The trial opened on November 1, 1948, and preliminary proceedings and jury selection lasted until January 17, 1949; the defendants first appeared in court on March 7, and the case concluded on October 14, 1949.[1][27] Although later trials surpassed it, in 1949 it was the longest federal trial in US history.[26][28] The trial was one of the country's most contentious legal proceedings and sometimes had a "circus-like atmosphere".[29] Four hundred police officers were assigned to the site on the opening day of the trial.[26] Magazines, newspapers, and radio reported on the case heavily; Time magazine featured the trial on its cover twice with stories titled "Communists: The Presence of Evil" and "Communists: The Little Commissar" (referring to Eugene Dennis).[30]