In February of 1950, Senator Joe McCarthy embarked on a five-city tour. His first engagement was to speak for the West Virginia Republican Women's Club at Wheeling. In his speech to the organization, McCarthy said,

"I have in my hand a list of 205--a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who, nevertheless, are still working and shaping policy in the State Department."

McCarthy's figures were not based on sufficient research and few days later, the senator changed the number from 205 to 57 in a speech at Salt Lake City. The number was changed again to 81 when McCarthy spoke to his fellow colleagues on the Senate floor. What McCarthy did not want others to know was the fact that his numbers were mainly based on a vague report from the House Committee in 1948. In fact, the senator often exaggerated his information. When asked to name the 205 Communists that he mentioned at Wheeling, McCarthy declined to answer the question. Following these accusations, the senate hired the Tydings committee to investigate it. They eventually declared that many of McCarthy's charges were groundless.

Despite this, McCarthy's list still generated a lot of media response. Encouraged by publicity, the senator from Wisconsin continued his witch hunt from 1950 to 1953. As his popularity grew, McCarthy began receiving monetary support from various organizations. In 1952, he was reelected as the senator for Wisconsin. Around this time, McCarthy was at the height of his power. Opponents feared him and many politicians actually supported the witch-hunting. McCarthy's immense popularity convinced his party to appoint him as the chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittees on Investigations. Unlike the House of Un-American Activities, this committee focused on investigating government institutions.

McCarthy first started his investigations on Voice of America, the official broadcasting service of the United States government. Around this time, the organization was trying to decide whether it should become an objective news agency or a propaganda tool for the government. McCarthy, of course, sided with the conservatives and charged that some of the broadcasters at VOA were "representing Joe Stalin". He was unsuccessful in weeding out Communist spies in VOA, but still managed to force many people out of their jobs.

He then concentrated his efforts on the State Department's overseas library. McCarthy and his committee forced the library to get rid of any books that were written by "Communists", "pro-Communists" and "former Communists". Out of fear, foreign service officers threw out any books that were associated with Communism. When they ran out of storage, the books were burnt.