And losing control of Congress after 14 years due to Red Scare tactics being leveled against Democrats who didn't in the least deserve it (does Jerry Voorhis look like a Communist?) was just a minor inconvenience, I guess.

Although the Red Scare itself didn’t get underway until 47, Truman and the Dems had already turned on labor by the 46 elections. Their pro-management response to the 45-46 strikes alienated the unions, who as a result weren’t too inclined to help Democratic candidates. That and Truman’s poor handling of the postwar price situation were the main drivers of the GOP wave of 46. The GOP wasn’t able to effectively use the “soft on Communism” line against Dems until China fell.
 
You mean, what if the Truman administration has the leadership of the American Communist Party indicted under the Smith Act? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Act_trials_of_Communist_Party_leaders

You mean, what if Truman institutes an extensive loyalty-security program? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_9835

You mean, what if he has the Attorney General establish a list of subversive organizations? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attorney_General's_List_of_Subversive_Organizations

You mean, what if, say, Hubert Humphrey proposes making membership in the Communist Party a crime? https://books.google.com/books?id=wzGabQcvDvcC&pg=PA158

You mean, what if JFK makes a speech blaming the Communist victory in China on "the Lattimores and the Fairbanks"? http://www.netbarcodelib.com/lib/28900/

You mean, what if a liberal Congressman proposes a law which "required political organizations which were controlled by a foreign power or which engaged in military activities to subvert the American government to register with the Justice Department"? Obviously, that would safeguard him from any future accusations of being soft on Communism! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Voorhis

I might have added: You mean, what if the CIO liberals had ousted the left-wing unions from the CIO? http://www.encyclopedia.com/history...-transcripts-and-maps/cio-anticommunist-drive
 
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