Soon after moving to the DC area, I recall hearing a particularly informed anecdote about Senator Joseph McCarthy of red-baiting ‘Communist conspiracy’ fame, the man who gave McCarthyism a bad name.

In McCarthy’s time there existed a government entity called the Legislative Reference Service, precursor to the present Congressional Research Service (CRS), which handles reference questions on an extensive range of topics for members of Congress and congressional staffers. Condensing for brevity, what happened was that McCarthy, already in full throat at the time, actually got in touch – quietly and behind the scenes -- with the then director of ...   more »