Joseph R. McCarthy came from a family Irish immagrants. They were farmers. Young Joseph also wanted to be a famer. Joe finished school at age 14 and went on to raise chickens on property given to him by his father. Joe became very ill and his chicken farm failed.

Joe returned to school and completed high school and then went on to college where he received a degree in law in 1935. Joe ran for a judgeship and won. He proceeded all the way to becoming a senator of Wisconsin.

In the late 40's and early 50's the Cold War and Communism were the great topics of the day. Joe exploited these two issues and that even helped him in his race to the senate. Along with J. Edgar Hoover, Joe became a top investigator in uncovering Communists in the US.

McCarthyism was to be later defined as a kind of 'Political Murder, Inc'. He single handedly ruined many lives. McCarthy created such a scare in Hollywood alone that people were afraid of associations they had been a part of for years.