The tactic of damaging reputations with vague, unfounded charges became known as

The correct answer is McCarthyism.

McCarthyism is the act of making allegations of subversion or injustice without legitimate respect for prove. The term alludes to U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy and has its origin in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, enduring generally from 1947 to 1956 and portrayed by uplifted political constraint and in addition a battle spreading trepidation of Communist effect on American organizations and of undercover work by Soviet operators.

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