political muscle.

The Army-McCarthy Hearings Were Broadcasted On National Television

The hearings lasted over a month and were viewed by roughly 80 million people

With the advancement of television becoming the new modern medium in entertainment during the 1950s and effectively replacing the radio, the Army-McCarthy hearings were one of the earliest forms of televised public hearings that took America by storm. The landmark event became a public spectacle and was reported to have had roughly 80 million total viewers throughout its 36-day period. The Army-McCarthy hearings were broadcast live on ABC and DuMont, which was one of America’s earliest television channels that ended soon after in 1956.

Prior to the Army-McCarthy hearings, McCarthy had largely used television as a tool for spreading his ideologies and gaining political favor and power. McCarthy had initially gone on television in 1950 to declare that “205” members of the U.S. State Department were suspected Communists, a move that had a major impact in sparking the Red and Lavender Scares and shifting the public image to start viewing him as a sort of American hero and protector of American ideals. Fellow Travelers episode 5 suggests that McCarthy had made up that figure in order to start his campaign against communism, a theme that is consistent with his and Cohn’s fabrications throughout the Amry-McCarthyhearings.

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Roy Cohn Was Exposed For Doctoring A Photo Of Schine & Army Secretary Stevens

McCarthy also fabricated a letter from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover

Fellow Travelers episode 5 depicts the real-life occurrence in which Roy Cohn had a photograph of David Schine and Army Secretary Robert T. Stevens doctored in order to provide false evidence of Schine’s significance within the U.S. Army. The lame attempt was intended to substantiate the special treatment that Schine had received as a Private and effectively clear Cohn’s alleged involvement in inappropriately leveraging the Army for Schine’s various advantages. The actual photograph of Schine and Stevens with other soldiers present was later revealed in court and broadcast to the entire nation for everyone to see Cohn caught in the lie.

In the same being, McCarthy brought forth fabricated evidence to the Army-McCarthy hearings in the form of a fraudulent memo written by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover with a clear warning about communist activity at Fort Monmouth. McCarthy accused Army Secretary Stevens of ignoring the letter and forcing the Subcommittee of Investigations to look into the matter. McCarthy claimed that he received the memo from a member of United States intelligence but wouldn’t reveal his source. McCarthy’s claim was eventually disproven during the Army-McCarthy hearings after Hoover denied having ever written the memo and there was no record of it at the FBI.

McCarthy’s Political Influence & Popularity Greatly Diminished After The Hearings

Cohn and Schine both resigned from McCarthy’s office and pursued other interests

McCarthy’s reputation and public image unsurprisingly declined after the Army-McCarthy hearings, with his approval ratings tanking from 50% at the beginning of 1954 to 16% towards the end of the year. McCarthy was acquitted of any wrongdoing in the matter of Schine’s special privileges as a Private and Cohn’s inappropriate strong-arming of the U.S. Army. Cohn resigned from McCarthy’s office and began a private law practice in New York City, eventually becoming an attorney for Donald Trump in the 1980s. Cohn died of complications due to AIDS in 1986 despite adamantly denying that he was a homosexual throughout his entire life.

David Schine left politics after the Army-McCarthy hearing and got into entertainment, eventually becoming an executive producer of the 1971 film The French Connection. At the end of 1954, the Senate voted to censure McCarthy by a wide margin, which allowed him to keep his role as Senator but essentially rid him of all his former power and influence. McCarthy was effectively disavowed by the political world and the American public and reportedly developed a dependency on alcohol, dying of hepatitis in 1957 at the age of 48. Despite rumors of his homosexual activity in Fellow Travelers, no official evidence has been presented on the matter.