Senator Joseph R. McCarthy(R) Wisconsin
(1947 - 1957)
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Robert F. Kennedy*****
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John F. Kennedy*****
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For current mainstream political historians, the late Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin), was the devil incarnate, bent on destroying the personal and professional lives of freedom-loving, patriotic Americans. The term McCarthyism is synonomous with witch hunts, that are conducted in fits of blind rage with no regard for the truth. If one wishes to impugn the motivations of a political foe, either a reference to racism or McCarthyism does the trick.
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The author, M. Stanton Evans, offers a different perspective on the Senator from Wisconsin in his book Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy. Evans' opus is a fascinating and well-documented history of Joe McCarthy, and his quest to rid United States government of communist spies and sympathizers. To hear it today the mainstream media paints a picture of a crazed, hateful loner whose weapons included character assassination by careless innuendo.
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Evans has taken a decidely different tact, which included checking well-documented evidence. One of the interesting political alliances of the early 1950's involved the reviled, McCarthy. As a noted anti-communist, this Republican attracted others who shared his views. This included a Democrat from Massachusetts, Joseph P. Kennedy, the father of the revered John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. McCarthy and Joseph P. became so close, that when John ran for the Senate in 1952 against a noted conservative Republican, Henry Cabot Lodge, McCarthy offered no public support for Lodge's campaign at Joseph P.'s request. Lodge lost.
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After the 1952 elections, McCarthy and the Kennedy's remained close. Robert, a student at the University of Virginia Law School, worked pro bono for McCarthy. Robert's respect even ran deeper than that. He asked, and McCarthy agreed to be the godfather to Robert's oldest child, Kathleen, who is now known as Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the former Lt. Governor for the state of Maryland.
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