Final answer:
Joseph McCarthy falsely claimed to possess a list of 205 Communists in the government, later changing the number to fifty-seven and then eighty-one without evidence. This contributed to McCarthyism, a period of baseless accusations known for fueling fears of communist infiltration in the Cold War era.
Explanation:
Joseph McCarthy, a Republican senator from Wisconsin, falsely claimed to possess a list of 205 names of Communists within the government. This claim was later revised to fifty-seven and then eighty-one without any concrete evidence to support it. McCarthy's tactics, known as McCarthyism, involved making baseless accusations of disloyalty without providing proof, which fueled fears of communist infiltration during the Cold War era.
Learn more about McCarthyism here:
https://brainly.com/question/44295261
