Okay, I searched and didn't find anything that was specifically related to the older of the Crouch men. If there's something I missed, however, feel free to delete this.

In my Literature class, something spiked my interest while we were watching the movie, Good Night and Good Luck. I began to notice particular similarities between Barty Crouch at the time of Voldemort's highest power, and the Junior Senator McCarthy, right after China became communist. Senator McCarthy brutally interrogated many, many people, and inspired fear in even more while he accused innocent people of being communists. This reminded me of Barty Crouch, while the Ministry was hunting for Death Eaters, and not even giving them a trial before calling them guilty and shipping them off to Azkaban. Something else I noticed was that if you said something against McCarthy, or disagreed with him, or anything like that, then McCarthy declared that you must be a communist to be saying that. I was wondering, did anybody notice that happening with Barty Crouch?

This is a very complex character, he shows unrelentless love for his son, yet cruelty towards thousands of others. I don't ever recall him being discussed here--has anybody else noticed any similarities between him and other real life people in power? What's your favorite thing about Barty Crouch? Least favorite? Any theories about him and his son/family?

Interesting topic Meggy!

I agree with your comparison of Bartemius Crouch Sr and Senator Joseph McCarthy and the McCarthyism era. The parallels are compelling: the ideological scare, the aggressive investigations and subsequent interrogations, the widespread suspicion, questionable trials and the destruction of many lives. Of course the similarities between Barty Crouch Sr and Joseph McCarthy are uncanny as both offered "the most visible face of a period of extreme (...) suspicion". They both used bullish interrogation tactics which came to symbolise the era of fear that they helped create.

Although we don't have much on Barty Crouch Senior's personal background, such as the way he was regarded in the ministry (other than with fear), we can make the mental leap to imagine that he was not supported by a group of close friends. This is obviously pure conjecture on my behalf but his apparent isolation within the ministry would liken itself to McCarthy's almost complete alienation within the senate.

But back to canon! First we can get a feeling for Barty Crouch Sr from his own son's recollection, "Put it this way, Potter," Moody muttered finally, "they say old Mad-Eye’s obsessed with catching Dark wizards … but Mad-Eye’s nothing – nothing – compared to Barty Crouch." p. 518 (GOF, Bloomsbury)

Then we can continue to expand our knowledge of the character by the way Sirius describes him to Harry, Ron and Hermione: "If he’s ever taken a day off work because of illness before this, I’ll eat Buckbeak. (...) 'He's a great wizard, Barty Crouch, powerfully magical - and power-hungry. (...) Crouch let his son off? I thought you had the measure of him, Hermione! Anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to go; he had dedicated his whole life to becoming Minister of Magic. You saw him dismiss a devoted house-elf because she associated him with the Dark Mark again — Doesn’t that tell you what he’s like? Crouch's fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial, and by all accounts, it wasn't much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the boy ... then he sent him straight to Azkaban." p. 571-2, 574 (GOF, Bloomsbury)

These references to Crouch Sr as being a hard worker (possibly obsessively so), power-hungry and ruthless, are also terms used to describe McCarthy (excepting the hard worker). Furthermore, the senator was noted to have been "quick-tempered and prone to impatience and even rage." (Herman, Arthur, 1999)

Unlike Barty Crouch Sr, however, McCarthy appeared to be quick to exaggerate his own exploits and use his new-found power (at the height of his popularity) to crush opponents. Crouch, albeit ambitious, and although his actions during Voldemort's rise to power may be considered reckless or wrong, "was always very outspoken against the Dark side...". p. 572 (GOF, Bloomsbury) There is no evidence that used his position against rivals.

Further references suggest that Barty Crouch Sr's methods may also be likened to what became known as McCarthyism. Sirius tells us that "Crouch's principles might've been good in the beginning - I wouldn't know. He rose quickly through the Ministry, and he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters. The Aurors were given new powers - powers to kill rather than capture, for instance. And I wasn't the only one who was handed straight to the Dementors without trial. Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorized the use of Unforgivable Curses against suspects. I would say he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side. He had his supporters, mind you - plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamoring for him to take over as Minister for Magic." p. 571-3 (GOF, Bloomsbury)

Finally, both Barty Crouch Sr and McCarthy suffered severe political decline, the former after his son was found to be a deatheater and the later when he was censured by the Senate. Both were avoided thereafter and their careers as public figures were tarnished.

The point may also be raised that the of Barty Crouch Sr's actions as head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement can be likened to what happened during the Salem witch trials or other witch hunts. I've added wiki-links but I'll let others debate those points if they wish. (I would have researched a bit more in the Lexicon but it appears to be down this morning.)

What's my favourite thing about BCS? His humanity.
My least favourite? Everything else about him.