the.com/mccarthy
the surname that became a verb for ruining lives with unproven accusations.
means shorthand for a witch-hunt style campaign that uses fear of a hidden enemy to smear people without evidence.
from named for senator joseph mccarthy, who in the early 1950s claimed the u.s. government was riddled with communist spies, holding hearings that destroyed careers on rumor and innuendo before the senate censured him in 1954.
list sizeclaimed 205 communists, number kept changing
downfalltelevised army hearings exposed his bullying live
censure vote67 to 22, rare senate rebuke
deathdied three years later, liver disease, age 48