| McCarthy, Joseph |
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Politician (1909-1957) |  |
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Born in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, Joe McCarthy graduated from Marquette in 1935 and was admitted to the bar later that year. In 1939, he won election as a circuit court judge. During World War II, he enlisted in the Marines and served in the Pacific. In 1944, he campaigned for senator but lost in the Republican primary. In 1946, he ran for Wisconsin's other senate seat, won the nomination and defeated the incumbent Democrat, Robert M. LaFollette, Jr. |
 | | Joseph McCarthy (1908-1957), anti-Communist crusad | | © 1997 State Historical Society of Wisconsin |
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In a 1950 speech, McCarthy entered the public spotlight by claiming that communists had "infested" the State Department, dramatically waving a sheet of paper which purportedly contained the traitors' names. A special Senate committee investigated the charges and found them groundless. Unfazed, McCarthy used his position to wage a relentless anti-communist crusade, denouncing numerous public figures and holding a series of highly confrontational hearings. With little if any proof of his charges, McCarthy relied on accusation, slander and innuendo to tarnish his opponents' reputations (a practice now known as "McCarthyism"). In 1954, televised hearings allowed millions to view McCarthy's methods for the first time, sparking a public backlash and official censure. He died at the age of 49 of complications related to alcoholism.
SOURCES: Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography; Encyclopedia of American Biography. |
