New Search House History Senate History Copyright Information Privacy

Courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office
MCCARTHY, Joseph Raymond (1908-1957)
Member XML
Senate Years of Service: 1947-1957

MCCARTHY, JOSEPH RAYMOND, A Senator from Wisconsin; born in Grand Chute, Outagamie County, Wis., November 14, 1908; attended a one-room country school; worked on a farm; at the age of nineteen moved to Manawa, Wis., and enrolled in a high school; while working in a grocery store and ushering at a theater in the evenings, completed a four-year course in one year; graduated from Marquette University at Milwaukee, Wis., with a law degree in 1935; admitted to the bar the same year; commenced practice in Waupaca, and in 1936 moved to Shawano, Wis., and continued to practice law; elected circuit judge of the tenth judicial circuit of Wisconsin in 1939; while serving in this capacity enlisted in 1942 in the United States Marine Corps; resigned as a lieutenant in 1945; unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for United States Senator in 1944 while in military service; reelected circuit judge of Wisconsin in 1945 while still in the Marine Corps; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1946; reelected in 1952 and served from January 3, 1947, until his death; co-chairman, Joint Committee on the Library (Eighty-third Congress), chairman, Committee on Government Operations (Eighty-third Congress); used his position as chairman of the Committee on Government Operations and its Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to launch investigations designed to document charges of Communists in government; censured by the Senate on December 2, 1954, for behavior that was "contrary to senatorial traditions"; died in the naval hospital at Bethesda, Md., May 2, 1957; funeral services were held in the Chamber of the United States Senate; interment in St. Mary's Cemetery, Appleton, Wis.

Broadcast Pioneers Library
University of Maryland Hornbake Library
College Park, MD
Papers: 1 audiotape (no date) in Westinghouse Broadcasting Company collection, 1945-1981.
Columbia University
Rare Book and Manuscript Library
New York, NY
Papers: Correspondence in Ella Winters papers, 1913-1978.
Columbia University
Oral History Project
New York, NY
Oral History: Discussed in several interviews.
Cornell University
Rare Books and Manuscript Collections
Ithaca, NY
Papers: Correspondence in Warren Jay Vinton papers, 1932-1969.
Oral History: Numerous interviews in the Joseph McCarthy project.
Dakota State University
Karl E. Mundt Library
Madison, SD
Papers: Correspondence in Karl E. Mundt papers, 1927-1972. Finding aid.
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH
Papers: Correspondence in Elba Chase Nelson papers, 1908-1967.
Herbert Hoover Library
West Branch, IA
Papers: Correspondence in Westbrook Pegler papers, 1908-1969. Finding aid.
Library of Congress
Manuscript Division
Washington, DC
Papers: Correspondence in La Follette family papers, 1844-1973. Finding aid.
Marquette University
Milwaukee, WI
Papers: Ca. 1930-1957. 141.6 cubic feet. Includes senatorial and congressional reports and publications, speeches, clippings, sound recordings of McCarthy speeches and broadcasts, audiotapes, photographs, a few films, a small amount of personal correspondence (1940s), and subject files of investigations on communism. Also an extensive library of books on communism and other political literature from McCarthy's Senate office. Photographs, recordings of speeches, and 3 cubic feet of pre-senatorial correspondence is open. Subject files on investigations are closed. Inquire at repository. Sealed categories of papers are listed on website. Also available on the web is a new digital collection, Senator Joe McCarthy: Audio Excerpts, 1950-1954. The collection provides access to 35 streaming audio files made from analog tape recordings of McCarthy's public remarks. Available at http://digitalmarquette.cdmhost.com/JRM/.
Providence College
Phillips Memorial Library
Providence, RI
Papers: Correspondence in Louis Francis Budenz papers, 1953-1967.
Stanford University Libraries
Special Collections
Stanford, CA
Papers: 1946-1954. 11 volumes. McCarthy era clippings.
State Historical Society of Wisconsin
Archives Division
Madison, WI
Papers: 1930-1963. 1 microfilm reel. Microfilm of scrapbooks, chiefly of newspaper clippings, covering McCarthy's days as boxing coach at Marquette University, election in 1940 as Outagamie County judge, World War II military service, 1946 and 1952 U.S. Senate campaigns, and marriage to Jean Kerr, 1953.
Additional Papers: In Robert Lasch papers, 1940-1991; Alexander Wiley papers, 1913-1967; material relating to Benton's introduction of a resolution to investigate McCarthy and McCarthy's lawsuit against Benton in the William Benton papers, 1951-1961; and writings on McCarthy in Richard Halworth Rovere papers, 1931-1968.
Syracuse University
George Arents Research Library
Syracuse, NY
Papers: Correspondence in Robert C. Hendrickson papers, 1916-1964.
U.S. Senate
Historical Office
Washington, DC
Oral History: Discussed in interview (July 19-November 9, 1979) with Ruth Young Watt, chief clerk, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, 315 pages.
Yale University Libraries
Manuscripts and Archives
New Haven, CT
Papers: In Ogden Rogers Reid papers, 1925-1982.
University of Arkansas
Special Collections
Fayetteville, AR
Papers: In James William Fulbright papers, 1941-1960. Finding aid.
University of Colorado Libraries
Archives
Boulder, CO
Papers: In the Rudolph Johnson papers, 1888-1966.

  • Anderson, Jack, and Ronald W. May. McCarthy: The Man, the Senator, the "ism''. Boston: Beacon Press, 1952.
  • Bayley, Edwin R. Joe McCarthy and the Press. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1981.
  • Buckley, William F., and L. Brent Bozell. McCarthy and His Enemies: The Record and Its Meaning. 1954. Reprint. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1970.
  • Belfrage, Cedric. The American Inquisition, 1945-1960: A Profile of the "McCarthy Era''. 1973. Reprint. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1989.
  • Cohn, Roy M. McCarthy. New York: New American Library, 1968.
  • Cook, Fred J. The Nightmare Decade: The Life and Times of Senator Joe McCarthy. New York: Random House, 1971.
  • Crosby, Donald F. God, Church, and Flag: Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and the Catholic Church, 1950-1957. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1978.
  • Daynes, John Gary. "Making History: Joseph R. McCarthy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Place of the Past in American Public Life." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Delaware, 1996.
  • Deaver, Jean Franklin. "A Study of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and `McCarthyism' as Influences Upon the News Media and the Evolution of Reportorial Method.'' Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas at Austin, 1969.
  • De Santis, Vincent P. "American Catholics and McCarthyism.'' Catholic Historical Review 51 (April 1965): 1-30.
  • Dulles, Eleanor Lansing. "Footnote to History: A Day in the Life of Senator Joe McCarthy.'' World Affairs 143 (Fall 1980): 156-62.
  • Evans, Medford. The Assassination of Joe McCarthy. Boston: Western Islands, 1970.
  • Evans, M. Stanton. Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and his Fight Against America's Enemies. New York: Crown Forum, 2007.
  • Ewald, William Bragg, Jr. Who Killed Joe McCarthy? New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984.
  • Feuerlicht, Roberta Strauss. Joe McCarthy and McCarthyism: The Hate that Haunts America. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972.
  • Fried, Richard M. Men Against McCarthy. New York: Columbia University Press, 1976.
  • Goldston, Robert C. The American Nightmare: Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and the Politics of Hate. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1973.
  • Grant, Philip A., Jr. "Midwestern Senators and the 1954 Censure of Joseph R. McCarthy.'' Midwest Review, 2d ser. 14 (1992): 63-70.
  • Griffith, Robert. "The General and the Senator: Republican Politics and the 1952 Campaign in Wisconsin.'' Wisconsin Magazine of History 54 (Autumn 1970): 23-29.
  • ___. "The Political Context of McCarthyism'' Review of Politics 33 (January 1971): 24-35.
  • ___. Politics of Fear: Joseph R. McCarthy and the Senate. 1970. 2d ed., with new introduction. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1987.
  • ___. "Ralph Flanders and the Censure of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy.'' Vermont History 39 (Winter 1971): 5-20.
  • Griffith, Robert, and Athan Theoharis, eds. The Specter: Original Essays on the Cold War and the Origins of McCarthyism. New York: New Viewpoints, 1974.
  • Herman, Arthur. Joseph McCarthy: Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America's Most Hated Senator. New York: Free Press, 2000.
  • Kendrick, Frank Jenness. "McCarthy and the Senate.'' Ph.D dissertation, University of Chicago, 1962.
  • Kew, D. A. "The Decline and Fall of Senator McCarthy.'' Political Quarterly 37 (October-December 1966): 394-415.
  • Landis, Mark. Joseph McCarthy: The Politics of Chaos. Selinsgrove, PA: Susquehanna University Press, 1987.
  • Latham, Earl, ed. The Meaning of McCarthyism. 1965. 2d. ed. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1973.
  • Luthin, Reinhard H. "Joseph R. McCarthy: Wisconsin's Briefcase Demagogue.'' In American Demagogues: Twentieth Century, pp. 272-301. 1954. Reprint. Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, 1959.
  • Matusow, Allen J., ed. Joseph R. McCarthy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1970.
  • McCarthy, Joseph R. America's Retreat from Victory. New York: Devin-Adair, 1951.
  • ___. McCarthyism: The Fight for America. 1952. Reprint. New York: Arno Press, 1977.
  • McDougall, Daniel John. "McCarthyism and Academia: Senator Joe McCarthy's Political Investigations of Educators, 1950-1954.'' Ph.D. dissertation, Loyola University of Chicago, 1977.
  • Meyer, Karl Ernest. "The Politics of Loyalty, from La Follette to McCarthy in Wisconsin: 1918-1952.'' Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1956.
  • O'Brien, Michael. "The Anti-McCarthy Campaign in Wisconsin, 1951-1952.'' Wisconsin Magazine of History 56 (Winter 1972-1973): 91-108.
  • ___. McCarthy and McCarthyism in Wisconsin. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1980.
  • ___. "Robert Fleming, Senator McCarthy and the Myth of the Marine Hero.'' Journalism Quarterly 50 (Spring 1973): 48-53.
  • ___. "Young Joe McCarthy, 1908-1944.'' Wisconsin Magazine of History 63 (Spring 1980): 179-232.
  • Oshinsky, David M. A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joseph McCarthy. New York: Free Press, 1983.
  • ___. Senator Joseph McCarthy and the American Labor Movement. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1976.
  • Polsby, Nelson W. "Down Memory Lane with Joe McCarthy.'' Commentary 75 (February 1983): 55-59.
  • ___. "Towards an Explanation of McCarthyism.'' Political Studies 8 (October 1960): 250-71.
  • Potter, Charles E. Days of Shame. New York: Coward-McCann, 1965.
  • Reeves, Thomas C. The Life and Times of Joe McCarthy: A Biography. New York: Stein & Day, 1982.
  • ___. "McCarthyism: Interpretations Since Hofstadter.'' Wisconsin Magazine of History 60 (Autumn 1976): 42-54.
  • ___. "The Search for Joe McCarthy.'' Wisconsin Magazine of History 60 (Spring 1977): 185-96.
  • ___. "Tail Gunner Joe: Joseph R. McCarthy and the Marine Corps.'' Wisconsin Magazine of History 62 (Summer 1979): 300-313.
  • ___, ed. McCarthyism. Hinsdale, IL: Dryden Press, 1973.
  • Ricks, John Addison, III. " `Mr. Integrity' and McCarthyism: Robert A. Taft, Sr. and Joseph R. McCarthy.'' Cincinnati Historical Society Bulletin 37 (Fall 1979): 175-90.
  • ___. " `Mr. Integrity' and McCarthyism: Senator Robert A. Taft and Senator Joseph R. McCarthy.'' Ph.D. dissertation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1974.
  • Rogin, Michael P. The Intellectuals and McCarthy: The Radical Specter. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press, 1967.
  • Rorty, James, and Moshe Decter. McCarthy and the Communists. 1954. Reprint. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1972.
  • Rovere, Richard H. Senator Joe McCarthy. 1959. Reprint. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.
  • Schrecker, Ellen. The Age of McCarthyism: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1994.
  • Shannon, David A. "Was McCarthy a Political Heir of La Follette?'' Wisconsin Magazine of History 45 (Autumn 1961): 3-9.
  • Steele, Robert V.P. [Lately Thomas]. When Even Angels Wept: The Senator Joseph McCarthy Affair--A Story Without a Hero. New York: William Morrow & Co., 1973.
  • Strout, Lawrence N. Covering McCarthyism: How the Christian Science Monitor Handled Joseph R. McCarthy, 1950-1954. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999.
  • ____. "McCarthyism Revisited: TRB's Story." Journal of American Culture 22 (Summer 1999), 77-84.
  • Thelen, David P., and Esther S. Thelen. "Joe Must Go: The Movement to Recall Senator Joseph R. McCarthy.'' Wisconsin Magazine of History 49 (Spring 1966): 185-209.
  • Theoharis, Athan G. "McCarthyism: A Broader Perspective.''Maryland Historian 12 (Fall 1981): 1-8.
  • Thornton, Brian. "Published Reaction When Murrow Battled McCarthy." Journalism History 29:3 (2003): 133-146.
  • Tye, Larry. Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020.
  • U.S. Congress. Memorial Services Held in the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, Together with Remarks Presented in Eulogy of Joseph Raymond McCarthy, Late a Senator from Wisconsin. 85th Cong., 1st sess., 1957. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1957.
  • Watkins, Arthur V. Enough Rope: The inside story of the censure of Senator Joe McCarthy by his colleagues--the controversial hearings that signaled the end of a turbulent career and a fearsome era in American public life. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969.
  • Weintraub, Rebecca. "Joseph McCarthy as Leader: An Image Analysis.'' Ph.D. dissertation, University of Southern California, 1983.
  • Wicker, Tom. Shooting Star: The Brief Arc of Joe McCarthy. Orlando: Harcourt, 2006.