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George McGovern

George McGovern
GeorgeStanleyMcGovern.png
United States Senator
from South Dakota
In office
January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1981
Preceded by Joseph Bottum
Succeeded by James Abdnor
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture
In office
April 15, 1998 – October 19, 2001
Appointed by Bill Clinton
Preceded by Laurie Tracy
Succeeded by Tony Hall
Chair of the Senate Nutrition Committee
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
(1922-07-19)July 19, 1922
Avon, South Dakota, U.S.
Died October 21, 2012(2012-10-21) (aged 90)
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Eleanor Stegeberg (m. 1943; d. 2007)
Children 5
Education Dakota Wesleyan University (BA)
Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary
Northwestern University (MA, PhD)
Religion Methodist
Signature
Military service
Allegiance  United States
Service/branch US Army Air Corps Hap Arnold Wings.svg United States Army Air Forces
Years of service 1943–1945
Rank US-O2 insignia.svg First Lieutenant
Unit 741st Bomb Squadron
455th Bombardment Group
15th Air Force
Battles/wars World War II
 • European Theatre
Awards Distinguished Flying Cross
Air Medal (3)

George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian, author, U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 presidential election.

McGovern grew up in Mitchell, South Dakota, where he was a renowned debater. He volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Forces upon the country's entry into World War II and as a B-24 Liberator pilot flew 35 missions over German-occupied Europe. Among the medals bestowed upon him was a Distinguished Flying Cross for making a hazardous emergency landing of his damaged plane and saving his crew. After the war he gained degrees from Dakota Wesleyan University and Northwestern University, culminating in a PhD, and was a history professor. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1956 and re-elected in 1958. After a failed bid for the U.S. Senate in 1960, he was a successful candidate in 1962.

As a senator, McGovern was an exemplar of modern American liberalism. He became most known for his outspoken opposition to the growing U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. He staged a brief nomination run in the 1968 presidential election as a stand-in for the assassinated Robert F. Kennedy. The subsequent McGovern–Fraser Commission fundamentally altered the presidential nominating process, by greatly increasing the number of caucuses and primaries and reducing the influence of party insiders. The McGovern–Hatfield Amendment sought to end the Vietnam War by legislative means but was defeated in 1970 and 1971. McGovern's long-shot, grassroots-based 1972 presidential campaign found triumph in gaining the Democratic nomination but left the party badly split ideologically, and the failed vice-presidential pick of Thomas Eagleton undermined McGovern's credibility. In the general election McGovern lost to incumbent Richard Nixon in one of the biggest landslides in American electoral history. Re-elected Senator in 1968 and 1974, McGovern was defeated in a bid for a fourth term in 1980.


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