A Biography of Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond McCarthy was born on a farm in Appleton, Wisconsin on November 14th, 1908. His parents were devout Roman Catholics and McCarthy was the fifth on nine children. After attending the local elementary school, he left school at 14 and worked as a chicken farmer. McCarthy later managed a grocery store in the nearby town of Manawa, where he was considered to be a popular person and the store was quite profitable. He was encouraged by his friends to attend high school and so in 1928, at the age of 20, McCarthy returned to school and completed the normal four-year high school curriculum in one year. He graduated in 1935 from the Marquette University in Milwaukee with a degree in law. After graduation, McCarthy set up a law practice in Waupaca, another nearby town. It is reported that McCarthy experienced very little success as a lawyer, only taking four cases in nine months. It is also reported that he supplemented his income through poker games. At that time, he went to work in Shawano for Mike Eberlein. The two worked together for three years until Joseph won the judgeship for the Tenth District of the Wisconsin Circuit Court. McCarthy was originally a supporter of the Democratic Party, but when he failed to b
4. Fried, Albert. McCarthyism: The Great American Red Scare. (1984) 1. Anderson, Jack and May. McCarthy: the Man, the Senator, and the "Ism". (1953). McCarthy's first three years as senator can be considered to be mediocre and lackluster. He was guided by money from lobbyists, the most important being Pepsi Cola and a few real estate companies. At the time, there was a coal strike occurring and McCarthy called for a press conference. In this conference, he proposed a solution, saying that the striking miners should be drafted into the Army. If the men still refused to mine and continued to strike, McCarthy then suggested that they be court marshaled for insubordination and shot. These controversial ideas resulted in a declining popularity for McCarthy and soon people began to question his personal life. People began to come forward claiming that he had been untruthful about his war record. McCarthy was also being investigated for tax offences and for taking bribes from the Pepsi Cola Company. 5. http://www.em.doe.gov/timeline/feb1950.html From 1950 to 1954, McCarthy was on tops of the world. A simple sentence of his could be enough to ruin a person's career while a few kind words helped many fellow Republicans into office. During this time, McCarthy investigated various government departments and questioned a large number of people about their political past. This witch-hunt and anti-communist hysteria became known as McCarthyism. Many lost their jobs after they admitted they had been members of the Communist Party. McCarthy made it clear to the witnesses that the only way of showing that they had abandoned their left-wing view was by naming other members of the party. Other people who were unwilling to live in this type of society fled to other countries such as Canada and Great Britain. McCarthyism was mainly used against the Democrats associated with the New Deal policies introduced by Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930's. Harry S. Truman and members of his Democratic administration were accused of being soft on communism. Truman was portrayed as a dangerous liberal and McCarthy's campaign helped the Republican candidate, Dwight Eisenhower; win the presidential election in 1952.
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Approximate Word count = 2571
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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