McCarthy, Joseph Raymond (1908-1957), a Republican United States senator from Wisconsin, was one of the most controversial figures in American politics. He gained worldwide attention in the early 1950’s by charging that Communists had infiltrated the government. McCarthy conducted several public investigations of Communist influence on U.S. foreign policy. Some people praised him as a patriot, but others condemned him for publicly accusing people of disloyalty without sufficient evidence. He did not succeed in identifying any Communists employed by the government. His widely scattered charges gave rise to a new word, McCarthyism. See McCarthyism.
McCarthy was elected to the Senate in 1946. He attracted national attention in 1950 by accusing the Department of State of harboring Communists. President Harry S. Truman, a Democrat, and Secretary of State Dean Acheson denied McCarthy’s charges. But most of McCarthy’s fellow senators of both parties were aware of his widespread support and were anxious to avoid challenging him. So was General Dwight D. Eisenhower, both as Republican presidential candidate and soon after becoming president in 1953. McCarthy also accused the Eisenhower Administration of treason.
A number of circumstances caused many Americans to believe McCarthy’s charges. These included the frustrations of the Korean War, the Chinese Communist conquest of mainland China, and the conviction of several Americans as Soviet spies.
During nationally televised hearings in 1954, McCarthy accused the U.S. Army of “coddling Communists.” The Army made countercharges of improper conduct by members of McCarthy’s staff. As a result of the hearings, McCarthy lost the support of millions of people. The Senate condemned him in 1954 for “contemptuous” conduct toward a subcommittee that had investigated his finances in 1952, and for his abuse of a committee that recommended he be censured.
McCarthy was born in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, on Nov. 14, 1908, and graduated from Marquette University. He wrote America’s Retreat from Victory: The Story of George Catlett Marshall (1951) and McCarthyism: The Fight for America (1952). He died on May 2, 1957.
