10 Insidious Villains Of American Political History
American political history is remembered mostly for its heroes—George Washington, Thaddeus Stevens, the Roosevelts—but it is also ripe with villainy. Some historical wrongdoers, of course, have earned infamy, such as Jefferson Davis, William “Boss” Tweed, and Joe McCarthy. Others, like those on this list, have faded from the collective consciousness of the American populace.
10 Henry Styles Bridges
A Republican senator from New Hampshire from 1937 until his death in 1961, Henry Styles Bridges was an uncommonly ardent anticommunist and a steadfast defender of the more famous Joseph McCarthy. Bridges is one of the few to have voted against McCarthy’s censure in 1954. He also supported the “witch hunts” which took place during the second “Red Scare” as well as the persecution of gay civil servants during the so-called “lavender scare.”