Editing Joseph McCarthy (section)

===Censure and the Watkins Committee===
[[File:FLANDERS, RALPH. SENATOR LCCN2016862620 (composed).jpg|right|thumb|Senator [[Ralph Flanders]], who introduced the resolution calling for McCarthy to be [[Censure in the United States|censured]].]]
Several members of the U.S. Senate had opposed McCarthy well before 1953. Senator [[Margaret Chase Smith]], a [[Maine]] Republican, was the first. She delivered her "[[Declaration of Conscience]]" speech on June 1, 1950, calling for an end to the use of smear tactics, without mentioning McCarthy or anyone else by name. Only six other Republican senators—[[Wayne Morse]], [[Irving Ives]], [[Charles W. Tobey]], [[Edward John Thye]], [[George Aiken]], and [[Robert C. Hendrickson]]—agreed to join her in condemning McCarthy's tactics. McCarthy referred to Smith and her fellow senators as "Snow White and the six dwarfs".<ref>
{{cite book|last = Wallace
  |first = Patricia Ward
  |title = Politics of Conscience: A Biography of Margaret Chase Smith
  |publisher = Praeger Trade
  |year = 1995
  |page = [https://archive.org/details/politicsofconsci00wall/page/109 109]
  |isbn = 0-275-95130-8
  |url = https://archive.org/details/politicsofconsci00wall/page/109
  }}</ref>

On March 9, 1954, [[Vermont]] Republican senator [[Ralph Flanders#The censure of Joseph McCarthy|Ralph E. Flanders]] gave a humor-laced speech on the Senate floor, questioning McCarthy's tactics in fighting communism, likening McCarthyism to "house-cleaning" with "much clatter and hullabaloo". He recommended that McCarthy turn his attention to the worldwide encroachment of Communism outside North America.<ref>
{{cite book
  |last = Flanders
  |first =Ralph
  |title =Senator from Vermont
  |publisher =Little, Brown
  |year= 1961
  |location =Boston
  }}
</ref><ref>
{{cite web
 |title       = Text of Flanders's speech
 |date        = March 9, 1959
|url         = http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Flanders3-9-1954Speech.jpg
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20071127182919/http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a0/Flanders3-9-1954Speech.jpg
 |archive-date = November 27, 2007
|df          = mdy-all
}}</ref>

In a June 1 speech, Flanders compared McCarthy to [[Adolf Hitler]], accusing him of spreading "division and confusion" and saying, "Were the Junior Senator from Wisconsin in the pay of the Communists he could not have done a better job for them."<ref>
{{cite book
  |last = Woods
  |first = Randall Bennett
  |title = Fulbright: A Biography
  |publisher = Cambridge University Press
  |year=  1995
  |page = 187
  |isbn = 0-521-48262-3}}</ref>

On June 11, Flanders introduced a resolution to have McCarthy removed as chair of his committees. Although there were many in the Senate who believed that some sort of disciplinary action against McCarthy was warranted, there was no clear majority supporting this resolution. Some of the resistance was due to concern about usurping the Senate's rules regarding committee chairs and seniority. Flanders next introduced a resolution to [[censure in the United States|censure]] McCarthy. The resolution was initially written without any reference to particular actions or misdeeds on McCarthy's part. As Flanders put it, "It was not his breaches of etiquette, or of rules or sometimes even of laws which is so disturbing," but rather his overall pattern of behavior. Ultimately a "bill of particulars" listing 46 charges was added to the censure resolution. A special committee, chaired by Senator [[Arthur Vivian Watkins]], was appointed to study and evaluate the resolution. This committee opened hearings on August 31.<ref>
{{cite book
  |last = Griffith
  |first = Robert
  |title = The Politics of Fear: Joseph R. McCarthy and the Senate
  |url = https://archive.org/details/politicsoffearjo00grif/page/277
  |url-access = registration
  |publisher = University of Massachusetts Press
  |year = 1970
  |pages = [https://archive.org/details/politicsoffearjo00grif/page/277 277 et seq.]
  |isbn = 0-87023-555-9
  }}</ref>
[[File:Arthur V. Watkins, 1950.jpg|thumb|Senator [[Arthur Vivian Watkins|Arthur V. Watkins]]]]
After two months of hearings and deliberations, the Watkins Committee recommended that McCarthy be censured on two of the 46 counts: his contempt of the Subcommittee on Rules and Administration, which had called him to testify in 1951 and 1952, and his abuse of General Zwicker in 1954. The Zwicker count was dropped by the full Senate on the grounds that McCarthy's conduct was arguably "induced" by Zwicker's own behavior. In place of this count, a new one was drafted regarding McCarthy's statements about the Watkins Committee itself.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last = Rovere
 |first = Richard H.
 |title = Senator Joe McCarthy
 |publisher = University of California Press
 |year=  1959
 |pages = 229–230
 |isbn = 0-520-20472-7}}</ref>

The two counts on which the Senate ultimately voted were:
* That McCarthy had "failed to co-operate with the Sub-committee on Rules and Administration", and "repeatedly abused the members who were trying to carry out assigned duties&nbsp;..."
* That McCarthy had charged "three members of the [Watkins] Select Committee with 'deliberate deception' and 'fraud'&nbsp;... that the special Senate session&nbsp;... was a 'lynch party{{'"}}, and had characterized the committee "as the 'unwitting handmaiden', 'involuntary agent' and 'attorneys in fact' of the Communist Party", and had "acted contrary to senatorial ethics and tended to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute, to obstruct the constitutional processes of the Senate, and to impair its dignity".<ref>{{cite web
|url =http://www.historicaldocuments.com/JosephMcCarthyCensure.htm
|title =Senate Resolution 301: Censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy
|access-date =March 9, 2008
|publisher =HistoricalDocuments.com
|archive-date =February 11, 2021
|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20210211032807/http://www.historicaldocuments.com/JosephMcCarthyCensure.htm
|url-status =dead
}}</ref>

On December 2, 1954, the Senate voted to "condemn" McCarthy on both counts by a vote of 67 to 22.<ref>{{cite web
  |last = United States Senate
  |first = Historical Office
  |title = The Censure Case of Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin (1954)
  |url = https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/censure_cases/133Joseph_McCarthy.htm
  |access-date = January 4, 2010
|archive-date = January 7, 2010
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100107030754/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/censure_cases/133Joseph_McCarthy.htm
  |url-status = live
  }}</ref> The Democrats present unanimously favored condemnation and the Republicans were split evenly. The only senator not on record was [[John F. Kennedy]], who was hospitalized for back surgery; Kennedy never indicated how he would have voted.<ref>[[David Oshinsky|Oshinsky]] [1983] (2005), pp. 33, 490; Michael O'Brien, ''John F. Kennedy: A Biography'' (2005), pp. 250–254, 274–279, 396–400; Reeves (1982), pp. 442–443; [[Thomas Maier]], ''The Kennedys: America's Emerald Kings'' (2003), pp. 270–280; Crosby, ''God, Church, and Flag,'' 138–160.</ref> Immediately after the vote, Senator [[Styles Bridges|H. Styles Bridges]], a McCarthy supporter, argued that the resolution was "not a censure resolution" because the word "condemn" rather than "censure" was used in the final draft. The word "censure" was then removed from the title of the resolution, though it is generally regarded and referred to as a censure of McCarthy, both by historians<ref>
{{cite book
  |last = Griffith
  |first = Robert
  |title = The Politics of Fear: Joseph R. McCarthy and the Senate
  |url = https://archive.org/details/politicsoffearjo00grif
  |url-access = registration
  |publisher = University of Massachusetts Press
  |year=  1970
  |page = [https://archive.org/details/politicsoffearjo00grif/page/310 310]
  |isbn = 0-87023-555-9}}</ref> and in Senate documents.<ref>{{cite web
  |title = Senate Report 104-137 – Resolution For Disciplinary Action
  |publisher = Library of Congress
  |year = 1995
  |url = http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/?&dbname=cp104&sid=cp104susc7&refer=&r_n=sr137.104&item=&sel=TOC_91694&
  |archive-url = https://archive.today/20121213125136/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/?&dbname=cp104&sid=cp104susc7&refer=&r_n=sr137.104&item=&sel=TOC_91694&
  |url-status = dead
  |archive-date = December 13, 2012
  |access-date = October 19, 2006
}}</ref> McCarthy himself said, "I wouldn't exactly call it a vote of confidence." He added, "I don't feel I've been lynched."<ref>
{{cite book
 |last = Rovere
 |first = Richard H.
 |title = Senator Joe McCarthy
 |publisher = University of California Press
 |year=  1959
 |page = 231
 |isbn = 0-520-20472-7}}</ref>

However, [[Indiana]] Senator [[William E. Jenner]], one of McCarthy's friends and fellow Republicans, likened McCarthy's conduct to that of "the kid who came to the party and peed in the lemonade."<ref>{{cite book |last=Thomas |first=Evan |date=1991 |title=The Man to See |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=clHAVMYiZQwC&pg=PA77 |location=New York|publisher=Simon & Schuster |pages=76–77 |isbn=978-0-671-68934-6}}</ref>