This journalist was the real hero behind Joe McCarthy's takedown

[Jilly_in_VA]

2. You cannot forget

Leroy Gore, editor of the Sauk-Prairie Star in Sauk City, Wisconsin, who single-handedly started the "Joe Must Go" movement in 1954. Although it was unsuccessful (barely), this recall movement was also a major player in the downfall of McCarthy. Gore became a national figure as a result of starting the recall movement. I vividly remember it even though I was only 10 at the time. I remember my mother getting the petitions from my best friend's mother, who was a figure in Democratic Party politics, and taking them around the neighborhood to be signed. I treasured, for years, a "Joe Must Go" button that I proudly wore to school during that time. The vote was very close, as I recall, but McCarthy managed to survive, although politically wounded in his home state.