The activities of Senator Joseph R, McCarthy and his tactics, called McCarthyism, directly influenced the domestic and foreign policy of the United States government during the early 1950's. McCarthy, taking advantage of the post-war Red Scare of the late 1940's, helped create a national mood of fear and suspicion. McCarthyism affected more than just national affairs. An examination of Houston, Texas during the McCarthy period, 1950-1954. Indicates that McCarthyism was a local as well as a national phenomenon, Houston, Texas experienced its own post-war Red Scare and had its own small group of citizens who imitated and supported Senator McCarthy's tactics. Wealthy and powerful local leaders such as Hugh Roy Cullen and Jesse Jones supported McCarthyism, directly and indirectly. However, most of Houston's McCarthyism was directed by less well known citizens who formed McCarthyite super-patriot groups such as Doctors For Freedom, The Committee for the Preservation of Methodism, and the Minute Women of the U.S.A., Inc. The latter group, the Minute Women, became the most powerful and active of the McCarthyite organizations. [...]