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While serving in the Pacific he ran in the Republican primary for Senate in 1944, but lost to Alexander Wiley, a longtime independent incumbent. He successfully ran again two years later defeating [[Robert M. La Follette, Jr]].
While serving in the Pacific he ran in the Republican primary for Senate in 1944, but lost to Alexander Wiley, a longtime independent incumbent. He successfully ran again two years later defeating [[Robert M. La Follette, Jr]].
==Tensions of the times==
==Tensions of the times==
*In May 1951, two members of the [[Cambridge Five]] — [[Donald MacLean]], Second Secretary of the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., and [[Guy Burgess]] — defected to Moscow after it was discovered MacLean transmitted information on the atom bomb from the British Embassy to the Soviet Union during World War II.
*In May 1951, two members of the [[Cambridge Five]] — [[Donald MacLean]], Second Secretary of the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., and [[Guy Burgess]] — defected to Moscow after it was discovered MacLean transmitted information on the atom bomb from the British Embassy to the Soviet Union during World War II.
It was McCarthy's charges of Communist infiltration of the State Department that shot him into prominence in 1950. On February 9th speech in Wheeling, [[West Virginia]] at the Colonnade Room of the McClure Hotel he stated:
:''“And ladies and gentlemen, while I cannot take the time to name all the men in the State Department who have been named as active members of the Communist Party and members of a spy ring, 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 and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department.”'' <ref>The Life and Times of Joe McCarthy: A Biography, Thomas C. Reeves, pg 224." </ref>
McCarthy compiled a list of 57 security risks and publicly named Robert Service, Gustavo Duran, [[Mary Jane Keeney]] and Harlow Shapley as being on the list. <ref>The Life and Times of Joe McCarthy: A Biography, Thomas C. Reeves, pgs 222-238. </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, 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).
In a six hour speech on the Senate floor on February 20, 1950, 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).
==Criticism of McCarthy's methods==
==Criticism of McCarthy's methods==
McCarthy has been widely criticized for his aggressive use of legislative investigatory powers to probe the Communist sympathies of various government officials. McCarthy made charges of Communist infiltration of the State Department, the administration of President Truman, Voice of America, and a United States Army research laboratory. The VOA hearings involved the content of broadcasts and transmitter difficulties, and found serious problems. Critics say that McCarthy did not prove deliberate sabotage. Critics also say that McCarthy only uncovered a few Communists in the United States Army Signal Corps Center at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. McCarthy also had a confrontation with Boston attorney Joseph Welch in televised hearings. Welch demanded that McCarthy name someone who had belonged to a Communist front organization, and then complained that it was indecent to do so.
McCarthy has been widely criticized for his aggressive use of legislative investigatory powers to probe the Communist sympathies of various government officials. McCarthy made charges of Communist infiltration of the State Department, the administration of President Truman, Voice of America, and a United States Army research laboratory. The VOA hearings involved the content of broadcasts and transmitter difficulties, and found serious problems. Critics say that McCarthy did not prove deliberate sabotage. Critics also say that McCarthy only uncovered a few Communists in the United States Army Signal Corps Center at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. McCarthy also had a confrontation with Boston attorney Joseph Welch in televised hearings. Welch demanded that McCarthy name someone who had belonged to a Communist front organization, and then complained that it was indecent to do so.