JFK DOES NOT CAST VOTE ON CENSURE OF JOSEPH MCCARTHY
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) The Senate of the United States voted 65-22 to censure Joseph McCarthy* (R-Wisconsin) 63 years ago, December 2, 1954.
The censure resolution was for 'conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute.'
The road to censure began in February 1950 when McCarthy said he had a list of 205 employees in the State Department who were communists.
By 1954, McCarthy's lack of evidence and use of bullying tactics were observed by millions of Americans on live television in the Army-McCarthy Hearings.
John F. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), recuperating from a back operation, did not cast a vote and was the only senator not to go on record against McCarthy.
Chris Matthews says that Ken O'Donnell, who ran JFK's Boston office, "insisted that Jack's voting against McCarthy would be 'political suicide'."
Ted Sorensen, JFK's speech writer, saw the Senator's position as being between a rock and a hard place. If he voted for censure, "he would be defying...his home state and family," but if he voted against censure, he would be denounced by party leaders, liberals and intellectuals.
SOURCE
"Jack Kennedy, Elusive Hero", by Chris Matthews, Simon and Schuster, New York, 2011.
Joseph McCarthy
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) The Senate of the United States voted 65-22 to censure Joseph McCarthy* (R-Wisconsin) 63 years ago, December 2, 1954.
The censure resolution was for 'conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute.'
The road to censure began in February 1950 when McCarthy said he had a list of 205 employees in the State Department who were communists.
By 1954, McCarthy's lack of evidence and use of bullying tactics were observed by millions of Americans on live television in the Army-McCarthy Hearings.
Public opinion quickly turned against the Senator.
Chris Matthews says that Ken O'Donnell, who ran JFK's Boston office, "insisted that Jack's voting against McCarthy would be 'political suicide'."
Ted Sorensen, JFK's speech writer, saw the Senator's position as being between a rock and a hard place. If he voted for censure, "he would be defying...his home state and family," but if he voted against censure, he would be denounced by party leaders, liberals and intellectuals.
*Joseph McCarthy was born in Grande Chute, Wisconsin. He earned his law degree at Marquette in 1935 and became the youngest circuit judge in Wisconsin history. Having served in the Marine Corps in WWII, JM was elected to the US Senate in 1946 and re-elected in 1952.
SOURCE
"Jack Kennedy, Elusive Hero", by Chris Matthews, Simon and Schuster, New York, 2011.
Joseph McCarthy
Library of Congress Photo
