December 2, 1954: Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy was condemned by the U.S. Senate on a vote of 65 to 22 for conduct unbecoming of a U.S. Senator. His unfounded and unsubstantiated claims that Communists had infiltrated the federal government, the military forces, universities and the film industry eventually caused McCarthy to lose supporters. The Senate condemned McCarthy in 1954 for "contemptuous" conduct of a Senate Elections subcommittee that had investigated his conduct and for abuse of its members. After being censured, McCarthy's power and status in the Senate declined, as did his health. McCarthy died in 1957.