I was scanning my book cases and stumbled across my Grandpa Leroy’s old book, Joe Must Go. A mild-mannered rural Wisconsin newspaper editor, he became an overnight sensation in the early 1950s by initiating the recall movement of one of the most well-known and widely-feared political figures of his day—Senator Joseph R. McCarthy.
All family members young and old ended up with a copy, and mine sits on my office bookshelf where I occasionally re-discover it, and read through the pages remembering my grandfather for the neat guy that he was. Remembering too that he and his family suffered dearly as a result of his taking a stand against McCarthy. Always a fun trip down memory lane, plus the cover is a true gem of 50s design.
February 7, 2009 at 1:58 am |
Thanks for putting up a picture of your Grandfather’s book. He was a real inspiration to me as a junior in high school — I collected signatures on the recall petition — much easier going west from Fort Atkinson than it was going east toward Milwaukee.
He did suffer from the campaign — his lawyers incorporated the movement for idiotic reasons — led to long expensive litigation until the Wisconsin Supreme Court decided the statute preventing corporation’s from taking political action did not apply to non-profit corporations.
My dad and he were friends, and the Gores lived with us for several months during the time he was have financial difficulties following the campaign. He wrote a very nice memorial to my father.
A great man, in my book — you should be proud of him.
Best, Bob