McCarthy's biographers agree that he was a changed man after the censure; declining both physically and emotionally, he became a "pale ghost of his former self" in the words of Fred J. Cook.[142] It was reported that McCarthy suffered from cirrhosis of the liver and was frequently hospitalized for alcoholism. Numerous eyewitnesses, including Senate aide George Reedy and journalist Tom Wicker, reported finding him alarmingly drunk in the Senate. Journalist Richard Rovere (1959) wrote:
He had always been a heavy drinker, and there were times in those seasons of discontent when he drank more than ever. But he was not always drunk. He went on the wagon (for him this meant beer instead of whiskey) for days and weeks at a time. The difficulty toward the end was that he couldn't hold the stuff. He went to pieces on his second or third drink. And he did not snap back quickly.[143]
McCarthy had also become addicted to heroin. Harry J. Anslinger, head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, became aware of McCarthy's addiction in the 1950s, and demanded he stop using the drug. McCarthy refused.[144] In Anslinger's memoir, The Murderers, McCarthy is anonymously quoted as saying:
I wouldn't try to do anything about it, Commissioner [. . .] It will be the worse for you [. . .] and if it winds up in a public scandal and that should hurt this country, I wouldn't care [. . .] The choice is yours.[144]
Anslinger decided to give McCarthy access to heroin in secret from a pharmacy in Washington, DC. The heroin was paid for by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, right up to McCarthy's death. Anslinger never publicly named McCarthy, and he threatened a journalist who uncovered the story with prison.[144] However, McCarthy's identity was known to Anslinger's agents, and journalist Maxine Cheshire confirmed his identity with Will Oursler, co-author of The Murderers, in 1978.[144][145]
Death
McCarthy died in Bethesda Naval Hospital on May 2, 1957, at the age of 48.
= new reply since forum marked as read
