• The Hatch Act legitimized McCarthy's investigations into Communists-in-government. Passed in 1939, the Act made it illegal for the federal government to employ Communists.

  • The Senate has censured nine of its members since 1789, McCarthy being the fourth. Censure means a formal statement of disapproval. It carries no official penalty.

 

McCarthy became Wisconsin's junior senator in 1946. He fought for a smaller federal government and controls on labor unions. He became a sensation in 1950 when he said Communist State Department employees influenced American foreign policy. Many people believed McCarthy's accusation because it seemed to explain China's fall to Communism and the Soviets' development of atomic weaponry the year before. Many Americans feared Communism would replace democracy in the United States.

 
McCarthy became an anti-Communist crusader in 1950. He won re-election two years later and assumed chairmanship of the Senate's Government Operations Committee. Through its investigative subcommittee, McCarthy looked for Communists in government. Other senators became dissatisfied with what they considered McCarthy's crude tactics and reckless accusations. In 1954, his colleagues censured him for disregarding Senate customs. Three years later, while still in office, McCarthy died of acute hepatitis at the age of 48.

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