Who was Joseph McCarthy and what was he famous for?

Answer 1

Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin was known for leading the Congressional investigations into Communist influences in the US during the early 1950's. The worldwide competition between the US and the USSR was called the "Cold War" and involved many such allegations against Communist Party members and suspected sympathizers, as well as blackmailed or corrupted officials. The House UnAmerican Activities Committee and Senate Committee on Government Operations were the primary venues for Congressional hearings, which were later denounced as "witch hunts" by the news media and the US government.

Details

McCarthy made a speech in Wheeling, WV, in 1950 saying that there were over 200 members of the Communist Party in the U.S. State Dept.. This number has not been substantiated. Once he got a lot of media attention, he revised that number to under one hundred. There is reason to believe that McCarthy as a Republican wanted to embarrass the Truman administration and break the two decades of Democratic control of the presidency. He had also been polled as the worst senator in office by the Senate press corps a few years earlier, so he undoubtedly was trying to save his own political skin

Following WW II, there was a lot of concern about the USSR and communists taking over the United States. People were convicted of giving the secrets of the atomic bomb to the USSR. The House UnAmerican Activities Committee held hearings concerning the activities of some members of government. Following the publicity McCarthy received, HUAC and the Tydings Committee stepped up their investigations. McCarthy kept changing the number of people he accused of being communists in the government and never disclosed the source of this information. He also quoted hearsay as facts, which as a lawyer he should have known not to do.

In 1952, McCarthy was made chair of the Senate Committee on Government Operations with the notorious Roy Cohn as legal counsel. With this committee and with the new television technology, he continued to receive public attention. He also widened his investigation to include people outside the government and eventually the Army. Altogether McCarthy's name is associated with anti-communist rabble-rousing and hearings reminiscent of the Salem witch trials. The McCarthy Era only lasted a few years, but many people (especially in the entertainment industry) lost their jobs and were blacklisted for a decade. Notable were the "Hollywood Ten". Eventually, the Tydings Report labeled McCarthy's accusations as fraud. McCarthy later died of the effects of Alcoholism.

The McCarthy Era inspired Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible", Lillian Helman's book, "Scoundrel Time" and movies like "The Manchurian Candidate".

Truth in the McCarthy Allegations

Yes, there was a Red Scare in the Government and in Hollywood during the early 50's. Spies were everywhere. The Democrats and the news media made McCarthy look like an idiot, but years later, it was shown that such coordinated spying did actually take place. Many US diplomatic and military secrets are still leaked to Russia or China by enemy agents and paid US conspirators.

Answer 2

Senator Joseph McCarthy was famous for starting the Red Scare of the 1950's. The Red Scare was the fear of communism.

Answer 3

Senator Joseph McCarthy was famous for leading many investigations into Communist influences on the American government during the "cold war" period of the 1950's.

Answer 4

Being a power hungry demagog opportunist who had no hesitation to ruin innocent people's lives when it could gain himself a little political power, he posed as an anti-communist reformer.

Answer 5

Leading the Red Scare.