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Justice in Judge McCarthy's court was breezy, informal and swift. As an appellate judge observed: "There was some bad law practiced in Joe's court, and there were some good decisions—which is what happens in all lower courts." When he went on the bench, Joe practically memorized the three volumes of Jones's rules of evidence. He always made a great show of citing his reasons for a ruling, was rarely reversed. Curiously, Senator McCarthy seems never to have understood the spirit of fair play behind the rules that Judge McCarthy memorized.
After Pearl Harbor, Judge McCarthy took leave of absence and signed up with the Marines. McCarthy's war record was good but not spectacular, and he has made the most of it. He shipped overseas as an intelligence officer with a scout-bombing squadron. Nearly ten years older than most of his squadron, "Father Mac" was very popular, always scrounging beer and extra food for his unit, organizing sports, starting bull sessions. Joe volunteered to defend enlisted men, and boasts of how many courts-martial he beat for his clients.
The Hero. As an intelligence officer, Joe often went along on missions in the rear gunner's seat. He had his picture taken there, and saw that it made Wisconsin papers. Joe used to shoot up everything in sight, on the theory that any coconut tree might hide a Jap. He hated to see a crew come home with any ammunition left. On his tent, marines hung a sign: "Protect the coconut trees—Send McCarthy back to Wisconsin."
In 1944 Joe, having finished his overseas tour of duty, campaigned in Wisconsin as "TailGunner Joe" against Senator Alexander Wiley, and lost. Early in 1945 Joe applied for discharge and got it.
McCarthy had entered the Marines a poor man. He had sold everything he owned for $3,000, turned most of it over to a broker to buy International-Great Northern Railroad bonds on margin. This investment prospered. When he returned he sold out, switched to other securities, pledged them at an Appleton bank, and played the market with the borrowed money. From 1946 to 1949, McCarthy paid no state income tax. In each year, his listed losses or interest payments exceeded his taxable income. Asked how he lived, McCarthy snaps: "Who I borrow from is none of your damned business."
Re-elected circuit judge without contest, Joe in 1946 brashly decided to take on Senator Robert ("Young Bob") La Follette in the Republican primary. He tells about meeting Phil La Follette, who asked Joe how he ever expected to beat his brother. Said Joe (as he tells it): "We've got 42 guys who are built like Bob and who have rubber masks which look exactly like him. They are going to travel the state, walking down main streets bumping into people hard and indignantly asking them who they think they are, bumping into a United States Senator." McCarthy laughs: "I'll bet he still isn't sure whether I was ribbing him." Joe beat Young Bob by a slim 5,000 votes.