How is Senator McCarthy now viewed in America ? Obviously he is and was a demon to the left but conservatives evidently disowned him in the end.In retrospect were any of his stated beliefs and claims justified to any, and if so what, degree? Has the memory of his career and downfall influenced subsequent politics in the US?

I believe one has to be fairly old or an American history buff to even remember who, and what, McCarthy was.
His support from the conservative party was rather brief, but because of the "red" scare there were few, on either side, that dared to challenge him. What support he maintained was based on clever wording and claims of evidence. A man who was quick to flash folders of government employees, even if they were no longer employed or had been cleared of suspicion. During one session it is believed he even held up empty folders in evidence, but as with the others, never allowed others to see the actual documents. Since it was the open Senate rather than a grand jury or committee he could avoid letting others see the documents.

Very likely some of his accusations were based on loose facts. During the depression many people thought the US needed a new direction. In the search large numbers looked into communism as a potential salvation ~ even if they thought better of it their names were often recorded on the rolls of interested people (if not actual members.)

Oddly enough, while the extreme right will sometimes use his methods of deceptive evidence, it seems the extreme left has learned and, as expected, progressed the skills of Senator McCarthy. Tricks of insinuation that condemn without evidence, without trial.

One of the other reasons he got away with his attacks, even when his party grew weary of his tirades, was that as the leader of the party, Eisenhower disliked the Senator but failed for years to use his popularity and power to discredit.

The most significant effect I can think of is that, in their search for a more stable and honest replacement, the Republicans turned to Richard Nixon ~ a serious Senator they probably felt they could afford to risk in the battle against Democrats (while hoping to win.) Though the Democrats will sometimes bring up people like him to discredit their opponents I don't believe he has left a lasting impression on our politics ~ bring his name up tends to make most people say "who?"

Afterall, until Ike the Democrats had held the Presidency for twenty years - the Republicans were a desperate party.

If McCarthy had some minor evidence of corruption and risk in the administration he was to eager to expand that evidence a hundred, or even thousand fold. If some can achieve results by this technique, Tail Gunner Joe was probably not bright or sober enough to pull it off.

One of the best studies of Senator McCarthy is found in William Manchester's "The Glory and the Dream" in the chapters of the 50s. A book every American should read and some outside the US might find interesting ~ almost as useful as studying the American civil war to understand what and why we are as we are.

Thank you. That is interesting and helpful. What prompted my enquiry was the everyday use of the word mccarthyism and the references to McCarthy in posts here. The name occurs both in American and British texts surprisingly often. Naturally it occurs most often in writings of those towards the left but it is also used here generally to describe anything in the nature of a 'witch hunt', particularly one where the accused is supposed to prove 'innocence'. Incidentally, statements such as 'Those who are not for us are against us' are also seen to be , when used in politics, as like McCarthy's but some of us like to think that no politician today could expect his hearers to be quite so unthinking as to applaud them !