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Summary
Summary
When Cold War tension was at its height, Joseph ("call me Joe") McCarthy conducted an anti-Communist crusade endorsed by millions of Americans, despite his unfair and unconstitutional methods. Award-winning writer James Cross Giblin tells the story of a man whose priorities centered on power and media attention and who stopped at nothing to obtain both. The strengths and weaknesses of the man and the system that permitted his rise are explored in this authoritative, lucid biography, which sets McCarthy's life against a teeming backdrop of world affairs and struggles between military and political rivals at home. Chapter notes, bibliography, index.
Author Notes
James Cross Giblin was born in Cleveland, Ohio on July 8, 1933. He received a B. A. from Western Reserve University in 1954 and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Columbia University in 1955. He pursued playwriting before taking a job at Criterion Books in 1959. He focused on the children's book field. In the early to mid-1960s, he was an associate editor at Lothrop, Lee and Shepard. In 1967, he moved to Seabury Press, where he became editor-in-chief, spearheading the development of the children's book line there, later called Clarion Books. When Houghton Mifflin bought Clarion in the late 1970s, he moved to the company as Clarion's publisher. As an editor, he worked with such authors as Eileen Christelow and Mary Downing Hahn.
His first children's book, The Scarecrow Book written with Dale Ferguson, was published in 1980. During his lifetime, he wrote more than 20 books for young readers, mainly nonfiction, historical nonfiction, and biographies. He won several awards including the 1983 National Book Award for Chimney Sweeps: Yesterday and Today and the 2003 Sibert Medal for The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler. He died on April 10, 2016 at the age of 82.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (6)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Using extensive detail and context, this ambitious biography explores one of the country's most controversial senators. In 27 chapters, punctuated by b&w photos and political cartoons, Giblin (The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler) presents Sen. Joe McCarthy as a risk-taking, limelight-loving, revenge-seeking demagogue. The author takes readers from McCarthy's childhood in rural Wisconsin to his work as a judge, Marine, and, finally, U.S. senator. Little-known facts (McCarthy was a chicken farmer before starting high school at age 20, and he graduated in one year) pique interest early. However, the narrative bogs down somewhat. The introduction of numerous political figures and their backgrounds, international crises (alleged torture of German WWII prisoners by the U.S., battles in the Korean War, etc.), polling data, and excerpts from Senate hearings may have younger readers losing the man amid the contextual asides. (Older audiences, though, should appreciate the comprehensiveness.) While the extensive background slows the story, Giblin's unmistakable research and passion for the subject add up to a comprehensive portrayal of a complex figure. Abundant source notes and further reading suggestions conclude this expansive undertaking. Ages 12-up. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Middle School, High School) Having already explored the lives of Hitler (The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler, rev. 5/02) and John Wilkes Booth (Good Brother, Bad Brother, rev. 5/05), Giblin has selected another villain, Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy, as his latest biographical subject. From an early age, Joe displayed lots of admirable qualities -- hard work, personal charm, dedication, and ambition. But as McCarthy tasted political power -- first as a judge, then as a senator -- he used these gifts to undermine the public good rather than serve it. McCarthy didn't create the Red Scare -- in the aftermath of World War II there was plenty of apprehension about the new world order and the global spread of Communism -- but he exploited that apprehension with his devious witch-hunting tactics, leading President Eisenhower to remark that his behavior amounted to "the most disloyal act we have ever had by anyone in the government of the United States." McCarthy died in 1957 at forty-eight (from cirrhosis of the liver), but his legacy lives on in the collective memory of the nation, reawakened from time to time by political scandals and civil rights abuses. While this biography meticulously covers the details of McCarthy's life, exactly what made him tick remains a mystery; however, Giblin does an excellent job of limning the 1950s political and cultural landscape. Liberally illustrated with photographs. A bibliography, source notes, and an index are appended. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
McCarthyism has become a synonym for scare tactics and unfounded accusations against those labeled unpatriotic, and YAs will see the contemporary parallels in this biography of the anti-Communist crusader who rose to power over 50 years ago with strong public support. More than the detailed biographies of individual politicians, it is the early 1950s political scene that will grab today's readers: the atmosphere of caution and fear; people blacklisted for suspected subversive behavior; the enthusiastic crowds who supported Joe's fiery rhetoric about getting rid of all the Commie spies and traitors; the firings of those labeled disloyal; and the lies and bluffing. Giblin's title, formatted with an open, photo-filled design and written in an easy, direct style, makes no superficial connections, and the afterword, Another McCarthy? will prompt discussion about the accusations of terrorism in the aftermath of 9/11. Just as memorable is the scathing commentary from famous journalist Edward Murrow about the differences between dissent and disloyalty. The extensive back matter includes substantive source notes and a bibliography.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2009 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
YOUNG people have doubtless heard the trash talk about President Obama's being "un-American," but they probably have no idea that similar charges against ordinary citizens nearly brought the government to a standstill during the height of the Red scare in the 1950s, Exposure of real spies after World War II and fears of Stalin's Russia had created a tense mood in Washington. So when a junior Republican senator from Wisconsin, Joseph R. McCarthy, began accusing the State Department of harboring "card-carrying members of the Communist Party," for a time he tapped into a popular cause. But as chairman of the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, McCarthy would pursue his anti-Communist crusade with a zeal that would ensnare and wrong many innocent people. "Fifth column" Communism doesn't much concern modern-day Americans worried about national security, yet in this post-9/11 era, policies that threaten to unfairly single out private citizens are equally divisive. So while James Cross Giblin's latest, carefully researched biography, "The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy," may not always make for exciting reading (and is marred by lackluster design), it is nonetheless timely and significant. Giblin shows how McCarthy stirred up political controversy out of an apparently insatiable hunger for power. His background was modest: he grew up as one of seven children on a farm in the town of Grand Chute, Wis. He raised chickens, then managed a grocery store before deciding to go to high school at the age of 20, where he completed the four-year program in nine months. He then largely put himself through college and law school, where he found his political ambition. Given the limitations of most high school history curriculums, Giblin is ambitious here in charting McCarthy's rise. He includes information that may be news to some adults - tracing the roots of McCarthy's deceptive political tactics to his earliest battles for public office, for instance. During McCarthy's first campaign, for district attorney of Shawano, Wis., he accused the widely respected incumbent of violating local law by continuing his private practice. Although the charge was technically correct, McCarthy - only 27 at the time - deliberately skewed the facts: the D.A. did practice, but not much, and he "made almost no money from it." Joe (as the author calls him throughout the book) lost the election, but his ploy earned him a surprise second-place snowing and a host of new followers. Giblin also provides a detailed account of McCarthy's service in World War II. McCarthy, who after his defeat in the district attorney's race went on to be elected a circuit-court judge, left the bench in 1942 to join the Marines. He served in the Pacific as an intelligence officer for a dive-bomber squadron, yet he embellished his few missions and used the experience to develop his personal aura. "He cajoled the squadron's photographers into taking dramatic pictures of him in his flight uniform," Giblin writes, and used the pictures during his early campaigns for Senate. McCarthy won election to the Senate in 1946, but his brash and often reckless behavior made him enemies - though this, too, worked to his benefit. In 1950, as a kind of punishment, he was sent to backwater towns to represent the Republican Party at celebrations of Lincoln's birthday. Seeing this as a chance to grab attention, McCarthy gave a speech to a women's Republican club in Wheeling, W.Va., that changed his life and the tenor of the anti-Communism debate. During the speech, McCarthy held up a piece of paper and declared it "a list of names" of employees at the State Department who were known "members of the Communist Party and members of a spy ring" (according to Giblin, the sheet of paper was merely a page from his speech). This was not a new charge, but the national press jumped on it. Thus McCarthy's anti-Communist offensive began in earnest, as he used his Senate subcommittee position (with Roy Conn, chief counsel, by his side) to investigate virtually anyone he chose. McCarthy's career ended only when courageous journalists like Edward R. Murrow exposed his tactics on national television; those reports, and the senator's own bullying performance during the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954, finally alienated the public, and the Senate voted to condemn him. "The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy" draws attention to a particular brand of home-grown demagoguery, the kind that wraps itself in Americanism. If I were a high school teacher concentrating on the postwar era, I would devote a good part of my course to discussing this book for the cautionary tale it tells. Steven Heller writes the Visuals column for the Book Review.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-James Cross Giblin's book (Clarion, 2009) traces the life of Joe McCarthy through his early years as a chicken farmer to his eventual turn to law and politics. Giblin looks at Senator McCarthy through the lens of a gambler, showing that he was always willing to take risks and use any means to gain power. McCarthy was a controversial character, both applauded and condemned for his ruthless attacks against communism and those he suspected of being communists -from common workers to entertainers to an Army general. Through the use of quotes from friends, colleagues, and enemies, minutes from his hearings, and private correspondence from various people, Giblin recreates McCarthy's life. The biography concludes with information about the lives of those mentioned in connection with McCarthy and also warns in an epilogue how labels like socialist and terrorist could be compared to the communist designations given during the McCarthy era. Elizabeth Rodgers narrates in a straightforward manner, adding emotion to the many quotes used in the book. This is a gripping illustration of the Red Scare and a way to introduce teens to that era.-Sarah Flood, Breckinridge County Public Library, Hardinsburg, KY (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A masterful chronicle of one of 20th-century America's most catastrophically influential figures. The Sibert Medal winner portrays McCarthy as an energetic and personable campaigner with a gift for public speaking and also as a manipulative opportunist who readily resorted to personal attacks and distortion or fabrication of facts to win elections and advance his agenda. Giblin's most revealing insight into McCarthy's character is his utter lack of conviction in any cause he championed, even his infamous anti-Communist crusade in the 1940s and '50swhich, the author argues, could not have lasted as long as it did without the complicity of fellow legislators and President Eisenhower, who, however reprehensible they found his tactics, were too fearful of appearing "soft on Communism" to challenge him. This lucid, authoritative portrait offers readers a compelling, real-life cautionary tale of blind ambition and the reckless pursuit of power. A tour de force. (bibliography, source notes, index) (Biography. 12 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
