Background+information+about+McCarthy-4

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Joesph McCarthy was part of the U.S. senate, and was famous for his suspected censorship of communism in the United States.

Basic information about Joseph McCarthy.


Joseph McCarthy was Born in Grand Chute, a town near Appleton, Wisconsin November 14, 1908. He was the The fifth of nine children. He also had devout Roman Catholic parents. The first school he went to was Underhill Grade school, a one room school house where he attended grades kindergarten through eighth grade.

After he completed eighth grade, McCarthy dropped out of high school. He then became a chicken farmer, but his flock was wiped out by disease and such. Then he worked at a grocery store until he returned to high school. He completed 4-years of high school in 9 months where he received good grades.

Because of his grades he was able to attend Marquette University. He was elected leader of his law school class. After he got his law degree, McCarthy opened a practice in Waupaca. He later joined a law firm in Shawano, becoming a partner in 1937.

In 1939 he campaigned to be a judge in the Tenth Judicial Circuit. After campaigning tirelessly he finally won the election, and at the age of 30 he became the youngest circuit judge ever elected in Wisconsin. At his new job in Appleton Wisconsin, he was said to be fair and hard-working. But he was also rebuked by the Wisconsin supreme court for "abuse of judicial authority" for destroying some court records.

In July, 1942, shortly after the start of World War II, McCarthy took a leave of absence from his judicial office and was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the marines. As an intelligence officer stationed in the Pacific, he participated in combat bombing missions, although he was not wounded in action as he later claimed. While still on duty in 1944, McCarthy challenged Alexander Wiley for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate, but was beaten outright. In April 1944, he was re-elected to the circuit without opposition after resigning form his military post.

Extra Focus: Joseph McCarthy's time in the army
In 1941 Joesph McCarthy enlisted in Chicago Illinois to join the marines. He obtained the rank of Captian, and was in the 2nd battalion, 24th marine. He was stationed at Iwo Jima, volcano Islands, on February 21st, 1945. He saw combat, but was never wounded in battle as he claimed.

He was an officer in his rifle company and had to break through the enemy's cross-island defenses. he acted on his own initiative when his rifle company was held up by uninterrupted Japanese fire. He quickly organized demolitions and flamethrowers to his picked rifle squad and led them across a 75 yard field, to a fortified pillbox, personally hurled gernades into it as he directed the combined operations of his small assault group, completely destroyed the installation. That was a small part of his combat at Iwo Jima.

Importance of this topic
Joseph McCarthy was a very important part of the cold war because he was a senator and had a say in what went on with the fate of the country. he was also very famous for his suspicions of communism and such in the United States.

Bibliography

Cohen, Daniel, __Joseph McCarthy: The Misuse of Power__, Brookfield, Connecticut; Milbrook Press, 1996.

www.apl.org, Appleton, Wisconsin's library website.