Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957)

The U.S. Senate voted 65 to 22 to condemn Senator Joseph R.
McCarthy for conduct unbecoming of a senator. The action
which was equivalent to a censure, related to McCarthy’s
controversial investigation of suspected communists in the
U.S. government, military and civilian society.

What is known as “McCarthyism” began on February 9, 1950,
when McCarthy, a relatively obscure Republican senator from
Wisconsin, announced during a speech in Wheeling, West
Virginia, that he had in his possession a list of 205 communists
who had infiltrated the U.S. State Department.