Joseph McCarthy was born in a Catholic family in 1908 as the fifth of nine children. At age 14 McCarthy dropped out of school, but returned when he was 20 years old in 1928. He then attended Marquette University and received a degree in law. Although was a Democrat n his early years McCarthy switched to the Republican party after a failed election as district attorney. McCarthy served as a circuit court judge until serving as a marine from 1942-1945 in World War II. McCarthy became a senator in 1946 after he returned from the war. In 1950 McCarthy claimed that 205 communists had infiltrated the U.S State Department. He then spent his whole career trying to prove that communists were everywhere in the US. Joseph used they people of America's fear of communists to stay elected and promote more fear of the US government and communists being everywhere around them.