I couldn’t pass this one up. I was in a Lynden antique store last week when I discovered this copy of the Bellingham Herald from March 12, 1954. I thought I recognized the young man pictured with U.S. Senator Joe McCarthy (center), but the name “Leo Kennedy” confused me. I purchased the paper for $1 and did a bit of research on the Internet, confirming that it was in fact Robert Kennedy in the photo. At this time in his career, Kennedy served as legal counsel for McCarthy’s infamous Senate Investigative Subcommittee. McCarthy made use of the erupting popularity of television to bring his sweeping hunt for domestic Communists into the homes of millions of Americans. Kennedy, whose father Joseph was a close personal friend of McCarthy’s, abandoned this job before the dramatic demise of the Republican senator from Wisconsin. Our “local” connection in this chapter of the McCarthy saga was a clash between McCarthy and fellow Senator Stuart Symington (seated, left), who demanded that Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson of Washington be given the privilege of being present to defend himself to charges McCarthy wished to raise. The anti-Communist attack dog drew Symington’s ire when he railed about Jackson “misrepresenting facts” on a television program. As history would show, these charges were incredibly ironic. Another “local” hero, newsman Edward R. Murrow (Edison High School and WSU graduate), played an important role in bringing McCarthy’s reign of terror to an end. As evidenced by one of the headlines in this issue of the Bellingham Herald, McCarthy targeted Murrow for alleged ties to the Communist Party during his college days.