Nixon never elected to Congress: what of the HUAC?

I'm trying to write a timeline which begins with Richard Nixon never becoming a congressional candidate in 1946, and I'm running into a bit of an issue near the beginning. Needless to say, Nixon's role in the Second Red Scare, especially in the Alger Hiss Trial, was immense. However, was it indispensable? Is it possible that, without Nixon, Whittaker Chambers may not have been taken as seriously and Alger Hiss may have gone unconvicted? If this is the case, how would this impact the HUAC and McCarthyism? If it is not, would the absence of Richard Nixon in Congress have had any other major impacts on the Second Red Scare, possibly bringing it to a swifter conclusion?
 
Nixon was the only serious Republican on the committee, so Hiss would probably not be convicted. McCarthy would still use China and Truman's perceived laxity on loyalty programs to whip up hysteria though. McCarthy can go on as long as his liver holds out so long as he doesn't touch the armed forces or religious institutions (the latter borderline ASB).
 
Nixon was the only serious Republican on the committee, so Hiss would probably not be convicted. McCarthy would still use China and Truman's perceived laxity on loyalty programs to whip up hysteria though. McCarthy can go on as long as his liver holds out so long as he doesn't touch the armed forces or religious institutions (the latter borderline ASB).

Thanks for the input. Do you think that Hiss avoiding conviction would have any sort of impact on the Hollywood Ten or any other facet of the Second Red Scare? Might we see (as I was thinking) public opinion turn away from red-baiting, or is that totally off-base?

(Also, I approve of your new User Title. :D)
 
I don't think so. The extremely violent wildcat strike at Warner in '47, which among other things turned Reagan Republican, would only fuel the Hollywood Ten fire. Public opinion won't turn away from red-baiting until McCarthy oversteps or Murrow produces that documentary.
 
I don't think so. The extremely violent wildcat strike at Warner in '47, which among other things turned Reagan Republican, would only fuel the Hollywood Ten fire. Public opinion won't turn away from red-baiting until McCarthy oversteps or Murrow produces that documentary.

I thought most of the Reps were liberal in '47?
 
Umm... Taftites were not known for being "liberal" by either the Gladstonian or 2010 definitions of that term. A better description would be "ultra-isolationist domestic reactionaries". The Eastern Establishment, with whose views Nixon was more aligned both on foreign and domestic policy, were internationalists abroad and Rocky Republicans at home.
 
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