Senator Joseph McCarthy, the man who spearheaded the anti-communist witch hunts of the Red Scare, died from complications of alcoholism on this day in 1957. Despite making countless enemies and being censured by his colleagues two years prior, his three funerals—one at St. Matthews Cathedral, one on the floor of the Senate and one in his home town of Appleton, Wisconsin—were well attended. | American Experience | PBS

By 1950, it seemed that Joseph McCarthy, the junior Senator from Wisconsin, was doomed to fade into obscurity. But with a single speech in Wheeling, West Virginia on February 9 of that year, he ignited a firestorm that would forever change American politics—and carve out his space in history. Speaking before a small Women’s Republican Club, McCarthy claimed to have a list of 205 "known communists" in the State Department, sparking a nationwide hysteria over subversive elements in the United Stat

💭 Do you remember? On this day in 1954, Senator Joe McCarthy began televised hearings investigating the U.S. Army. Did you watch? 📺 🎥 America in Color: The 1950s. For more, follow Smithsonian Channel Aviation Nation. https://bit.ly/3pNech8 | Smithsonian Channel Aviation Nation