About Joseph McCarthy
Before the SenateBorn on November 14, 1908 near Appleton, Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy was born. McCarthy did very well in school and attended Marquette University in Milwaukee. McCarthy received his law degree in 1935. McCarthy then worked extremely hard to run for judgeship in Wisconsin's tenth judicial circuit. McCarthy became the youngest person in Wisconsin to become a circuit judge.
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McCarthy in the SenateIn 1946, McCarthy was elected into Senate. McCarthy was quite unremarkable for the first term. But, in 1950, he made his mark. McCarthy accused 205 government workers of being communists. After being reelected in 1952, he was appointed chairman of the Senate's subcommittee on investigations. For the next two years, McCarthy investigated the government thoroughly for any communist activity.
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Influenced by McCarthyMcCarthy had a very slow start to his political career. After accusing 205 government officials, promising to give up 57 names, McCarthy made his mark. From then on, McCarthy then went on to rigorously investigate, and blacklist whoever he suspected to have communist affiliations. Most of McCarthy's accusations were based on very little, or no evidence. But, some communists were uncovered thanks to McCarthy's paranoia, but McCarthy's communist fever rubbed off on the rest of the country.
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McCarthy and Eisenhower
Although McCarthy was able to essentially get away with murder, some people did see through his loosely based accusations and abuse of power. However, Eisenhower did not seem to want to confront McCarthy. Eisenhower tried to stop McCarthy any way he could without alerting him, but none of his actions were successful. When McCarthy sent Eisenhower a telegram, Eisenhower made it clear to McCarthy that he did not approve of his actions. Below is the telegram sent to Eisenhower, as well as his response.