Joseph McCarthy was born in 1908 in Appleton, Wisconsin. He attended school until he was fourteen but dropped out in eighth grade to help on the family farm as well as raise chickens. At the age of twenty, he decided to go back to school and in one year went through ninth to twelfth grades to graduate. He graduated with honors yet he told people he had higher grades than he actually earned. (Morgan 2003)
Ted Morgan in Legal Affairs noted that McCarthy’s high school grades were below 90 due to poor performance in Latin. Yet twelve years later, in 1942 when applying for a commission in the Marines, McCarthy wrote to a Major Holt that he had “graduated on the Honor Roll with an average of slightly over 90”(Podair, Jerald, Kimberly Louagie, Richard Fried, Edward Linenthal, Arthur Herman, Michael O'Brien, and David Oshinsky 2004).
After high school, McCarthy attended five years of school, finally leaving as a lawyer. (Morgan 2003) He worked as a circuit judge from 1939 to 1942 and McCarthy made another poor choice when the Wisconsin Supreme Court criticized him in 1941 for removing a page from a court transcript. He had made a comment on the record that the specific case was a waste of time for him and he did not want this comment to be seen. (Podair, Jerald, Kimberly Louagie, Richard Fried, Edward Linenthal, Arthur Herman, Michael O'Brien, and David Oshinsky 2004) It seems McCarthy felt the need to lie about things even more than just grades. In 1944, he again showed his disregard for the law and rules, by diverting money to his campaign for the Senate through his family and acquaintances. He came under sharp criticism for this. (Podair, Jerald, Kimberly Louagie, Richard Fried, Edward Linenthal, Arthur Herman, Michael O'Brien, and David Oshinsky 2004) There is a pattern of corruption long before his foray into Anti Communism. We can see that McCarthy embellished his accomplishments as well as falsifying information to get ahead long before the word McCarthyism came into use. Meanwhile, fear of Communism would blow up under President Truman and the impending Korean War. Truman was president until 1952, when Eisenhower took over the helm. McCarthy gave a speech to the Ohio County Women’s Republican Club, in Wheeling, WV on February 9, 1950. There was no audio of this speech, but he was quoted as saying "While I cannot take the time to name all of the men in the State Department who have been named as members of the Communist party and members of a spy ring, I have here in my hand a list of 205 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." (Bayley 2014) McCarthy changed this number, 205, later to 57. (Bayley 2014) The number does not really matter, as this was the beginning of McCarthy’s quest to root out Communism in the United States. When McCarthy gave his famous “Wheeling” speech, the country was primed for action and needed a figurehead. Joe McCarthy was that person, for a few years. He believed that there was a hotbed of Communism in the State Department and it was his mission to root them out. One thing that helped him immensely was the passage of the Hatch Act in 1939. The Hatch Act “made it illegal for the federal government to employ Communists.” (Podair, Jerald, Kimberly Louagie, Richard Fried, Edward Linenthal, Arthur Herman, Michael O'Brien, and David Oshinsky 2004) This gave McCarthy all the ammo he needed. Carol Sicherman writes that three short years later, in 1953, McCarthy was the chair of the Permanent Investigating Subcommittee of the Senate Government Operations Committee. He …show more content…
The Russians, who were supposed to be allies, had successfully tested the atomic bomb. Alger Hiss, who worked for the State Department was accused in 1949 of spying for the Russians in the 1930s. (Wall 2016) Add to all this McCarthy’s lack of a conscience, his ability to do whatever it took to root out the Communists, well, McCarthy ended up seriously hampering real Anti-Communism efforts. His “Red” histrionics brought much attention to innocent people and promoted investigation of those blameless citizens when work could have been concentrated elsewhere. (Wall
Ted Morgan in Legal Affairs noted that McCarthy’s high school grades were below 90 due to poor performance in Latin. Yet twelve years later, in 1942 when applying for a commission in the Marines, McCarthy wrote to a Major Holt that he had “graduated on the Honor Roll with an average of slightly over 90”(Podair, Jerald, Kimberly Louagie, Richard Fried, Edward Linenthal, Arthur Herman, Michael O'Brien, and David Oshinsky 2004).
After high school, McCarthy attended five years of school, finally leaving as a lawyer. (Morgan 2003) He worked as a circuit judge from 1939 to 1942 and McCarthy made another poor choice when the Wisconsin Supreme Court criticized him in 1941 for removing a page from a court transcript. He had made a comment on the record that the specific case was a waste of time for him and he did not want this comment to be seen. (Podair, Jerald, Kimberly Louagie, Richard Fried, Edward Linenthal, Arthur Herman, Michael O'Brien, and David Oshinsky 2004) It seems McCarthy felt the need to lie about things even more than just grades. In 1944, he again showed his disregard for the law and rules, by diverting money to his campaign for the Senate through his family and acquaintances. He came under sharp criticism for this. (Podair, Jerald, Kimberly Louagie, Richard Fried, Edward Linenthal, Arthur Herman, Michael O'Brien, and David Oshinsky 2004) There is a pattern of corruption long before his foray into Anti Communism. We can see that McCarthy embellished his accomplishments as well as falsifying information to get ahead long before the word McCarthyism came into use. Meanwhile, fear of Communism would blow up under President Truman and the impending Korean War. Truman was president until 1952, when Eisenhower took over the helm. McCarthy gave a speech to the Ohio County Women’s Republican Club, in Wheeling, WV on February 9, 1950. There was no audio of this speech, but he was quoted as saying "While I cannot take the time to name all of the men in the State Department who have been named as members of the Communist party and members of a spy ring, I have here in my hand a list of 205 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." (Bayley 2014) McCarthy changed this number, 205, later to 57. (Bayley 2014) The number does not really matter, as this was the beginning of McCarthy’s quest to root out Communism in the United States. When McCarthy gave his famous “Wheeling” speech, the country was primed for action and needed a figurehead. Joe McCarthy was that person, for a few years. He believed that there was a hotbed of Communism in the State Department and it was his mission to root them out. One thing that helped him immensely was the passage of the Hatch Act in 1939. The Hatch Act “made it illegal for the federal government to employ Communists.” (Podair, Jerald, Kimberly Louagie, Richard Fried, Edward Linenthal, Arthur Herman, Michael O'Brien, and David Oshinsky 2004) This gave McCarthy all the ammo he needed. Carol Sicherman writes that three short years later, in 1953, McCarthy was the chair of the Permanent Investigating Subcommittee of the Senate Government Operations Committee. He …show more content…
The Russians, who were supposed to be allies, had successfully tested the atomic bomb. Alger Hiss, who worked for the State Department was accused in 1949 of spying for the Russians in the 1930s. (Wall 2016) Add to all this McCarthy’s lack of a conscience, his ability to do whatever it took to root out the Communists, well, McCarthy ended up seriously hampering real Anti-Communism efforts. His “Red” histrionics brought much attention to innocent people and promoted investigation of those blameless citizens when work could have been concentrated elsewhere. (Wall