Frederick George Fisher Jr. (April 19, 1921 – May 25, 1989) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicitor ...

who first entered the public eye in connection with Senator

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...

Life and career

Fisher was born in Brockton,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, the son of Genevieve (Clark) and Frederick George Fisher. He graduated from

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint ...

in 1942, ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

''. After serving in the Army Signal Corps during World War II, he attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class i ...

. He graduated in 1948 and joined the law firm of Hale and Dorr in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- m ...

. In 1954, the firm represented the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

at the Army–McCarthy hearings on Senator

's conduct. Fisher and James D. St. Clair were the two attorneys initially sent to Washington, D.C. to assist Joseph Welch. On questioning them, Welch learned of Fisher's having belonged to the

National Lawyers Guild The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is a progressive public interest association of lawyers, law students, paralegals, jailhouse lawyers, law collective members, and other activist legal workers, in the United States. The group was founded in 19 ...

while in law school and shortly after. Welch decided that that left-wing association made Fisher's participation in the hearings a potential problem, and a colleague, John Kimball, Jr., replaced Fisher on the case. Fisher's name was prominently publicized when McCarthy intimated on national television that Welch should get Fisher fired as a

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

, and that Welch had specifically chosen him for the abortive assignment. In response, Welch delivered the most memorable lines from the McCarthy Hearings: Welch dismissed Fisher's 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: When McCarthy tried to renew his attack, Welch interrupted him: McCarthy tried to ask Welch another question about Fisher, and Welch cut him off: The gallery erupted in applause. These proceedings have been recorded in the documentary film ''

Point of Order In parliamentary procedure, a point of order occurs when someone draws attention to a rules violation in a meeting of a deliberative assembly. Explanation and uses In '' Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' (RONR), a point of order may be ra ...

''. Fisher's work for the Lawyers Guild had been confirmed by Welch several weeks earlier in a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' article, which in turn led McCarthy to insinuate that Fisher was a Communist during the hearings. Fisher went on to become a partner at Hale and Dorr. In 1973–74, he served as president of the Massachusetts Bar Association. 1989 Fisher died in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, where he was lecturing. In his ''New York Times'' obituary, Fisher was referred to as a "McCarthy target."

Legacy

In the 1977

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

film '' Tail Gunner Joe'', the scene was re-enacted with

Burgess Meredith Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...

portraying Welch and

Peter Boyle Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American actor. Known as a character actor, he played Frank Barone on the CBS sitcom ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' and the comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof ''Young Fra ...

as McCarthy.

References

External links

Transcript and mp3 of Welch–McCarthy exchange relating to Fred Fisher
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher 1921 births 1989 deaths McCarthyism United States Army officers Bowdoin College alumni Harvard Law School alumni United States Army personnel of World War II People from Brockton, Massachusetts Massachusetts lawyers 20th-century American lawyers Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr people Military personnel from Massachusetts