Re-elected to a second term in 1952 at the height of his anti-communist investigations, he was censured by the Senate two years later and died in office, May 2, 1957, at age 48.

Of course, all that tells you very little. The man was a walking contradiction. McCarthy first ran for office as New Deal Democrat. He volunteered for the Marines (judges were exempt from military duty), served admirably, and lied about his record. He wallowed in obscurity before suddenly clutching the nation’s undivided attention like no other figure of his era. He was warm and charming to his friends, a ruthless bully to others. He wanted to be liked, and he made himself hated.

And McCarthy was a boozer, no doubt about that. To what extent alcoholism clouded his judgment is an open question. When McCarthy offered conflicting numbers about communists working in government, eyewitnesses said it due to his various states of inebriation -- he couldn’t remember what he had said.