Editing Joseph McCarthy (section)

==Death==
[[File:Tombstone of Joseph McCarthy from left.jpg|thumb|Tombstone of Joseph McCarthy with the [[Fox River (Green Bay tributary)|Fox River]] in the background.]]
McCarthy died in the [[Walter Reed National Military Medical Center|Bethesda Naval Hospital]] on May 2, 1957, at the age of 48. His death certificate listed the cause of death as "[[Hepatitis]], acute, cause unknown"; previously doctors had not reported him to be in critical condition. It was hinted in the press that he died of [[alcoholism]] (cirrhosis of the liver), an estimation that is now accepted by modern biographers.<ref name=causeofdeath/>  [[Thomas C. Reeves]] argues that he effectively died by suicide.<ref>The Real American: Joe McCarthy (2012) (documentary)</ref> He was given a state funeral that was attended by 70 senators, and a [[Pontifical High Mass|Solemn Pontifical]] [[Requiem Mass]] was celebrated before more than 100 priests and 2,000 others at Washington's [[Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle (Washington, D.C.)|St. Matthew's Cathedral]]. Thousands of people viewed his body in Washington. He was buried in [[St. Mary's Parish (Appleton, Wisconsin)|St. Mary's Parish]] Cemetery, [[Appleton, Wisconsin]], where more than 17,000 people filed through St. Mary's Church in order to pay him their last respects.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.apl.org/history/mccarthy/photos3.html |title= Joseph McCarthy Photographs: The Funeral |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120205005715/http://www.apl.org/history/mccarthy/photos3.html |archive-date= February 5, 2012 |access-date= July 18, 2014 }}</ref> Three senators—[[George W. Malone]], [[William E. Jenner]], and [[Herman Welker]]—had flown from Washington to Appleton on the plane that carried McCarthy's casket. [[Robert F. Kennedy]] attended the funeral in Wisconsin. McCarthy was survived by his wife, Jean, and their daughter, Tierney.

In the summer of 1957, a special election was held to fill McCarthy's seat. In the [[Partisan primary|primaries]], voters in both parties turned away from McCarthy's legacy. The Republican primary was won by Governor [[Walter J. Kohler Jr.]], who called for a clean break from McCarthy's approach; he defeated former Representative [[Glenn Robert Davis]], who charged that President Eisenhower was soft on Communism.<ref>{{cite web |last=Nichols |first=John |title=In 1957, a McCarthy-free morning in America |work=[[The Capital Times]] |date=July 31, 2007 |url=http://www.madison.com/tct/archives/index.php?archAction=arch_read&a_from=search&a_file=%2Ftct%2F2007%2F07%2F31%2F0707310204.php&var_search=Search&keyword_field=In%201957,%20a%20McCarthy-free%20morning%20in%20&pub_code_field=tct&from_date_field=&to_date_field=&var_start_pos=0&var_articles_per_page=10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090405143136/http://www.madison.com/tct/archives/index.php?archAction=arch_read&a_from=search&a_file=%2Ftct%2F2007%2F07%2F31%2F0707310204.php&var_search=Search&keyword_field=In%201957,%20a%20McCarthy-free%20morning%20in%20&pub_code_field=tct&from_date_field=&to_date_field=&var_start_pos=0&var_articles_per_page=10 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 5, 2009 }}</ref>

Kohler was defeated in the special general election by Democrat [[William Proxmire]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,862682,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100902153700/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,862682,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 2, 2010 |title=Wisconsin: Running Scared |newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=August 26, 1957 |access-date=May 30, 2017}}</ref> After assuming his seat, Proxmire did not pay the customary tribute to his predecessor and stated instead that McCarthy was a "disgrace to Wisconsin, to the Senate, and to America."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://yomi.mobi/egate/Joseph_McCarthy/753/a |title=Joseph_McCarthy – Himatsubushi Wikipedia |access-date=January 26, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006111051/http://yomi.mobi/egate/Joseph_McCarthy/753/a |archive-date=October 6, 2013}}</ref> As of 2025, McCarthy is the last Republican to have held, or won election to, Wisconsin's Class 1 Senate seat.<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Senate: States in the Senate {{!}} Wisconsin Senators |url=https://www.senate.gov/states/WI/senators.htm |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=www.senate.gov}}</ref>