Today in History 12/02/17

Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy on December 2, 1954, after testifying on the Senate floor in Washington, DC (© AP)(1954) US Senate condemns McCarthy for Redbaiting
The Senate votes 65-22 to censure their colleague, Sen. Joseph McCarthy, for conduct unbecoming of a senator in his vitriolic campaign, known as McCarthyism, to root out suspected communists in the US. After the censure, his last traces of influence will evaporate, and he’ll die of alcoholism in 1957.
Joseph Raymond McCarthy was an American politician who served as U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visible public face of a period in the United States in which Cold War tensions fueled fears of widespread Communist subversion. He is known for alleging that numerous Communists and Soviet spies and sympathizers had infiltrated the United States federal government, universities, film industry, and elsewhere. Ultimately, the smear tactics he used led him to be censured by the U.S. Senate. The term “McCarthyism”, coined in 1950 in reference to McCarthy’s practices, was soon applied to similar anti-communist activities. Today, the term is used in reference to what are considered demagogic, reckless, and unsubstantiated accusations, as well as public attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents.
Lived: Nov 14, 1908 – May 02, 1957 (age 48)
Spouse: Jean Kerr (m. 1953 – 1957)
Movies: Point of Order
Parties: Republican Party · Democratic Party
Children: Tierney Elizabeth McCarthy (Daughter)
Previous office: United States Senator WI (1947 – 1957)
Highlights
  • 1950: The term “McCarthyism”, coined in 1950 in reference to McCarthy’s practices, was soon applied to similar anti-communist activities.

  • 1953: In 1953, McCarthy married Jean Kerr, a researcher in his office.

  • 1954: McCarthy subpoenaed Peress to appear before his subcommittee on January 30, 1954.

  • 1954: On March 9, 1954, Vermont Republican Senator Ralph E. Flanders gave a humor-laced speech on the Senate floor, questioning McCarthy’s tactics in fighting communism, likening McCarthyism to “housecleaning” with “much clatter and hullabaloo”.

  • 1954: To counter the negative publicity, McCarthy appeared on See It Now on April 6, 1954, and made a number of charges against the popular Murrow, including the accusation that he colluded with VOKS, the “Russian espionage and propaganda organization”.

  • 1957: McCarthy died in Bethesda Naval Hospital on May 2, 1957, at the age of just 48.


Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond McCarthy.

wiki/Joseph_McCarthy
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