George McGovern
George McGovern | |
---|---|
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture | |
In office March 10, 1998 – September 28, 2001 | |
President | |
Preceded by | Thomas A. Forbord |
Succeeded by | Tony P. Hall |
Chair of the United States Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs | |
In office July 1968 – December 1977 | |
Preceded by | Committee established |
Succeeded by | Committee abolished |
Director of Food for Peace | |
In office January 21, 1961 – July 18, 1962 | |
President | John F. Kennedy |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Richard W. Reuter |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Dakota's 1st district | |
In office January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1961 | |
Preceded by | Harold Lovre |
Succeeded by | Ben Reifel |
Personal details | |
Born | George Stanley McGovern July 19, 1922 Progressive (1948) |
Spouse | |
Children | 6 Garrett Theological Seminary Northwestern University (MA, PhD) |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Branch/service | United States Army Air Forces |
Years of service | 1943–1945 |
Rank | First lieutenant |
Unit | |
Battles/wars | |
Awards | |
George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 presidential election.
McGovern grew up in
As a senator, McGovern was an example of
Beginning with his experiences in war-torn Italy and continuing throughout his career, McGovern was involved in issues related to agriculture, food, nutrition, and hunger. As the first director of the
Early years and education
McGovern was born in the 600‑person farming community of
When George was about three years old, the family moved to Calgary for a while to be near Frances's ailing mother, and he formed memories of events such as the
McGovern attended Mitchell High School,[1] where he was a solid but unspectacular member of the track team.[17] A turning point came when his tenth-grade English teacher recommended him to the debate team, where he became quite active.[13] His high-school debate coach, a history teacher who capitalized on McGovern's interest in that subject, proved to be a great influence in his life, and McGovern spent many hours honing his meticulous, if colorless, forensic style.[11][18] McGovern and his debating partner won events in his area and gained renown in a state where debating was passionately followed by the general public.[11][19] Debate changed McGovern's life, giving him a chance to explore ideas to their logical end, broadening his perspective, and instilling a sense of personal and social confidence.[8][11] He graduated in 1940 in the top ten percent of his class.[1][20]
McGovern enrolled at small Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell[1] and became a star student there.[21] He supplemented a forensic scholarship by working a variety of odd jobs.[20] With World War II under way overseas and feeling insecure about his own courage,[nb 3] McGovern took flying lessons in an Aeronca aircraft and received a pilot's license through the government's Civilian Pilot Training Program.[13][17] McGovern recalled: "Frankly, I was scared to death on that first solo flight. But when I walked away from it, I had an enormous feeling of satisfaction that I had taken the thing off the ground and landed it without tearing the wings off."[13] In late 1940 or early 1941, McGovern had pre-marital sex with an acquaintance that resulted in her giving birth to a daughter during 1941, although this did not become public knowledge during his lifetime.[nb 1] In April 1941 McGovern began dating fellow student Eleanor Stegeberg, who had grown up in Woonsocket, South Dakota.[24][25] They had first encountered each other during a high school debate in which Eleanor and her twin sister Ila defeated McGovern and his partner.[8]
McGovern was listening to a radio broadcast of the
Military service
Groundschool and trainers
Soon thereafter McGovern was sworn in as a
After three months in Muskogee, McGovern went to
Training in the B-24
McGovern was assigned to
This schooling was followed by a stint at
In June 1944, McGovern's crew received final training at
Italy
In September 1944 McGovern joined the 741st Squadron of the
On McGovern's December 15 mission over
In January 1945 McGovern used
Postwar relief
In May and June 1945, following the end of the European war, McGovern continued with the 741st Bomb Squadron delivering surplus food and supplies near Trieste in Northeastern Italy; this was then trucked to the hungry in nearby locations, including to German prisoners of war.[58][59] McGovern liked making these relief flights, as it gave a way to address the kinds of deprivations he had witnessed when first arriving in Italy.[59] He then flew back to the United States with his crew.[59] McGovern was discharged from the Army Air Forces in July 1945, with the rank of first lieutenant.[1] He was also awarded the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters,[3] one instance of which was for the safe landing on his final mission.[60]
Later education and early career
Upon coming home, McGovern returned to Dakota Wesleyan University, aided by the
McGovern switched from Wesleyan Methodism to less fundamentalist regular
McGovern then returned to his alma mater, Dakota Wesleyan, and became a professor of history and political science.
Nominally a Republican growing up, McGovern began to admire Democratic president
By 1952, McGovern was coming to think of himself as a
McGovern spent the following years rebuilding and revitalizing the party, building up a large list of voter contacts via frequent travel around the state.[8] Democrats showed improvement in the 1954 elections, winning 25 seats in the state legislature.[90] From 1954 to 1956 he also was on a political organization advisory group for the Democratic National Committee.[87] The McGoverns' fifth and final child, Mary, was born in 1955.[91]
U.S. House of Representatives
In 1956 McGovern sought elective office himself, and ran for the House of Representatives from
Entering the
In his 1958 reelection campaign, McGovern faced a strong challenge from South Dakota's two-term Republican governor and World War II Medal of Honor recipient Joe Foss,[8] who was initially considered the favorite to win.[95] But McGovern ran an effective campaign that showcased his political strengths of having firm beliefs and the ability to articulate them in debates and on the stump.[95][96] He prevailed with a slightly larger margin than two years before.[87][95]
In the
In 1960, McGovern decided to
Food for Peace director
Having relinquished his House seat to run for the Senate, McGovern was available for a position in the new
As director, McGovern urged the greater use of food to enable foreign economic development, saying, "We should thank God that we have a food abundance and use the over-supply among the underprivileged at home and abroad."
By the close of 1961, the Food for Peace program was operating in a dozen countries,
Administration was never McGovern's strength, however, and he was restless for another try at the Senate.[111] With the approval of President Kennedy, McGovern resigned his post on July 18, 1962.[87][104] Kennedy said that under McGovern, the program had "become a vital force in the world", improving living conditions and economies of allies and creating "a powerful barrier to the spread of Communism."[104] Columnist Drew Pearson wrote that it was one of the "most spectacular achievements of the young Kennedy administration",[107] while Schlesinger would later write that Food for Peace had been "the greatest unseen weapon of Kennedy's third-world policy."[106]
U.S. Senator
1962 election and early years as a senator
In April 1962 McGovern announced he would
When he joined the Senate in January 1963 for the
In his first speech on the Senate floor in March 1963, McGovern praised Kennedy's
Preferring to concentrate on broad policy matters and speeches, McGovern was not a master of Senate legislative tactics, and he developed a reputation among some other senators for "not doing his homework".
Opposition to Vietnam War
In a speech on the Senate floor in September 1963, McGovern became the first member to challenge the
The current dilemma in Vietnam is a clear demonstration of the limitations of military power ... [Current U.S. involvement] is a policy of moral debacle and political defeat ... The trap we have fallen into there will haunt us in every corner of this revolutionary world if we do not properly appraise its lessons.[94][122]
However, the speech was little noticed, and McGovern backed away from saying anything publicly for over a year afterward, partly because of the November 1963
In January 1965 McGovern made his first major address on Vietnam, saying that "We are not winning in South Vietnam ... I am very much opposed to the policy, now gaining support in Washington, of extending the war to the north."
McGovern voted in favor of Vietnam military appropriations in 1966 through 1968, not wanting to deprive U.S. forces of necessary equipment.[128] Nevertheless, his antiwar rhetoric increased throughout 1967.[130] Over the years, Johnson had invited McGovern and other Senate doves to the White House for attempts to explain the rationale for his actions in Vietnam; McGovern came away from the final such visit, in August 1967, shaken by the sight of a president "tortured and confused ... by the mess he has gotten into in Vietnam."[130]
1968 presidential and Senate campaigns
In August 1967 activist Allard K. Lowenstein founded the Dump Johnson movement, and soon it was seeking a Democratic Party figure to make a primaries campaign challenge against Johnson in the 1968 presidential election.[131] The group's first choice was Senator Robert Kennedy, who declined, as did another, and by late September 1967 they approached McGovern.[42][131] After much deliberation McGovern declined, largely because he feared such a run would significantly damage his own chances for reelection to his Senate seat in 1968.[8][132] A month later the anti-Johnson forces were able to persuade Senator Eugene McCarthy to run;[131] he was one of the few "dove" senators not up for reelection that year.[132]
In the 1968 Democratic primary campaign, McCarthy staged a strong showing. Robert Kennedy entered the race, President Johnson withdrew and Vice President
Within days, some of Kennedy's aides were urging McGovern to run in his place; their antipathy toward McCarthy and ideological opposition to Humphrey made them unwilling to support either candidate.
McGovern formally announced his candidacy on August 10, 1968, in Washington, two weeks in advance of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, committing himself to "the goals for which Robert Kennedy gave his life."[139] Asked why he was a better choice than McCarthy, he said, "Well – Gene really doesn't want to be president, and I do."[140] At the convention in Chicago, Humphrey was the near-certain choice, while McGovern became the initial rallying point for around 300 leaderless Kennedy delegates.[140] The chaotic circumstances of the convention found McGovern denouncing the Chicago police tactics against demonstrators as "police brutality."[141] Given the internal politics of the party, it was difficult for McGovern to gain in delegate strength, and black protest candidate Channing E. Phillips drew off some of his support.[141] In the actual roll call, McGovern came in third with 146½ delegates, far behind Humphrey's 1760¼ and McCarthy's 601.[142]
McGovern endorsed Humphrey at the convention, to the dismay of some antiwar figures who considered it a betrayal.[141] Humphrey went on to lose the general election to Richard Nixon. McGovern returned to his Senate reelection race, facing Republican former governor Archie M. Gubbrud. While South Dakota voters sympathized with McGovern over his daughter's arrest,[143] he initially suffered a substantial drop in popularity over the events in Chicago.[144] However, McGovern conducted an energetic campaign that focused on his service to the state, while Gubbrud ran a lackluster effort.[144] In November, McGovern won 57 percent of the vote in what he would consider the easiest and most decisive victory of his career.[143]
Middle Senate years and continued opposition to the Vietnam War
During the 1968 Democratic Convention, a motion had been passed to establish a commission to reform the Democratic Party nomination process.
In the wake of several high-profile reports about hunger and
McGovern generally lacked both interest and expertise in
U.S. congressional opposition to American involvement in wars and interventions |
---|
1812 North America |
House Federalists’ Address |
1847 Mexican–American War |
Spot Resolutions |
1917 World War I |
Filibuster of the Armed Ship Bill |
1935–1939 |
Neutrality Acts |
1935–1940 |
Ludlow Amendment |
1970 Vietnam |
McGovern–Hatfield Amendment |
1970 Southeast Asia |
Cooper–Church Amendment |
1971 Vietnam |
Repeal of Tonkin Gulf Resolution |
1973 Southeast Asia |
Case–Church Amendment |
1973 |
War Powers Resolution |
1974 |
Hughes–Ryan Amendment |
1976 Angola |
Clark Amendment |
1982 Nicaragua |
Boland Amendment |
2007 Iraq |
House Concurrent Resolution 63 |
2018–2019 Yemen |
Yemen War Powers Resolution |
But most of all, McGovern was known for his continued opposition to the Vietnam War. In March 1969, he became the first senator to explicitly criticize the new president's policy there, an action that was seen as a breach of customary protocol by other Senate doves.
Instead, McGovern focused on legislative means to bring the war to an end.[160] The McGovern–Hatfield Amendment to the annual military procurement bill, co-sponsored by Republican Mark Hatfield of Oregon, required via funding cutoff a complete withdrawal of all American forces from Indochina by the end of 1970.[161] It underwent months of public discussion and alterations to make it acceptable to more senators, including pushing the deadline out to the end of 1971.[162] In May 1970 McGovern obtained a second mortgage on his Washington home in order to fund a half-hour televised panel discussion on the amendment on NBC.[162] The broadcast brought in over $500,000 in donations that furthered work on passage,[160] and eventually the amendment gained the support of the majority of the public in polls.[162] The effort was denounced by opposition groups organized by White House aide Charles Colson, which called McGovern and Hatfield "apostles of retreat and defeat" and "salesmen of surrender" and maintained that only the president could conduct foreign policy.[162] The amendment was defeated in September 1970 by a 55–39 vote, just short of what McGovern had hoped would constitute at least a moral victory.[160] During the floor debate McGovern criticized his colleagues opposing the measure:
Every Senator in this chamber is partly responsible for sending 50,000 young Americans to an early grave. This chamber reeks of blood. Every Senator here is partly responsible for that human wreckage at Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval and all across our land – young men without legs, or arms, or genitals, or faces or hopes. There are not very many of these blasted and broken boys who think this war is a glorious adventure. Do not talk to them about bugging out, or national honor or courage. It does not take any courage at all for a congressman, or a senator, or a president to wrap himself in the flag and say we are staying in Vietnam, because it is not our blood that is being shed. But we are responsible for those young men and their lives and their hopes. And if we do not end this damnable war those young men will some day curse us for our pitiful willingness to let the Executive carry the burden that the Constitution places on us.[160][162]
The Senate reacted in startled, stunned silence, and some faces showed anger and fury;[123] when one member told McGovern he had been personally offended by the speech, McGovern said, "That's what I meant to do."[162] McGovern believed Vietnam an immoral war that was destroying much of what was pure, hopeful, and different about America's character as a nation.[123]
The defeat of the amendment left McGovern embittered and somewhat more radicalized.
McGovern–Hatfield was put up for a vote again in 1971, with somewhat weaker provisions designed to gain more support.[166] In polls, a large majority of the public now favored its intent, and McGovern took his name off a final form of it, as some senators were just objecting to him.[167] Nevertheless, in June 1971, it failed to pass again, gaining only a few more votes than the year before.[167] McGovern was now certain that the only way the war would come to a quick end was if there was a new president.[166]
1972 presidential campaign
McGovern announced his candidacy on January 18, 1971, during a televised speech from the studios of
Muskie fell victim to inferior organizing, an over-reliance on party endorsements, and Nixon's "
During his primary victories, McGovern used an approach that stressed grassroots-level organization while bypassing conventional campaign techniques and traditional party power centers.[8][178] He capitalized on support from antiwar activists and reform liberals;[174] thousands of students engaged in door-to-door campaigning for him.[188] He benefited by the eight primaries he won being those the press focused on the most; he showed electoral weakness in the South and industrial Midwest, and actually received fewer primary votes overall than Humphrey and had only a modest edge over Wallace.[189]
McGovern ran on a
McGovern's platform also included an across-the-board 37-percent reduction in defense spending over three years.[192] He proposed a "demogrant" program that would give a $1,000 payment to every citizen in America.[193] Based around existing ideas such as the negative income tax and intended to replace the welfare bureaucracy and complicated maze of existing public-assistance programs, it nonetheless garnered considerable derision as a poorly thought-out "liberal giveaway" and was dropped from the platform in August.[174][193][194][nb 12]An "Anybody But McGovern" coalition, led by southern Democrats and organized labor, formed in the weeks following the final primaries.
Just over two weeks after the convention, it was revealed that Eagleton had been hospitalized and received
The general election campaign did not go well for McGovern. Nixon did little campaigning;
Nixon directly requested that his aides use government records to try to dig up dirt on McGovern and his top contributors.
By the final week of the campaign, McGovern knew he was going to lose.[227] While he was appearing in Battle Creek, Michigan, on November 2, a Nixon admirer heckled him. McGovern told the heckler, "I've got a secret for you," then said softly into his ear, "Kiss my ass."[228] The incident was overheard and reported in the press, and became part of the tale of the campaign.[nb 14]
In the general election on November 7, 1972, the McGovern–Shriver ticket suffered a 61 percent to 37 percent defeat to Nixon – at the time, the second biggest landslide in American history, with an
Remaining Senate years
After this loss, McGovern remained in the Senate. He was scarred by the enormous defeat,[233] and his wife, Eleanor, took it even worse; during the winter of 1972–1973, the couple seriously considered moving to England.[234] His allies were replaced in positions of power within the Democratic Party leadership, and the McGoverns did not get publicly introduced at party affairs they attended.[206] On January 20, 1973, a few hours after Richard Nixon was re-inaugurated, McGovern gave a speech at the Oxford Union that talked about the abuses of Nixon's presidency; it brought criticism, including from some Democrats, for being ill-mannered.[206]
To get past the "bitterness and self-pity" he felt, McGovern forced himself to deal with the defeat humorously before audiences; starting at the March 1973
McGovern displayed the political resiliency he had shown in the past.
Following the
Following his senate re-election victory, McGovern harbored thoughts of running in the 1976 presidential election, but given the magnitude of his presidential defeat, the Democratic Party wanted nothing to do with him then or later.[206][244] Unfamiliar and uncomfortable with Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter, McGovern secretly voted for Ford instead.[nb 16] McGovern's view on intervention in Southeast Asia took a turn in 1978 in reaction to the ongoing Cambodian genocide. Noting that it affected a percentage of the population that made "Hitler's operation look tame", he advocated an international military intervention in Cambodia to put the Khmer Rouge regime out of power.[246]
McGovern's Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs expanded its scope to include national nutrition policy. In 1977 it issued a new set of nutritional guidelines for Americans that sought to combat leading killer health conditions.[247][248][249] Titled Dietary Goals for the United States, but also known as the "McGovern Report",[247] it suggested that Americans eat less fat, less cholesterol, less refined and processed sugars, and more complex carbohydrates and fiber.[249] While many public health officials had said all of this for some time, the committee's issuance of the guidelines gave it higher public profile.[249] The recommendations proved controversial with the cattle, dairy, egg, and sugar industries, including from McGovern's home state.[248] The McGovern committee guidelines led to reorganization of some federal executive functions[249] and became the predecessor to the more detailed Dietary Guidelines for Americans later issued twice a decade by the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion.[247]
Post-Senate life and 1984 presidential campaign
McGovern did not mourn leaving the Senate.
McGovern also began teaching and lecturing at a number of universities in the U.S. and Europe, accepting one-year contracts or less.
McGovern attempted another presidential run in the
Despite enjoying good name recognition, McGovern had little funding or staff,
McGovern addressed the party's platform committee,[266] and his name was placed in nomination at the 1984 Democratic National Convention, where he delivered a speech that strongly criticized President Reagan and praised Democratic unity.[267] He received the votes of four delegates.[267] He actively supported the Mondale–Geraldine Ferraro ticket,[268] whose eventual landslide defeat bore some similarities to his own in 1972.[269][270]
During the 1980s McGovern was a fellow at the
McGovern had made several real estate investments in the D.C. area and became interested in hotel operations.
Although he briefly explored another presidential run in the 1992 contest,[nb 17] McGovern instead became president of the
On the night of December 12–13, 1994, McGovern's daughter Teresa fell into a snowbank in Madison, Wisconsin, while heavily intoxicated and died of hypothermia.[284][285] Heavy press attention followed, and McGovern revealed his daughter had battled her alcoholism for years and had been in and out of many treatment programs while having had one extended period of sobriety.[205][284] He authored an account of her life, Terry: My Daughter's Life-and-Death Struggle with Alcoholism; published in 1996, it presented a harrowing, unsparing view of the depths to which she had descended, the torment that he and the rest of his family had experienced in trying unsuccessfully to help her, and his ongoing thoughts and guilt about whether the demands of his political career and the time he had spent away from the family had made things worse for her.[205][206] The book was a modest best-seller, and with the proceeds, he founded the Teresa McGovern Center in Madison to help others suffering from the combination of alcoholism and mental health problems.[261][286] He would later say that Terry's death was by far the most painful event in his life: "You never get over it, I'm sure of that. You get so you can live with it, that's all."[261]
Ambassador to food agencies and other later activities
In April 1998 McGovern returned to public service when he began a three-year stint as
In an effort to meet the UN's goal of reducing the number of hungry people in the world by half by 2015, Ambassador McGovern formulated detailed plans, urging delivery of more surplus food to foreign school-lunch programs and the establishment of specific targets such as had been done in old American programs.[261][292] He began working again with fellow former senator Bob Dole to persuade the Senate to support this effort, as well as expanded school lunch, food stamps, and nutritional help for pregnant women and poor children in the U.S.[261][293]
The
In October 2001 McGovern was appointed as the first UN global ambassador on world hunger by the World Food Programme,
McGovern's wartime story was at the center of Ambrose's 2001 best-selling profile of the men who flew B‑24s over Germany in World War II, The Wild Blue.[307] It was the first time much of the public became familiar with that part of his life; throughout his political career, McGovern had rarely mentioned his war service or the medals he had won.[96]
McGovern continued to lecture and make public appearances, sometimes appearing with Dole on college campuses.
In October 2006, the $8.5 million
McGovern still sought to have his voice heard in the American political scene.[198] He became an outspoken opponent of the Iraq War, likening U.S. involvement in that country to that of the failed Vietnam effort, and in 2006 co-wrote the book Out of Iraq: A Practical Plan for Withdrawal Now.[285][308][312] In January 2004 McGovern campaigned for Wesley Clark in his presidential bid, citing him as the candidate best suited to win in the general election.[313] In January 2008 McGovern wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney, saying they had violated the U.S. Constitution, transgressed national and international law, and repeatedly lied to the American people. The subtitle of the article read "Nixon Was Bad. These Guys Are Worse."[314] In the tumultuous
On October 16, 2008, McGovern and Dole were made World Food Prize laureates for their efforts to curb hunger in the world and in particular for their joint program for school feeding and enhanced school attendance.[294][317]
Final years and death
By 2009 McGovern had moved to
He was treated for exhaustion during 2011[319] and then was hospitalized after a serious fall in December 2011 on his way to participate in a live C-SPAN program about his 1972 presidential campaign.[320][321] By January 2012 he was promoting his latest book, What It Means to Be a Democrat.[322] He was hospitalized again in April 2012 owing to fainting spells.[323] McGovern's 90th birthday was celebrated on July 19, 2012, with a Washington event hosted by
On October 15, 2012, McGovern's family announced he had entered Dougherty Hospice House in Sioux Falls; his daughter Ann said, "He's coming to the end of his life."[319][326] On the morning of October 21, 2012, McGovern died at the age of 90 at the Sioux Falls hospice, surrounded by family and lifelong friends.[327] The family released this statement: "We are blessed to know that our father lived a long, successful and productive life advocating for the hungry, being a progressive voice for millions and fighting for peace. He continued giving speeches, writing and advising all the way up to and past his 90th birthday, which he celebrated this summer."[328] In addition to his three remaining children, he was survived by 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.[198]
President Obama paid tribute to McGovern as "a champion for peace" and a "statesman of great conscience and conviction."[198] At a memorial service in Sioux Falls, Vice President Joe Biden eulogized McGovern, addressing his World War II service and his opposition to the Vietnam War by saying to his family, "Your father was a genuine hero.... Had your father not been in the Senate, so much more blood, so much more treasure would have been wasted."[329] His funeral was held in the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science in Sioux Falls,[330] with his ashes to be buried alongside his wife and daughter Terry at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington.[331]
On July 26, 2015, the Argus Leader, the daily newspaper in Sioux Falls, published an article detailing the extensive files on McGovern compiled through the years by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including letters and notations from FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, revealing that Hoover had a direct interest in the FBI monitoring of McGovern.[23] The newspaper also published the complete FBI file on McGovern, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request filed shortly after McGovern's death.[23]
Awards and decorations
McGovern's decorations include:[332]
Army Air Forces Pilot Badge | ||
Distinguished Flying Cross | oak leaf clusters
|
Presidential Medal of Freedom |
American Campaign Medal | campaign stars
|
World War II Victory Medal |
Legacy
Owing to his resounding loss to Nixon in the 1972 election and the causes behind it, "McGovernism" became a label that a generation of Democratic politicians tried to avoid.[333] In 1992 nationally syndicated Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene wrote, "Once again politicians – mostly Republicans, but some Democrats, too – are using his name as a synonym for presidential campaigns that are laughable and out of touch with the American people."[334] Conservatives used McGovern's name as a ready synonym for what they saw as liberal failures.[198] According to Daniel McCarthy of The American Conservative, the Republican Party began to act after 1972 as if "every Democratic leader, no matter how Southern, how pro-war, how middle-of-the-road, is really a McGovernite. Indeed, for nearly 40 years the conservative movement has defined itself in opposition to the Democratic standard-bearer of 1972. Anti-McGovernism has come to play for the Right the unifying role that anticommunism once played, much to the detriment of older principles such as limited government, fiscal continence, and prudence in foreign policy."[71] The association with dovishness and weakness on defense has been especially prevalent,[335] although McGovern publicly stated in 1972 that he was not a pacifist and that use of force was sometimes necessary, such as in World War II.[336] McGovern later said in 2001 that his political image had been exaggerated: "I am a liberal and always have been – just not the wild-eyed character the Republicans made me out to be."[261] He continued to feel that he was marginalized with his views miscast.[285] He saw himself as a son of the prairie, in 2005 reciting his traditional upbringing and family values, culminating with "I'm what a normal, healthy, ideal American should be like",[198] and in 2006 asked, "How the hell do you get elected in South Dakota for twenty years if you're a wild-eyed radical?"[285]
In later decades the former senator remained a symbol, or standard-bearer, of the
As chairman of the McGovern–Fraser Commission in 1969–70, McGovern instituted major changes in Democratic party rules that continue to this day and, to a large degree, were ultimately adopted by the Republican Party as well, with large institutional changes taking place in both.
Staffers who worked on McGovern's 1972 campaign later became influential within the Democratic Party.[342] Campaign manager Gary Hart staged his own presidential runs in 1984 and 1988. Future president Bill Clinton, with assistance from his future wife and politician, Hillary Rodham, had managed the McGovern campaign's operations in Texas.[198] Hart both embraced and moved away from aspects of his past affiliation with McGovern,[343][344] while Clinton, and the Democratic Leadership Council movement of which he was a part, explicitly rejected McGovern's ideology.[345] But there was still a legacy in terms of staffing, as the Clinton White House would be full of former "McGovernites".[342][346]
McGovern's post-political career generally enhanced his reputation; Tom Brokaw, who referred to McGovern as part of the "Greatest Generation", wrote in 1998 that "he remains one of the country's most decent and thoughtful public servants."[96] McGovern's legacy also includes his commitment to combating hunger both in the United States and around the globe. He said, "After I'm gone, I want people to say about me: He did the best he could to end hunger in this country and the world."[43] In the view of Knock, McGovern in all his activities arguably accomplished more for people in need than most presidents or secretaries of state in U.S. history.[108] Responding to the Serenity Prayer's desire to "grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change", McGovern said simply that he rejected that notion: "I keep trying to change them."[285]
Writings
- McGovern, George S. War Against Want: America's Food for Peace Program, Walker & Co., 1964.
- McGovern, George (ed.) Agricultural Thought in the Twentieth Century, Bobbs-Merrill, 1966.
- McGovern, George. A Time of War! A Time of Peace, Vintage Books, 1968. ISBN 0-394-70481-9.
- McGovern, George S. and Leonard F. Guttridge. The Great Coalfield War, Houghton Mifflin, 1972.
- McGovern, George. Grassroots: The Autobiography of George McGovern, Random House, 1977. ISBN 0-394-41941-3.
- McGovern, George. Terry: My Daughter's Life-And-Death Struggle With Alcoholism, New York: Villard, 1996. OCLC 34701568.
- McGovern, George. The Third Freedom: Ending Hunger in Our Time, Simon & Schuster, 2001. ISBN 0-684-85334-5.
- McGovern, George. The Essential America: Our Founders and the Liberal Tradition, Simon & Schuster, 2004. ISBN 0-7432-6927-6.
- McGovern, George. Social Security and the Golden Age: An Essay on the New American Demographic, Speaker's Corner Books, 2005. ISBN 1-55591-589-2.
- McGovern, George, ISBN 0-8006-3782-8.
- McGovern, George and William R. Polk. Out of Iraq: A Practical Plan for Withdrawal Now, Simon & Schuster, 2006. ISBN 1-4165-3456-3.
- McGovern, George S., ISBN 0-7575-5109-2.
- McGovern, George S. Abraham Lincoln, Times Books, 2008. OCLC 229028942.
- McGovern, George with Linda Kulman. What It Means to Be a Democrat, Blue Rider Press, 2011. ISBN 0-399-15822-7.
See also
- List of awards and honors received by George McGovern
- Electoral history of George McGovern
- List of peace activists
- Jim McGovern (American politician)
Notes
- ^ a b The woman moved to Indiana to have the child in secret. The so-named "Fort Wayne" story circulated as a rumor in political and press circles for years.[22] An FBI background check conducted after McGovern was appointed to a position within the Kennedy administration included it, and Nixon's 1972 campaign had access to the information but did not use it.[23] McGovern eventually told the story to his future biographer, Thomas J. Knock, expressing considerable remorse over his involvement.[22] The story became public in 2015 following release of McGovern's FBI files.[23]
- ^ Joseph McGovern was a second baseman for a team in Des Moines, Iowa, but gave it up in 1891 or 1892.[5][6]
- vaulting horse; the incident had troubled McGovern psychologically and part of his motivation in taking up flying was to prove himself.[17]
- ^ McGovern is one of only two major party presidential nominees to have earned a Ph.D., the other being Woodrow Wilson.[71]
- ^ In his autobiography, McGovern described his reaction upon hearing of Roosevelt's death in April 1945 while stationed in Italy during the war: "Most of us had never really known the United States except with FDR as President. We did not think of him as a politician. He was that magnificent voice of the fireside chat, who, along with Winston Churchill, inspired all those who stood for freedom and decency in the war. What would the United States be like without him?"[77]
- ^ McGovern's admiration for Stevenson was lined with his antipathy towards his eventual antagonist: "I have loathed Richard Nixon since he first came on the national scene wielding his red brush in 1946, but I especially resented his cheap insults to Adlai Stevenson – my first genuine political hero".[86]
- ^ The decision to enter politics was not uncommon among those of what was later dubbed "The Greatest Generation"; it was a natural destination for those who made sacrifices and learned lessons during the war, and was not limited to those of any particular political ideology.[89]
- ^ "Voting Records". Americans for Democratic Action.. Voting records for years 1957 through 1960. At the time the ADA did not give a "score", although by their later methods, his score for the House years would be 87, as McGovern was also absent for two rated votes.
- Secretary of Agriculture, and gained the backing of some farm groups as well as the support of Robert F. Kennedy. The president-elect wanted to appoint him, but others felt that McGovern at age 38 lacked sufficient seniority. By the time of Kennedy's selection, McGovern was happy with the lesser position of Food for Peace director, as he had come to realize that Secretary of Agriculture was usually a difficult job and a dead end for political careers.[102][103]
- desegregation busing even while the Washington, D.C., resident was paying non-resident tuition for his own daughter to attend Bethesda, Maryland, public schools, which were only 3 percent black. McGovern responded that where he sent his children to school was a private matter.[156]
- ^ The label's origins later turned out to come from Thomas Eagleton, several months before he became the vice presidential nominee.[186][187]
- ^ The concept behind the demogrant was in part a conservative one, was similar to the negative income tax long advocated by economist Milton Friedman, and by the Nixon Administration in the form of the Family Assistance Program, which called for a minimum family grant of $1,600 per year, later raised to $2,400. McGovern had previously sponsored a bill, submitted by the National Welfare Rights Organization, for $6,500 guaranteed minimum income per year to families. But the demogrant differed from all these other plans by going to everyone and not being needs-based.[193]
- ^ McGovern would later say of not emphasizing his war record more during the campaign: "I think it was a political error, but I always felt kind of foolish talking about my war record – what a hero I was. How do you do that? ... [I]t was not in my nature to turn the campaign into a constant exercise in self-congratulatory autobiography."[217] Such disinclination was common among World War II veterans.[198]
- ^ By McGovern's later telling, "KMA" buttons were being worn by people in the crowds at McGovern rallies by the following night.[229] Some observers felt it showed a forcefulness that his campaign had theretofore lacked.[216] Several years later, McGovern observed Mississippi Senator James Eastland, not a big supporter of his, looking at him from across the Senate floor and chuckling to himself. He subsequently approached McGovern and asked, "Did you really tell that guy in '72 to kiss your ass?" When McGovern smiled and nodded, Eastland replied, "That was the best line in the campaign."[230]
- in Alaska.
- ^ McGovern did not publicly reveal his vote for the Republican Ford until 2007, after the former president's death, and said that without his knowledge his family had done the same thing. He later voted for Carter in the 1980 presidential election.[245]
- 1992 Democratic presidential nomination, as President George H. W. Bush's popularity following the Gulf War was leading potential Democratic candidates to shy away from running.[277][278][279] McGovern's campaign would not have been centered on the war, which McGovern ultimately spoke in favor of, although he would have preferred economic sanctions against Iraq.[277][280] But in May 1991, McGovern announced he would not run, saying it was time for a younger, less battle-scarred candidate to carry the liberal banner.[281]
- ^ The internationally popular McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program[295] was known as the Global Food for Education Initiative until 2002, when it was incorporated into the 2002 Farm Bill under its present name.[296] It was initially funded with $300 million in 2000 and then generally at $100 million a year.[297] There were attempts to give it more permanent funding levels during 2007 and 2008.[295] and it received an additional $80 million in 2009.[298] By 2011–2012, the funding level was around $200 million per year.[299]
- 2008 Democratic Party presidential nomination. But in early May 2008, McGovern switched his endorsement to Senator Barack Obama, on the grounds that Clinton could no longer win.[315] He then published an op-ed article for The New York Times that said that Clinton's persistence in the campaign was perfectly allowable, but that the two candidates should discontinue criticizing each other and instead focus on presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, lest a repetition of his own experiences with a split party in 1972 occur.[316]
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Further reading
- Andelic, Patrick. Donkey Work: Congressional Democrats in Conservative America, 1974–1994 (University Press of Kansas, 2019). Liberal Democrats in Congress did not give up after McGovern's presidential defeat in 1972.
- Johnson, Marc C. Tuesday Night Massacre: Four Senate Elections and the Radicalization of the Republican Party (University of Oklahoma Press, 2021). The 1980 Senate races saw bitter defeats of Frank Church, Birch Bayh, John Culver, and McGovern and weakened moderates in the Republican Party.
External links
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- George McGovern – Goodwill Ambassador at World Food Programme
- McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program
- George and Eleanor McGovern Center for Leadership and Public Service at Dakota Wesleyan University
- McGovern Legacy Museum at McGovern Center
- McGovern Library at Dakota Wesleyan University
- The Senator George S. McGovern Collection at Dakota Wesleyan University
- George S. McGovern Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
- McGovern nomination acceptance speech, July 10, 1972
- George McGovern FBI files, Part 1
- George McGovern FBI files, Part 2
- Interview with George McGovern by Stephen McKiernan, Binghamton University Libraries Center for the Study of the 1960s, August 13, 2010
- Recordings of George McGovern presidential campaign radio spots, 1972–1974, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University