Editing Joseph McCarthy (section)

===Support from Catholics and the Kennedy family===

One of the strongest bases of anti-Communist sentiment in the United States was the Catholic community, which constituted over 20% of the national vote. McCarthy identified himself as Catholic, and although the great majority of Catholics were Democrats, as his fame as a leading anti-Communist grew, he became popular in Catholic communities across the country, with strong support from many leading Catholics, diocesan newspapers, and Catholic journals. At the same time, some Catholics opposed McCarthy, notably the anti-Communist author Father [[John Francis Cronin]] and the influential journal ''[[Commonweal (magazine)|Commonweal]]''.<ref>
{{cite book|last =Crosby
  |first =Donald F.
  |title =God, Church, and Flag: Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and the Catholic Church, 1950–1957
  |publisher =University of North Carolina Press
  |year =1978
  |pages =[https://archive.org/details/godchurchflagsen0000cros/page/200 200, 67]
  |isbn =0-8078-1312-5
  |url =https://archive.org/details/godchurchflagsen0000cros/page/200
  }}</ref>

McCarthy established a bond with the powerful [[Kennedy family]], which had high visibility among Catholics. McCarthy became a close friend of [[Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.]], himself a fervent anti-Communist, and he was also a frequent guest at the Kennedy compound in [[Hyannis Port, Massachusetts]]. He dated two of Kennedy's daughters, [[Patricia Kennedy Lawford|Patricia]] and [[Eunice Kennedy Shriver|Eunice]].<ref>
{{cite book |last = Morrow |first = Lance |title =The Best Year of Their Lives: Kennedy, Johnson, And Nixon in 1948 |publisher =Perseus Books Group |year= 1978 |page = 4 |isbn = 0-465-04724-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last = Bogle |first = Lori |title =Cold War Espionage and Spying |publisher =[[Routledge]] |year= 2001 |page = 129 |isbn = 0-8153-3241-6}}</ref> It has been stated that McCarthy was [[Godparent|godfather]] to [[Robert F. Kennedy]]'s first child, [[Kathleen Kennedy Townsend|Kathleen Kennedy]]. This claim was acknowledged by Robert's wife and Kathleen's mother [[Ethel Kennedy|Ethel]],<ref name=mccarthygodfather /> though Kathleen later claimed that she looked at her baptismal certificate and that her actual godfather was [[Manhattanville College|Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart]] professor Daniel Walsh.<ref name=mccarthygodfather>{{Cite book|title=Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon |last=Tye|first=Larry|publisher=Random House|year=2016|isbn=978-0812993349|location=New York|page=68|via=Electronic version}}</ref>

Robert Kennedy was unusual among his Harvard friends for defending McCarthy when they discussed politics after graduation.{{r|leamer2001}} He was chosen by McCarthy to be a counsel for his investigatory committee, but resigned after six months due to disagreements with McCarthy and Committee Counsel [[Roy Cohn]]. Joseph Kennedy had a national network of contacts and became a vocal supporter, building McCarthy's popularity among Catholics and making sizable contributions to McCarthy's campaigns.<ref>
{{cite book
  |last = Oshinsky
  |first = David M.
  |title = A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy
  |publisher = Oxford University Press
  |year=  2005
  |page = 240
  |isbn = 0-19-515424-X
  |orig-year= 1983}}
{{cite book
  |last = Reeves
  |first = Thomas C.
  |title = The Life and Times of Joe McCarthy: A Biography
  |publisher = Madison Books
  |page = 443
  |year=  1982
  |isbn = 1-56833-101-0}}</ref> The Kennedy patriarch hoped that one of his sons would be president. Mindful of the [[Anti-Catholicism|anti-Catholic prejudice]] which [[Al Smith]] faced during his [[Al Smith presidential campaign, 1928|1928 campaign]] for that office, Joseph Kennedy supported McCarthy as a national Catholic politician who might pave the way for a younger Kennedy's presidential candidacy.

Unlike many Democrats, [[John F. Kennedy]], who served in the Senate with McCarthy from 1953 until the latter's death in 1957, never attacked McCarthy. Due to his friendship with the Kennedys<ref name=amex>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/kennedys/ ''The Kennedys''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227180938/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/kennedys/ |date=February 27, 2010 }}. ''[[American Experience]]''. Boston, Massachusetts: [[WGBH-TV]]. 2009.</ref> and, reportedly, a $50,000 donation from Joseph Kennedy, McCarthy did not campaign for JFK's [[United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 1952|1952 opponent]], Republican incumbent [[Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.]]. Lodge lost despite Eisenhower winning the state in the presidential election.{{r|johnson2005}} When a speaker at a February 1952 [[final club]] dinner stated that he was glad that McCarthy had not attended [[Harvard College]], an angry Kennedy jumped up, denounced the speaker, and left the event.<ref name="leamer2001">{{Cite book |last=Leamer, Laurence |url=https://archive.org/details/kennedymen19011900leam/page/346 |title=The Kennedy Men: 1901–1963 |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2001 |isbn=0-688-16315-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/kennedymen19011900leam/page/302 302-303]}}</ref> When [[Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.]] asked John Kennedy why he avoided criticizing McCarthy, Kennedy responded by saying, "Hell, half my voters in Massachusetts look on McCarthy as a hero".<ref name=johnson2005>
{{cite book
  |last = Johnson
  |first = Haynes
  |title =The Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism
  |url = https://archive.org/details/ageofanxietymcca00john
  |url-access = registration
  |publisher = Harcourt
  |year=  2005
  |page = [https://archive.org/details/ageofanxietymcca00john/page/250 250]
  |isbn = 0-15-101062-5}}</ref>