Ralph Wise Zwicker

Major General Ralph Wise Zwicker, USA, (April 17, 1903 – August 9, 1991) was a highly decorated American Army officer who came to public attention during Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigation in 1954.

Biography

Zwicker was born on April 17, 1903, in Stoughton, Wisconsin. He was the first Eagle Scout in the state and graduated from high school in Madison, Wisconsin. After high school he attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison before being recommended for the United States Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1927. His brother, Michael, also served in the Army as a colonel. He married Dorothy Harriet Stewart on July 14, 1927, exactly one month after graduating West Point, and had three children. Zwicker died on August 9, 1991, at Fort Belvoir. He is buried with his wife Dorothy (1904–1985) and beside his brother Michael at Arlington National Cemetery, in Section 2.

Career Zwicker graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1927 and was assigned to Fort Snelling.

McCarthy then called Zwicker to appear before the subcommittee on February 18, where on advice from Army counsel he refused to answer some of McCarthy's questions. Zwicker's testimony, as to whether he had known of Peress' refusal to testify before the same committee at the time that Zwicker granted his discharge, was apparently inconsistent. McCarthy retorted that Zwicker's intelligence was that of a "five-year-old child", and that he was "not fit to wear that uniform".

Army Secretary Stevens ordered Zwicker not to return to McCarthy's hearing. This abuse of Zwicker, a distinguished officer and highly decorated battlefield hero of World War II, provoked anger against McCarthy from many quarters, including the Army and President Eisenhower, who shortly thereafter initiated the Army–McCarthy hearings that led to McCarthy's downfall and censure.

In considering the censure resolution, a select committee chaired by Senator Arthur Vivian Watkins evaluated 46 charges in a "bill of particulars", ultimately reducing them to two, the second being his abuse of General Zwicker as a witness. The Zwicker count was subsequently dropped by the full Senate, and replaced by one in response to McCarthy's abuse of the Watkins committee itself.

Medals and decorations Here is the ribbon bar of Major General Ralph W. Zwicker: