Wolf Ladejinsky A Public Servant’s Case with Lessons for Today THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH-APRIL 2026 51 FOSCHUESRITAGE Michael Conlon is a retired USDA Foreign Service officer with 36 years of global experience. He writes about international agriculture and diplomacy. This article was adapted from a longer piece, “The Firing of Wolf Ladejinsky,” published in the online publication Quillette on June 4, 2025. Many people know about the Red Scare; less well known, perhaps, is a case that helped bring an end to McCarthyism and its democratic backsliding— that of Wolf Ladejinsky. BY MICHAEL CONLON Wolf Ladejinsky Over its 250-year history, the United States has struggled to live up to its ideals of democracy, including the belief that public service should be a public trust and free from political influence. Many people know about Joseph McCarthy and the Red Scare, a period in the late 1940s and early 1950s when hysteria swept across the country. During this time, fears grew that communists had infiltrated every part of American life, including the U.S. State Department and other government agencies. Thousands of U.S. government workers were caught up in this panic and lost their jobs. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODIyMDU=