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[[Image:FBI-Chart-Web.png|right|450px|thumb|FBI Master Chart of distribution in 1945-46 of investigative reports to the White House, Attorney General, and employing agencies of Communist agents in the Federal government.]]

[[Image:FBI-Chart-Web.png|right|450px|thumb|FBI Master Chart of distribution in 1945-46 of investigative reports to the White House, Attorney General, and employing agencies of Communist agents in the Federal government.]]

It was McCarthy's charges of Communist, security, and loyalty risk infiltration of the State Department that shot him into prominence in 1950. At a Lincoln Day speech, on February 9, 1950, before the Republican Women's Club of Wheeling, West Virginia, at the Colonnade Room of Wheeling's McClure Hotel, he stated:  

It was McCarthy's charges of Communist, security, and loyalty risk infiltration of the State Department that shot him into prominence in 1950. At a Lincoln Day speech, on February 9, 1950, before the Republican Women's Club of Wheeling, West Virginia, at the Colonnade Room of Wheeling's McClure Hotel, he stated:  

{{Cquote|I have in my hand 57 cases of individuals who would appear to be either card carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party, but who nevertheless are still helping to shape our foreign policy.'' <ref>Senator Joseph McCarthy, [http://faculty.tnstate.edu/tcorse/h2020/senator_joseph_mccarthy.htm Speech at Wheeling, West Virginia], 1950, Congressional Record of the Senate, 81st Congress 2nd Session, February 20, 1950 (Tennessee State University)</ref><ref>McCarthy, Joseph (February 9, 1950) "[http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/pdocs/mccarthy_wheeling.pdf Speech at Wheeling], West Virginia, 9 February 1950," in Michael P. Johnson, ed., Reading the American Past, Vol. II (Boston: Bedford Books, 1998), pgs. 191-195.</ref><ref>Vernon, Wes (January 13, 2006). [http://www.aim.org/aim_report/A4297_0_4_0_C/|''AIM Report: Looney Clooney Smears Senator McCarthy'']. Accuracy In Media</ref><ref>Irvine, Reed and Kincaid, Cliff (September 13, 2000). [http://www.aim.org/media_monitor/A2958_0_2_0_C/|''Joe McCarthy, a Victimizer or Victim'']. Accuracy In Media</ref><ref>Buckley, Jr., William F. and Bozell, L. Brent (1954, 1995 Printing). ''McCarthy & His Enemies, The Record And Its Meaning''. Regnery Publishing Inc., pgs. 41-61. ISBN 0-89526-472-2.</ref>}}

{{Cquote|I have in my hand 57 cases of individuals who would appear to be either card carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party, but who nevertheless are still helping to shape our foreign policy.'' <ref>Senator Joseph McCarthy, [http://faculty.tnstate.edu/tcorse/h2020/senator_joseph_mccarthy.htm Speech at Wheeling, West Virginia], 1950, Congressional Record of the Senate, 81st Congress 2nd Session, February 20, 1950 (Tennessee State University). Cf. ''Major Speeches and Debates of Senator Joe McCarthy Delivered in the United States Senate, 1950-1951, reprinted from the Congressional Record'' (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1951); "Senator Joe McCarthy's Visit to Valley Area," ''Wheeling Intelligencer'', February 11, 1950; "57 Reds Help Shaping U.S. Policy: McCarthy," ''Denver Post'', February 11, 1950; ''Salt Lake Tribune'', February 11, 1950; ''Salt Lake Telegram'', February 11, 1950; [http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/mccarthy-telegram/images/telegram-page-1.gif McCarthy to President Truman] (telegram), February 11, 1950; "McCarthy Blasts State Department," ''Nevada State Journal'', February 12, 1950.</ref><ref>McCarthy, Joseph (February 9, 1950) "[http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/pdocs/mccarthy_wheeling.pdf Speech at Wheeling], West Virginia, 9 February 1950," in Michael P. Johnson, ed., Reading the American Past, Vol. II (Boston: Bedford Books, 1998), pgs. 191-195.</ref><ref>Vernon, Wes (January 13, 2006). [http://www.aim.org/aim_report/A4297_0_4_0_C/|''AIM Report: Looney Clooney Smears Senator McCarthy'']. Accuracy In Media</ref><ref>Irvine, Reed and Kincaid, Cliff (September 13, 2000). [http://www.aim.org/media_monitor/A2958_0_2_0_C/|''Joe McCarthy, a Victimizer or Victim'']. Accuracy In Media</ref><ref>Buckley, Jr., William F. and Bozell, L. Brent (1954, 1995 Printing). ''McCarthy & His Enemies, The Record And Its Meaning''. Regnery Publishing Inc., pgs. 41-61. ISBN 0-89526-472-2.</ref>}}

McCarthy compiled a list of 57 security risks and publicly named John S. Service, Gustavo Duran, [[Mary Jane Keeney]], Harlow Shapley, and [[H. Julian Wadleigh]] <ref>Alexander Vassiliev, Notes on A. Gorsky’s Report to Savchenko S.R., 23 December 1949.</ref> as being on the list. <ref>Reeves, Thomas C. (1997). ''The life and Times of Joe McCarthy: A Biography''. Madison Books. pgs. 222-238. ISBN 1-56833-101-0.</ref>  These names came from the "Lee List" of unresolved State Department security cases compiled by the earlier investigators for the House Appropriates Committee in 1947.  Robert E. Lee was the committee’s lead investigator and supervised preparation of the list.  <ref>U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, State Department Employee Loyalty Investigations (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1950). </ref>

McCarthy compiled a list of 57 security risks and publicly named John S. Service, Gustavo Duran, [[Mary Jane Keeney]], Harlow Shapley, and [[H. Julian Wadleigh]] <ref>Alexander Vassiliev, Notes on A. Gorsky’s Report to Savchenko S.R., 23 December 1949.</ref> as being on the list. <ref>Reeves, Thomas C. (1997). ''The life and Times of Joe McCarthy: A Biography''. Madison Books. pgs. 222-238. ISBN 1-56833-101-0.</ref>  These names came from the "Lee List" of unresolved State Department security cases compiled by the earlier investigators for the House Appropriates Committee in 1947.  Robert E. Lee was the committee’s lead investigator and supervised preparation of the list.  <ref>U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, State Department Employee Loyalty Investigations (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1950). </ref>

In a six hour speech on the Senate floor on February 20, 1950 in which McCarthy was constantly interrupted by hostile senators; four of whom -- Scott Lucas (61 times), Brien McMahon (27 times), Garrett Withers (22 times), and Herbert Lehman (13 times) -- interrupted him a total of 123 times, McCarthy raised the issue of some eighty individuals who had worked in the [[State Department]], or wartime agencies such as the [[Office of War Information]] (OWI) and the [[Board of Economic Warfare]] (BEW). Democrats insisted McCarthy name names.  McCarthy responded,

In a six hour speech on the Senate floor on February 20, 1950 in which McCarthy was constantly interrupted by hostile senators; four of whom -- Scott Lucas (61 times), Brien McMahon (27 times), Garrett Withers (22 times), and Herbert Lehman (13 times) -- interrupted him a total of 123 times, McCarthy raised the issue of some eighty individuals who had worked in the [[State Department]], or wartime agencies such as the [[Office of War Information]] (OWI) and the [[Board of Economic Warfare]] (BEW).

{{Cquote|The Senator from Illinois demanded, loudly, that I furnish all the names. I told him at that time that so far as I was concerned, I thought that would be improper; that I did not have all the information about these individuals. . . .I have enough to convince me that either they are members of the Communist Party or they have given great aid to the Communists: I may be wrong. That is why I said that unless the Senate demanded that I do so, I would not submit this publicly, but I would submit it to any committee - and would let the committee go over these in executive session. It is possible that some of these persons will get a clean bill of health. . . .}}

{{Cquote|The Senator from Illinois demanded, loudly, that I furnish all the names. I told him at that time that so far as I was concerned, I thought that would be improper; that I did not have all the information about these individuals ... I have enough to convince me that either they are members of the Communist Party or they have given great aid to the Communists: I may be wrong. That is why I said that unless the Senate demanded that I do so, I would not submit this publicly, but I would submit it to any committee -- and would let the committee go over these in executive session. It is possible that some of these persons will get a clean bill of health...}}

McCarthy is said by some to have made the claim, "I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party." <ref>Washington Post (February 12, 1950).''Washington Post, February 12, 1950; McCarthy's speech in Wheeling & letter to President Truman are cited in the article titled "Security Risks" to the lower left of the photo''. Washington Post[http://www.conservapedia.com/images/thumb/4/49/Washpost1950.jpg/250px-Washpost1950.jpg]</ref> This alleged statement was made only about his speech in Wheeling, WV and not in the other cities where he made a speech addressing the issue of subversion in government. The 205 number came in another part of his speech. On February 20, 1950, in a speech made on the floor of the Senate, McCarthy officially clarified the issue:

Sen. William Benton (D-CT) introduced a bill to eject McCarthy from the Senate. His first charge was that at Wheeling, McCarthy had said that he had a list of 205 names, rather than 57 names. The Senate (then under Democrat control) sent staff investigators to Wheeling to try to substantiate Benton's charges. The investigation found no evidence to support Benton's charge. According to one investigator:

{{cquote|The newly unearthed evidence demolished Senator Benton’s charges in all their material respects and thoroughly proved Senator McCarthy’s account of the facts to be truthful.<ref>Statement by Daniel Buckley, December 13, 1951, McCarthy papers, cited in M. Stanton Evans, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=xCaDcYsr0sgC Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies]'' (Crown Forum 2007) ISBN 1400081068, pp. 438-439.</ref>}}

Senate Democrats quietly buried the 44-page staff memo summarizing these findings, but the charge that McCarthy had said “205” was likewise dropped. Thus the Congressional Record to this day records that McCarthy said "57," not "205." Nevertheless, many on the left continue to promote Benton's discredited claim as gospel.<ref>Washington Post (February 12, 1950).''Washington Post, February 12, 1950; McCarthy's speech in Wheeling & letter to President Truman are cited in the article titled "Security Risks" to the lower left of the photo''. Washington Post[http://www.conservapedia.com/images/thumb/4/49/Washpost1950.jpg/250px-Washpost1950.jpg]</ref>  

Benton made this allegation only about McCarthy's speech in Wheeling, WV and not in the other cities where he made the speech. The 205 number actually came in another part of his speech; on February 20, 1950, in a speech made on the floor of the Senate, McCarthy officially clarified the issue:

{{Cquote|I have before me a letter which was reproduced in the Congressional Record on August 1, 1946, at page A4892. It is a letter from James F. Byrnes, former Secretary of State. It deals with the screening of the first group, of about 3,000. There were a great number of subsequent screenings. This was the beginning.

{{Cquote|I have before me a letter which was reproduced in the Congressional Record on August 1, 1946, at page A4892. It is a letter from James F. Byrnes, former Secretary of State. It deals with the screening of the first group, of about 3,000. There were a great number of subsequent screenings. This was the beginning.