Joseph Raymond McCarthy was an American politician. He served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. McCarthy became the most visible public face of a period in the United States in which Cold War tensions fueled fears of widespread communist subversion. He is known for alleging that numerous communists and Soviet spies and sympathizers had infiltrated the federal government, universities, film industry, and elsewhere.
About Joseph McCarthy in brief
Joseph Raymond McCarthy was an American politician. He served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. McCarthy became the most visible public face of a period in the United States in which Cold War tensions fueled fears of widespread communist subversion. He is known for alleging that numerous communists and Soviet spies and sympathizers had infiltrated the federal government, universities, film industry, and elsewhere. Ultimately, the smear tactics that he used led him to be censured by the U. S. Senate. The term ‘McCarthyism’ was coined in 1950 in reference to McCarthy’s practices, was soon applied to similar anti-communist activities. Today, the term is used more broadly to mean demagogic, reckless, and unsubstantiated accusations, as well as public attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents. McCarthy died at the age of 48 at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, on May 2, 1957. His death certificate listed the cause of death as \”Hepatitis, acute, cause unknown\”. Some biographers say this was caused or exacerbated by alcoholism. McCarthy was born in 1908 on a farm in the town of Grand Chute in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, the fifth of seven children. His mother, Bridget, was from County Tipperary, Ireland. His father, Timothy McCarthy, was the son of an Irish father and a German mother. McCarthy dropped out of junior high school at age 14 to help his parents manage their farm.
He attended Marquette University from 1930 to 1935. McCarthy worked his way through college, studying first electrical engineering for two years, then law, and receiving an LL. B. degree in 1935. He was admitted to the bar in 1936. During his years as a district attorney, McCarthy made money on the side by gambling. In 1939, he became the youngest circuit judge in Wisconsin’s history by defeating Edgar V. Werner, who had been a judge for 24 years. In 1940, McCarthy was elected to the 10th District District District Court. In 1941, he was elected as a judge. In 1942, he served as an intelligence briefing officer for a dive bomber squadron. He volunteered to fly twelve combat missions as a gunner-observer. After one where he was allowed to shoot as much ammunition as he wanted to, mainly at coconut trees, he acquired the nickname ‘Tail-Gunner Joe’ He died in 1957 at age 48 at age 66, claiming that he was 73, and so allegedly too old to handle the duties of his office and so infirm to handle his duties. In Twentieth-Century America, Ted Morgan wrote: ‘Pompous and condescending, he disliked lawyers and disliked people he was disliked. That’s why he was so disliked and so disliked by lawyers and lawyers he was allegedly too infirm and so so old and so condescending to his office’ He was one of the few senators ever to be disciplined in this fashion.
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