Joseph Raymond McCarthy (1909 - 57), American politician. He practiced law in Wisconsin until 1939 when he was elected Judge of the Tenth Judicial CircuitCourt. Around 1950 he was elected to a sixyear term in the Republican party of the US Senate. McCarthy first attracked national attention, in Feb. 50, when he charged that 57 employees of the Department of State were Communists. He made many political enemies and won a wide popular following by his slipshod methods which became known as"McCarthyism." —9th ACC Volume 1 Approved Glossary