Title: William Benton Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1951-1961

Creator:

• Benton, William, 1900-1973

Call Number: U.S. Mss AY

Quantity: 2.0 c.f. (5 archives boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Correspondence of Senator William Benton of Connecticut relating to his efforts to have Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin expelled from the United States Senate for a number of reasons, but primarily in relation to tactics used by McCarthy in his fight against communism. The collection is divided into two general sections. The first, correspondence with the general public in 1951-1952, relates to Benton's introduction of a resolution to investigate McCarthy and to McCarthy's lawsuit against him for libel and slander. The second section contains photocopies of Benton's correspondence with colleagues and associates relating to his later protests against McCarthy and to Benton's support for the Committee for an Effective Congress and the “Joe Must Go” movement in Wisconsin. Benton's correspondents included Dean G. Acheson, Louis Bean, Marquis W. Childs, August Derleth, James E. Doyle, Ralph E. Flanders, LeRoy Gore, Carl Hayden, Thomas C. Hennings, Paul Hoffman, Max Lerner, Joseph R. McCarthy, A. S. Mike Monroney, Wayne Morse, Edward R. Murrow, Drew Pearson, James Reston, Eleanor Roosevelt, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Harry S. Truman, Arthur V. Watkins, and James Wechsler.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0000ay

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In the summer of 1951, Senator William Benton of Connecticut introduced a resolution on the floor of the Senate calling for an investigation of Senator Joseph McCarthy and perhaps his expulsion from the Senate. In September of the same year Benton testified in support of his resolution before a subcommittee of the Senate Rules Committee, charging that “Senator McCarthy practiced calculated fraud and deceit on the U.S. Senate and the people of the country” through unproved accusations and other false statements.

McCarthy in retaliation claimed that Benton would not dare to make such accusations without hiding behind the cloak of senatorial immunity. Senator Benton waived his immunity, whereupon McCarthy filed a suit for $2,000,000 against Benton for libel and slander. On March 5, 1954, McCarthy withdrew his suit, claiming that Benton's allegations had been so preposterous that he had been unable to find a single person who believed them. Thousands of persons then wrote to Benton saying that they believed his charges and would so testify in court.

From 1951, Benton made McCarthy his personal “project.” He collected evidence relating to many phases of McCarthy's activities. Apart from efforts exerted in his own defense, Benton sought, for example, to publicize what he felt was McCarthy's deleterious effect on the U.S. public image abroad, and to explode the claims that “Joe never hurt an innocemt man,” and that McCarthy was invincible at the polls. He also gave active support to the Committee for an Effective Congress, and to the Joe Must Go movement in Wisconsin.

The collection consists almost entirely of correspondence relating to Senator McCarthy. Benton's original arrangement of the material has been retained. The first part of the collection is composed of correspondence with the general public in 1951-1952, relating to Benton's initial attack upon McCarthy and the beginning of the lawsuit. This section also contains a portion of the “I believe” letters received from the public in 1954 following McCarthy's withdrawal of his suit against Benton. The second section contains primarily photocopies of Benton's correspondence with colleagues and associates relating to McCarthy and Benton's “project.”

Senator Benton corresponded with many politicians, columnists, and other well-known persons in his fight against McCarthy. Among these were:

• Acheson, Dean
• Bean, Louis
• Childs, Marquis
• Derleth, August
• Doyle, James E.
• Flanders, Ralph
• Gore, Leroy
• Hayden, Carl
• Hennings, Thomas C.
• Hoffman, Paul
• Lerner, Max
• McCarthy, Joseph R.
• Monroney, Mike
• Morse, Wayne
• Murrow, Edward R.
• Pearson, Drew
• Reston, James
• Roosevelt, Eleanor
• Schlesinger, Arthur V.
• Truman, Harry S.
• Watkins, Arthur V.
• Wechsler, James

Acquisition Information

Presented by William Benton, New York, N.Y., 1962.

Processing Information

Processed by Emily Al-Khazraji, May 14, 1964.

Box   1-3	Correspondence with the general public re McCarthy, 1951-1952, 1954 March-1955 January
Box   4	Correspondence with colleagues and associates re McCarthy
Box   4	General, 1951-1960
Box   4	Articles, 1952-1961
Box   4	Elections-McCarthy's influence on, 1952-1961
Box   4	Elections-Bean Report, 1954
Box   4-5	Hearings (Senate), 1954
	Projects
Box   5	Committee for an Effective Congress, 1953-1954
Box   5	Injustice Study, 1953-1954
Box   5	“Joe Must Go,” 1954-1955
Box   5	Lawsuit, 1951-1954