In “Declaration of Conscience,” Margaret Chase Smith addresses the American public and the United States Senate at a time of political turmoil. Communist accusations and a “national sense of fear” gave rise to this speech. Even with an election coming up, the Republican Party decided that a freshman senator would address the public, a rare practice at the time. In this article, I will argue that Margaret Chase Smith's “Declaration of Conscience” proves her credibility as a politician. Smith uses a masculine tone, simple diction and repetition to prove to Americans and the Senate that she is a strong political figure. Margaret Chase Smith began her political career when a woman in Congress was rare. She won her first seat in the United States House of Representatives after the death of her husband in 1940. In 1949, Smith won a seat in the United States Senate and became the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress. At that time, the Senate did not have women's restrooms. However, Smith refused to believe that her gender made a difference in her political career. Prior to Senator Smith's speech, Senator Joe McCarthy had gained public prominence after accusing several people in the State Department of being communists in a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia. Although she worried about communists, Smith grew tired of McCarthy's accusations after he ignored his demands for evidence that proved these people were communists. Smith was initially hesitant to speak, as she was only a freshman senator at the time. Senator Smith explained the Senate tradition that "freshman senators were to be seen and not heard." However, she became increasingly frustrated with the Wisconsin senator, a...... middle of paper ......nscience.htmlUnited States Senate. “A declaration of conscience”. Accessed February 15, 2011. http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/A_Declaration_of_Conscience.htmUnited States Senate. “A declaration of conscience.” Kim E Nielsen. "Book review by Belle Moskowitz: Women's Politics and the Exercise of Power in the Age of Alfred E. Smith, and: No Room for a Woman: A Life of Senator Margaret Chase Smith, and: Barbara Jordan : American hero." Feminist Formations, Fall 2001, 205. Nielsen, “No Place for a Woman,” 204. United States Senate, “A Declaration of Conscience.” Ibid. Smith, “Declaration of Conscience.” Ibid. United States Senate, “A Declaration” of Conscience. » Smith, “Declaration of Conscience”. Ibid. Ibid. “Plain Talk in the Senate,” New York Times, June 3, 1950, p. 14. Nielsen, “No Place for a Woman,” 204.