Changes

==Early life==

==Early life==

Joseph McCarthy was born to a poor Irish Catholic farm family in Appleton, Wisconsin.  A hyperactive, extroverted youth, he dropped out of school after eighth grade to start his own poultry business. After the chickens all died, he enrolled in the local public high school.  Thanks to enormous energy and a retentive mind, he finished his coursework in less than a year at age 20.  After two undergraduate years at Marquette University, a leading Jesuit school in Milwaukee, McCarthy entered Marquette Law School, acquiring the rudiments of the profession as he knit together a statewide network among Irish and German Catholics.  McCarthy was a practicing Catholic his entire life, but rarely referred to religion or ethnicity in his speeches.  He actively supported President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in the Young Democrats, but did not join Irish organizations.  Although defeated in his 1936 race for district attorney, McCarthy displayed remarkable campaign abilities and an astonishing memory for faces.  He had the energy and determination to meet every voter in person, exuding charm and a concern for the voter as an individual.  The same tactics paid off in 1939, when he was successful in a nonpartisan contest for a regional judgeship.   

Joseph McCarthy was born to a poor Irish Catholic farm family in Appleton, Wisconsin.  A hyperactive, extroverted youth, he dropped out of school after eighth grade to start his own poultry business. After the chickens all died, he enrolled in the local public high school.  Thanks to enormous energy and a retentive mind, he finished his coursework in less than a year at age 20.  After two undergraduate years at Marquette University, a leading Jesuit school in Milwaukee, McCarthy entered Marquette Law School, acquiring the rudiments of the profession that he soon used to knit together a statewide network among Irish and German Catholics.  McCarthy was a practicing Catholic his entire life, but rarely referred to religion or ethnicity in his speeches.  He actively supported President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in the Young Democrats, but did not join Irish organizations.  Although defeated in his 1936 race for district attorney, McCarthy displayed remarkable campaign abilities and an astonishing memory for faces.  He had the energy and determination to meet every voter in person, exuding charm and a concern for the voter as an individual.  The same tactics paid off in 1939, when he was successful in a nonpartisan contest for a regional judgeship.   

The youngest judge in state history, he worked long hours to clear up a large backlog. As one local newspaper concluded, Judge McCarthy "administered justice promptly and with a combination of legal knowledge and good sense."<ref>Drummey, James J. (May 11, 1987). [http://www.jbs.org/node/632 ''The Real McCarthy Record'']. The New American, Section I. The Years Before 1950.</ref>  He was still a Democrat, but that party was very weak statewide at the time.

The youngest judge in state history, he worked long hours to clear up a large backlog. As one local newspaper concluded, Judge McCarthy "administered justice promptly and with a combination of legal knowledge and good sense."<ref>Drummey, James J. (May 11, 1987). [http://www.jbs.org/node/632 ''The Real McCarthy Record'']. The New American, Section I. The Years Before 1950.</ref>  He was still a Democrat, but that party was very weak statewide at the time.