Joseph McCarthy

Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14 1908 – May 2 1957) was an American politician originally aligned with the United States Democratic Party and later with the United States Republican Party. McCarthy served as a U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 to 1957. During his ten years in the Senate, McCarthy and his staff became notorious for aggressive investigations of people in the U.S. government and others who were suspected of being Communists or Communist sympathizers.

Senator

McCarthy's first three years in the Senate were unremarkable. While he was considered friendly and likeable, he was not taken seriously. McCarthy was criticized for his defense of a group of Nazis that had been sentenced to death for their role in the Malmédy massacre of American prisoners of war in 1944. Their death sentences were commuted to life in part because of McCarthy's charges that they had been denied due process. Many charged the Senator had been duped or enticed by neo-Nazis.

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McCarthy made a large number of speeches to many different organizations, covering a wide range of topics. His most notable early campaigns were for housing legislation and against sugar rationing. During the presidency of Harry Truman his national profile rose meteorically after his Lincoln Day speech of February 9, 1950, to the Republican Women's Club of Wheeling, West Virginia.

Related Topics:
Harry Truman - February 9 - 1950 - Wheeling, West Virginia

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McCarthy's words in the speech are a matter of some dispute, as they were not reliably recorded at the time, the media presence being minimal. It is generally agreed, however, that he produced a piece of paper which he claimed contained a list of known communists working for the State Department. McCarthy is quoted to have said "I have here in my hand a list of 205 people that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party, and who, nevertheless, are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department". McCarthy stated that he referred to 57 "known Communists," the number 205 referring to the number of people employed by the State Department who, for various security reasons, should not be. The exact number stated later became a matter of some importance when it was used as the basis of an accusation of perjury against McCarthy.

Related Topics:
State Department - Communist Party - Perjury

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The State Department had a document which listed employees over whom there were various concerns, not merely related to loyalty but also including issues such as drunkenness and incompetence. The effect of McCarthy's speech, in a nation already worried by the aggressiveness of the Soviet Union in Europe and alarmed by the trial of Alger Hiss already in progress, was electric. McCarthy's accusation was seen as an explanation for the fall of China to the Maoists and the Soviets' development of the atomic bomb the year before.

Related Topics:
Soviet Union - Europe - Trial - Alger Hiss - Fall of China - Maoists - Atomic bomb

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McCarthy himself was taken aback at the massive media response to the speech, and continually revised both his charges and his figures over the following days, a characteristic feature of his method of operation. In Salt Lake City, Utah a few days later he cited a figure of 57, and in the Senate on February 20 he claimed 81. He made a marathon speech discussing all these cases in detail, but the evidence for many was tenuous or non-existent; nevertheless, the impact of the speech was considerable. The Senate convened the Tydings committee to examine the charges, which eventually found them to be groundless. Three days after the Tydings Committee dismissed McCarthy's claims, the FBI arrested Julius Rosenberg on charges of espionage for assisting the Soviet Union obtain information from the Manhattan Project to develop an atomic weapon. Rosenberg, however, was not one of those named by McCarthy.

Related Topics:
Salt Lake City, Utah - February 20 - FBI - Julius Rosenberg - Espionage - Soviet Union - Manhattan Project - Atomic weapon

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McCarthy attempted political destruction of his critics, which he achieved when he campaigned against four-term incumbent Millard Tydings in 1950, a victory that severely intimidated his would-be critics. This election was later called one of the dirtiest in American politics. McCarthy's henchmen joined a photograph of Tydings and one of a well known Communist. This was widely distributed, ending Tyding's career. McCarthy once assaulted a journalist, Drew Pearson, in a Congressional rest-room. McCarthy admitted the assault, but claimed he only "slapped" Pearson. Pearson said McCarthy "kicked me in the groin. Twice."

Related Topics:
Millard Tydings - 1950

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