Joseph McCarthy

Full Name:  Joseph Raymond McCarthy

Date of Birth: 14^th November, 1908

Place of birth: he was born on a farm in the town of Grand Chute, Wisconsin.

McCarthy was the fifth of seven children. Thought it doesn't say much about his upbringing its known that McCarthy dropped out school at the age of 14 to assist his parents in looking after the farm.  He joined Little Wolf High School, in Manawa, Wisconsin, when he was 20 and graduated within a year. McCarthy also did 2 different subjects at college, first studying engineering, then law, and eventually earning a law degree at Marquette University in Milwaukee.

In 1942, during WWII, McCarthy was ordered into the United States Marine Corps. His education qualified him for an automatic commission as an officer, and he became a second lieutenant after completing basic training. McCarthy chose the Marines with the hope that being in that area would help him in his future career as a politician. McCarthy left the Marines with the rank of captain, it was recorded that McCarthy lied about his war record. He claimed to have enlisted as a "buck private" (An enlisted person of the lowest rank of the marines). And that he flew twelve combat missions as a gunner-observer, McCarthy later claimed 32 missions in order to qualify for a Distinguished Flying Cross, which is a military decoration award to any officer or enlisted member of the United States Armed Forces who distinguishes himself or herself in support of operations by "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight”, Which he received in 1952. McCarthy publicized a letter of commendation which he claimed had been signed by his commanding officer, however it was later revealed that that McCarthy had written this letter himself, in his capacity as intelligence officer. McCarthy campaigned for the Republican Senate nomination in Wisconsin while still on duty in 1944, he resigned from his post in April 1945.

McCarthy was elected senator in 1946 by an overwhelming majority. He was anti-tax and against price, rent and credit controls. His first major act was, even as a new Senator, to lead the fight against continuation of wartime sugar controls. On the 5^th February, 1950, McCarthy made an electrifying speech at Wheeling, West VA, that he had a list of Communists in the State Department. By July he was a major political force.  

In 1954 Ralph E. Flanders fought to get McCarthy removed as chair of his committees. On a June 1 1954 Flanders made a speech that compared McCarthy to Hitler accusing him of spreading "division and confusion" and saying, "Were the Junior Senator from Wisconsin in the pay of the Communists he could not have done a better job for them.  Although there were many in the Senate who believed that some sort of disciplinary action against McCarthy was warranted, there was no clear majority supporting this resolution. On December 2, 1954, the Senate voted to "condemn" McCarthy on both counts of “failing to cooperate with the Subcommittee on Rules and Administration”, and "repeatedly abused the members who were trying to carry out assigned duties”. After this McCarthy continued senatorial duties until 1956, his career as a major public figure had been ruined due to the accusations above.

McCarthy died in Bethesda Naval Hospital on May 2, 1957, at the age of 48. The official cause of his death was listed as acute hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver.