Editing Joseph McCarthy (section)

== Career ==
McCarthy was admitted to the [[Bar association|bar]] in 1935. While working at a law firm in [[Shawano, Wisconsin]], he launched an unsuccessful campaign for [[district attorney]] as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] in 1936. During his years as an attorney, McCarthy made money on the side by gambling.<ref>Oshinsky explains this (p. 17) as resulting partially from the financial pressures of the Great Depression. He also notes (p. 28) that even during his judgeship, McCarthy was known to have gambled heavily after hours. {{cite book |last = Oshinsky |first = David M. |title = A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy |place = New York |publisher = Free Press |year=  2005 |pages = 17, 28 |isbn = 0-19-515424-X |orig-year= 1983}}</ref>

In 1939, McCarthy had better success when he ran for the nonpartisan elected post of 10th District [[Wisconsin Circuit Court|circuit]] judge.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110511175135/http://www.galenfrysinger.org/judge_on_trial.htm Judge on Trial, McCarthy – A Documented Record, The Progressive, April 1954]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last = The Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library | title = The Wisconsin Blue Book | place = Madison, WI | publisher = State of Wisconsin | year = 1940 | url = http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/WI/WI-idx?type=article&did=WI.WIBlueBk1940.i0003&id=WI.WIBlueBk1940&isize=M | journal = Wisconsin Blue Books | access-date = November 25, 2013 | archive-date = February 28, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210228070604/https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/WI/WI-idx?type=article&did=WI.WIBlueBk1940.i0003&id=WI.WIBlueBk1940&isize=M | url-status = live }}</ref> McCarthy became the youngest circuit judge in the state's history by defeating incumbent Edgar V. Werner, who had been a judge for 24 years.<ref>{{cite book |last= Commire |first= Anne |date= 1994 |title= Historic World Leaders: North & South America (M–Z) |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ljsOAQAAMAAJ&q=%22joseph+mccarthy%22+edgar+werner+judge |publisher= Gale Research Incorporated |page= 492|isbn= 978-0810384132 }}</ref> In the campaign, McCarthy lied about Werner's age of 66, claiming that he was 73, and so allegedly too old and infirm to handle the duties of his office.<ref>{{cite book |last= Herman |first= Arthur |date= 2000 |title= Joseph McCarthy: Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America's Most Hated Senator |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DIibZoDyADEC&q=%22joseph+mccarthy%22+edgar+werner+judge&pg=PA26 |publisher= The Free Press A Division of Simon and Schuster |page= 26|isbn= 978-0684836256 }}</ref> Writing of Werner in ''Reds: McCarthyism In Twentieth-Century America,'' [[Ted Morgan (writer)|Ted Morgan]] wrote: "Pompous and condescending, he (Werner) was disliked by lawyers. His judgements had often been reversed by the [[Wisconsin Supreme Court]], and he was so inefficient that he had piled up a huge backlog of cases."<ref>{{cite book|last = Morgan |first = Ted |title = Reds: McCarthyism In Twentieth-Century America |place = New York |publisher = Random House |year = 2003 |page = [https://archive.org/details/redsmccarthyismi00morg_0/page/328 328] |isbn = 0-679-44399-1 |url = https://archive.org/details/redsmccarthyismi00morg_0/page/328 }} In turn citing Michael O'Brien, ''McCarthy And McCarthyism in Wisconsin.'' Columbia, Mo. 1980.</ref>

McCarthy's judicial career attracted some controversy because of the speed with which he dispatched many of his cases as he worked to clear the heavily backlogged docket he had inherited from Werner.<ref>{{cite book |last = Oshinsky |first = David M. |title = A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy |publisher = Oxford University Press |year= 2005 |page = 24 |isbn = 0-19-515424-X |orig-year= 1983}}</ref> Wisconsin had strict divorce laws, but when McCarthy heard divorce cases, he expedited them whenever possible, and he made the needs of children involved in contested divorces a priority.<ref>{{cite book|last = Morgan |first = Ted |title = Reds: McCarthyism In Twentieth-Century America |place = New York |publisher = Random House |year = 2003 |page = [https://archive.org/details/redsmccarthyismi00morg_0/page/330 330] |isbn = 0-679-44399-1 |url = https://archive.org/details/redsmccarthyismi00morg_0/page/330 }}</ref> When it came to other cases argued before him, McCarthy compensated for his lack of experience as a jurist by demanding and relying heavily upon precise briefs from the contesting attorneys. The Wisconsin Supreme Court reversed a low percentage of the cases he heard,<ref>{{cite book |last = Oshinsky |first = David M. |title = A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy |publisher = Oxford University Press |year= 2005 |page = 27 |isbn = 0-19-515424-X |orig-year= 1983}}</ref> but he was also censured in 1941 for having lost evidence in a [[price fixing]] case.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Ryan |first1= James G. |last2= Schlup |first2= Leonard |date= 2006 |title= Historical Dictionary of the 1940s |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-t3Hx4ASLKUC&q=%22joseph+mccarthy%22+wisconsin+judge+censured+evidence&pg=PA245 |publisher= M.E. Sharpe, Inc. |page= 245|isbn= 978-0765621078 }}</ref>

===Military service===
[[File:JosephMcCarthyMilitary.jpg|right|thumb|Joseph McCarthy in his U.S. [[Marine Corps Uniforms|Marine Corps uniform]]]]
In 1942, shortly after the U.S. entered [[World War II]], McCarthy joined the [[United States Marine Corps]], despite the fact that his judicial office exempted him from military service.<ref>{{cite book |last=Belknap |first=Michal R. |date=2004 |title=The Vinson Court: Justices, Rulings, and Legacy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oeFRJj8dVAUC&pg=PA214 |location=Santa Barbara, CA |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=214 |isbn=978-1-85109-542-1}}</ref> His college education qualified him for a direct [[Officer's commission|commission]], and he entered the Marines as a [[First Lieutenant#United States|first lieutenant]].<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Connell |first=Aaron B. |date=2012 |title=Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qB2QjQSyuKgC&pg=PA109 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=109 |isbn=978-0-674-05827-9 |ref={{sfnRef|''Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps''}}}}</ref>

According to Morgan, writing in ''Reds,'' McCarthy's friend and campaign manager, attorney and judge Urban P. Van Susteren, had applied for active duty in the [[United States Army Air Forces|U.S. Army Air Forces]] in early 1942, and advised McCarthy: "Be a hero—join the Marines."<ref>{{cite book |last= Herman |first=Arthur |date=2000 |title=Joseph McCarthy: Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America's Most Hated Senator |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DIibZoDyADEC&q=mccarthy+senator+%22van+susteren%22+1946&pg=PA33 |location=New York |publisher=The Free Press |page=33|isbn=978-0684836256 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Morgan |first=Ted |date=2004 |title= Reds: McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=4ijWhgff9XEC&q=mccarthy+senator+%22van+susteren%22&pg=PA420 |publisher=Random House |page=420|isbn= 978-0812973020 }}</ref> When McCarthy seemed hesitant, Van Susteren asked, "You got shit in your blood?"<ref>{{cite book|last = Morgan |first = Ted |title = Reds: McCarthyism In Twentieth-Century America |place = New York |publisher = Random House |year = 2003 |page = [https://archive.org/details/redsmccarthyismi00morg_0/page/338 338] |isbn = 0-679-44399-1 |url = https://archive.org/details/redsmccarthyismi00morg_0/page/338 }} Morgan again cites Michael O'Brien, writing in ''McCarthy And McCarthyism in Wisconsin''.</ref>
[[File:John R. Lanigan and Joseph R. McCarthy.jpg|thumb|McCarthy receiving his [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|DFC]] and [[Air Medal]] from Colonel [[John R. Lanigan]], commanding officer of Fifth Marine Reserve District, December 1952]]
He served as an [[military intelligence|intelligence]] briefing officer for a [[dive bomber]] squadron [[VMSB-235]] in the [[Solomon Islands]] and [[Autonomous Region of Bougainville|Bougainville]] for 30 months (August 1942 – February 1945), and held the rank of [[Captain (United States O-3)|captain]] at the time he resigned his commission in April 1945.<ref>{{cite book |last=Giblin |first=James Cross |date=2009 |title=The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=klwQBEeJfsUC&pg=PA34 |location=Boston|publisher=Clarion Books |pages=37–38 |isbn=978-0-618-61058-7 |ref={{sfnRef|''The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy''}}}}</ref> He volunteered to fly twelve combat missions as a gunner-observer. These missions were generally safe, and after one where he was allowed to shoot as much ammunition as he wanted, mainly at coconut trees, he acquired the nickname "Tail-Gunner Joe".<ref>Oshinsky describes the nickname "Tail-Gunner Joe" as the result of McCarthy's wish to break the record for most live ammunition discharged in a single mission.{{cite book |last = Oshinsky |first = David M. |title = A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy |publisher = Oxford University Press |year=  2005 |page = 32 |isbn = 0-19-515424-X |orig-year= 1983}}</ref> McCarthy remained in the [[United States Marine Corps Reserve|Marine Corps Reserve]] after the war, attaining the rank of [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Morgan |first=Ted |date=2003 |title=Reds: McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ijWhgff9XEC&pg=PA341 |location=New York |publisher=Random House |page=341 |isbn=978-0-8129-7302-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Mundt |first= Chairman Karl|date=June 17, 1954 |title=Testimony of Hon. Joseph R. McCarthy, a United States Senator from the State of Wisconsin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6MFEAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA2888 |magazine=Special Senate Investigation on Charges Involving: Secretary of the Army Robert T. Stevens, John G. Adams, H. Struve Hensel and Senator Joe McCarthy, Roy M. Cohn and Francis P. Carr |location=Washington, DC |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=2888 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

He later falsely claimed participation in 32 aerial missions so as to qualify for a [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] and multiple awards of the [[Air Medal]], which the Marine Corps decided to approve in 1952 under his political influence.{{sfn|''The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy''|page=34}}<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=4ijWhgff9XEC&pg=PA341 Reds: McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America]''</ref> McCarthy also publicly claimed a letter of commendation from his commanding officer and Admiral [[Chester W. Nimitz]], Chief of Naval Operations.<ref>{{cite book |last=Carrier |first=Jerry |date=2014 |title=Tapestry: The History and Consequences of America's Complex Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lvhKBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA232 |location=New York |publisher=Algora Publishing |page=232 |isbn=978-1-62894-048-0}}</ref>{{sfn|''The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy''|page=37}} However, his commander revealed that McCarthy had written this letter himself, probably while preparing award citations and commendation letters for his men, and that he had signed his commander's name, after which Nimitz signed it routinely.<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=lvhKBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA232 Tapestry: The History and Consequences of America's Complex Culture]''</ref>{{sfn|''The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy''|page=37}} A "war wound"—a badly broken leg—that McCarthy attributed to varying adventures involving airplane crashes or anti-aircraft fire, had in fact happened aboard ship during a raucous [[Line-crossing ceremony|celebration for sailors crossing the equator for the first time]].<ref name=Arthur1/><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/November-December-2003/story_morgan_novdec03.msp |title = Judge Joe: How The Youngest Judge In Wisconsin's History Became The Country's Most Notorious Senator |access-date = August 2, 2006 |last = Morgan |first = Ted |date = November–December 2003 |publisher = Legal Affairs |archive-date = April 29, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210429124425/https://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/November-December-2003/story_morgan_novdec03.msp |url-status = live }}</ref>{{sfn|''Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps''}} Because of McCarthy's various lies about his military heroism, his "Tail-Gunner Joe" nickname was used in mockery by his critics.<ref name="Garraty, John 1989 p. 24"/><ref name="O'Brien, Steven 1991 p. 265"/><ref name="The Comics Journal"/>

McCarthy campaigned for the Republican Senate nomination in Wisconsin while still on active duty in 1944 but was defeated by [[Alexander Wiley]], the incumbent. After he left the Marines in April 1945, five months before the end of the Pacific war in September 1945, McCarthy was reelected unopposed to his circuit court position. He then began a much more systematic campaign for the 1946 Republican Senate [[Partisan primary|primary]] nomination, with support from Thomas Coleman, the Republican Party's political boss in Wisconsin. In this race, he was challenging three-term senator [[Robert M. La Follette Jr.]], founder of the [[Wisconsin Progressive Party]] and son of the celebrated Wisconsin governor and senator [[Robert M. La Follette|Robert M. La Follette Sr.]]

===Senate campaign===
In his campaign, McCarthy attacked La Follette for not enlisting during the war, although La Follette had been 46 when [[Pearl Harbor]] was bombed. He also claimed La Follette had made huge profits from his investments while he, McCarthy, had been away fighting for his country. In fact, McCarthy had invested in the stock market himself during the war, netting a profit of $42,000 in 1943 (equal to ${{Inflation|US|42000|1943|fmt=c}} today). Where McCarthy got the money to invest in the first place remains a mystery. La Follette's investments consisted of partial interest in a radio station, which earned him a profit of $47,000 over two years.<ref>
{{cite book
  |last = Rovere
  |first = Richard H.
  |title = Senator Joe McCarthy
  |publisher = University of California Press
  |year=  1959
  |pages = 97, 102
  |isbn = 0-520-20472-7}}</ref>

According to Jack Anderson and Ronald W. May,<ref>McCarthy, The Man, the Senator, the Ism (Boston, Beacon Press, 1952) pp.&nbsp;101–105.</ref> McCarthy's campaign funds, much of them from out of state, were ten times more than La Follette's and McCarthy's vote benefited from a Communist Party vendetta against La Follette. The suggestion that La Follette had been guilty of [[war profiteering]] was deeply damaging, and McCarthy won the primary nomination 207,935 votes to 202,557. It was during this campaign that McCarthy started publicizing his war-time nickname "Tail-Gunner Joe," using the slogan, "Congress needs a tail-gunner." Journalist [[Arnold Beichman]] later stated that McCarthy "was elected to his first term in the Senate with support from the Communist-controlled [[United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America|United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers]], [[Congress of Industrial Organizations|CIO]]", which preferred McCarthy to the anti-communist Robert M. La Follette.<ref>
{{cite web
 |url=http://www.hoover.org/publications/policyreview/2913871.html
 |title=The Politics of Personal Self-Destruction
 |access-date=February 25, 2008
|last=Beichman
 |first=Arnold
 |author-link=Arnold Beichman
 |date=February–March 2006
 |publisher=[[Policy Review]]
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312214611/http://www.hoover.org/publications/policyreview/2913871.html
 |archive-date=March 12, 2008
}}</ref>

In the general election against Democratic opponent [[Howard J. McMurray]], McCarthy won 61.2% to McMurray's 37.3%, and thus joined Alexander Wiley, whom he had challenged unsuccessfully two years earlier, in the Senate.

{{Election box begin no change
| title=[[1946 United States Senate election in Wisconsin|1946 Wisconsin U.S. Senate election]]}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Republican Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Joseph McCarthy
  |votes      = 620,430
  |percentage = 61.2
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Democratic Party (United States)
  |candidate  = [[Howard J. McMurray|Howard McMurray]]
  |votes      = 378,772
  |percentage = 37.3
}}
{{Election box total no change
  | votes = 999,202
  | percentage = 98.5
}}
{{Election box hold with party link no change
 |winner = Republican Party (United States)
 |loser =
 |swing =
}}
{{Election box end}}