Final answer:
Senator Joseph McCarthy is viewed as a demagogue due to his manipulative tactics and baseless accusations during the Second Red Scare, which caused widespread fear and discouraged dissent and progressive reforms.
Step-by-step explanation:
Joseph McCarthy can be seen as a demagogue due to his emotionally appealing and manipulative tactics, primarily to gain power and influence by arousing fear, bias, and irrational behavior in the population without providing substantial evidence for his claims. During the Second Red Scare, he exacerbated the fear of communism by claiming to have lists of Communists in the U.S. government, despite never producing credible evidence. McCarthy's relentless accusations created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion, where individuals were reluctant to express dissenting views or support progressive legislation due to the risk of being labeled as 'socialist' or accused of disloyalty. The hysteria from McCarthy's actions, a phenomenon now known as McCarthyism, led to the investigation of the Voice of America, State Department's overseas libraries, and other government agencies, supported by prominent Republicans for allegedly being soft on communism. McCarthy's approach of making baseless allegations was replicated by others, furthering a culture of fear where the difference between dissent and disloyalty was blurred in the minds of many Americans. Journalists like Edward Murrow and playwrights like Arthur Miller challenged McCarthyism through indirect means, helping to raise public awareness of its excessive nature. In essence, McCarthyism and the actions of Senator McCarthy during this period had significant consequences on American society, discouraging free speech and progressive reforms, whilst contributing to domestic policies during the Cold War era.