McCarthy as Senator

McCarthy and Army Special Counsel Joseph Welch (right), May 5 1954
Courtesy of Marquette University Archives and Corbis

The Army hired Welch, a partner in the Boston firm of Hale and Dorr, to present its case against McCarthy.

Private David Schine at Army-McCarthy hearings, April 29, 1954
Courtesy of Marquette University Archives and Corbis

Schine held up a photograph of himself (center) looking at Secretary of the Army Robert Stevens (right). Schine worked for McCarthy as an unpaid consultant at the request of McCarthy's Chief Counsel Roy Cohn. The Army drafted Schine in July 1953. Cohn bullied military officers into giving Schine special treatment while in boot camp.

McCarthy and his Chief Counsel Roy Cohn confer on the second day of the Army-McCarthy hearings, April 23, 1954
Courtesy of Marquette University Archives and Corbis

McCarthy hired Cohn as his chief counsel in 1953. Cohn's reputation as an anti-Communist crusader grew from his role in the conviction of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for atomic espionage.

Court Reporter Harold Miller displaying subcommittee transcripts on the last day of the Army-McCarthy hearings, June 17, 1954
Courtesy of Marquette University Archives and Corbis

The Army-McCarthy hearings ran from April 22 until June 17, 1954. The transcripts contained 7,300 pages and 2,000,000 words.

McCarthy and Army Special Counsel Joseph Welch (right), May 5 1954 Courtesy of Marquette University Archives and Corbis The Army hired Welch, a partner in the Boston firm of Hale and Dorr, to present its case against McCarthy.

Army officials publicized charges against McCarthy and members of his staff in March 1954. The Army said McCarthy's Chief Counsel Roy Cohn bullied officers into giving a McCarthy aide special treatment while in boot camp. The aide, Private David Schine, had worked for McCarthy briefly until the Army drafted him in 1953. McCarthy countercharged, saying the Army used Schine as a "hostage" to stop investigations by his subcommittee. A Senate subcommittee opened the Army-McCarthy hearings on April 22, 1954, to a televised audience. McCarthy damaged his political career as 20 million Americans watched him bully, interrupt, and harass witnesses and subcommittee members. The drama climaxed on June 9 when McCarthy attacked Fred Fisher, an attorney in the law firm of Army Counsel Joseph Welch. Many who once viewed McCarthy as a hard-nosed anti-Communist now saw him as a frightening extremist.
Fred Fisher held membership in a Communist associated group called the National Lawyer's Guild in the 1940s. Army Special Counsel Joseph Welch excluded Fisher as counsel on the Army-McCarthy case because of his previous association. Welch used McCarthy's attack on Fisher to illustrate the Senator's vengeful tactics. Two months after the Army-McCarthy hearings, the Senate subcommittee criticized the Army for interfering with McCarthy's investigations and for permitting Cohn to influence its affairs. It also blamed McCarthy for allowing his chief counsel to bully the military.

Private David Schine at Army-McCarthy hearings, April 29, 1954 Courtesy of Marquette University Archives and Corbis Schine held up a photograph of himself (center) looking at Secretary of the Army Robert Stevens (right). Schine worked for McCarthy as an unpaid consultant at the request of McCarthy's Chief Counsel Roy Cohn. The Army drafted Schine in July 1953. Cohn bullied military officers into giving Schine special treatment while in boot camp.
McCarthy and his Chief Counsel Roy Cohn confer on the second day of the Army-McCarthy hearings, April 23, 1954 Courtesy of Marquette University Archives and Corbis McCarthy hired Cohn as his chief counsel in 1953. Cohn's reputation as an anti-Communist crusader grew from his role in the conviction of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for atomic espionage.
Court Reporter Harold Miller displaying subcommittee transcripts on the last day of the Army-McCarthy hearings, June 17, 1954 Courtesy of Marquette University Archives and Corbis The Army-McCarthy hearings ran from April 22 until June 17, 1954. The transcripts contained 7,300 pages and 2,000,000 words.