Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin was the leader of the 1950's Communist witch-hunt throughout the United States. McCarthy was the most hated senator in America at this time and he knew that he would never become re-elected. So, to make himself more popular, he capitalized on America's fear of Communism and claimed that he had a blacklist of over 200 Americans who had jobs in high positions up in Washington who were affiliated with Communism. This led to many trials of these people and resulted in McCarthyism, or the act of accusing a person of doing something without any real evidence.
