Description
The first edition of Major Speeches And Debates Of Senator Joe McCarthy, published in 1952, signed by Senator Joe McCarthy.
Octavo, [4], 354pp. Blue cloth, title stamped in gilt on spine and front cover. No additional printings noted. Light wear to covers, sunning to spine. Solid text block, clean internally. Not issued with a dust jacket.
Inscribed on the front free endpaper: “To Ted + Val / Good Luck + Good Health / Joe McCarthy.”
This work records the beginning of “McCarthyism,” with Senator Joe McCarthy’s first speech on the influence of communists in Government. It was delivered on February 20, 1950 on the Senate Floor, a recitation of the speech he gave at the Lincoln Day celebrations in Wheeling, West Virginia the previous day. Senator Joe McCarthy’s aggressive tactics led to his eventual censure by the United States Senate, and in turn, a rapid decline in his health. He died at the age of 48 in 1957.
