  joseph nye welch (october 22, 1890 â october 6, 1960) was the head counsel for the united states army while it was under investigation by joseph mccarthyâs senate permanent subcommittee on investigations for communist activities, an investigation known as the armyâmccarthy hearings. == early life == welch was born in primghar, iowa, on october 22, 1890, the seventh and youngest child of english immigrants martha (thyer) and william welch.http://data.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/famous-iowans/joseph-welch he attended grinnell college and graduated phi beta kappa in 1914, then attended harvard law school and graduated in 1917, magna cum laude, with the second highest grade point average in his graduating class. welch married judith lyndon on september 20, 1917. they had two sons, joe and lyndon. beginning in 1923, welch was a partner at hale and dorr, a boston law firm, and lived in nearby walpole, massachusetts. == armyâmccarthy hearings == on june 9, 1954, the 30th day of the armyâmccarthy hearings, mccarthy accused fred fisher, one of the junior attorneys at welchâs law firm, of associating while in law school with the national lawyers guild (nlg), a group that j. edgar hoover sought to have the u.s. attorney general designate as a communist front organization. welch had privately discussed the matter with fisher and the two agreed fisher should withdraw from the hearings. welch dismissed fisherâs association with the nlg as a youthful indiscretion and attacked mccarthy for naming the young man before a nationwide television audience without prior warning or previous agreement to do so:  :until this moment, senator, i think i have never really gauged your cruelty or yo
1890_births 1960_deaths American_lawyers Deaths_from_myocardial_infarction Grinnell_College_alumni Harvard_Law_School_alumni McCarthyism People_from_Harwich,_Massachusetts People_from_O\'Brien_County,_Iowa People_from_Walpole,_Massachusetts