Joseph Raymond McCarthy (1909 - 57), American politician. He represented Wisconsin in the US Senate from 1947 until his death in 1957. While he was a Senator, he led an effort to identifycommunists who, he said, had infiltrated the federal government by the hundreds, although he never supplied any of their names. He first attracted national attention, in February 50, when he charged that 57 employees of the Department of State were communists. The accusation was never substantiated. During the next three years h e repeatedly accused various high-ranking officials in the State Department of subversive activities. —9th ACC Volume 2 Approved Glossary