Editing George McGovern (section)

===Remaining Senate years===
[[File:George McGovern in Tbilisi 1977.jpg|thumb|right|Senator McGovern visiting an American photography exhibition in [[Tbilisi]] in the Soviet Union in 1977]]
After this loss, McGovern remained in the Senate. He was scarred by the enormous defeat,<ref name="miroff-293">Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', p. 293.</ref> and his wife, Eleanor, took it even worse; during the winter of 1972–1973, the couple seriously considered moving to England.<ref name="nytm-mcginniss"/> 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.<ref name="wapo-might"/> 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.<ref name="wapo-might"/>

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 [[Gridiron Dinner]], he frequently related his campaign misadventures in a self-deprecating fashion, such as saying, "For many years, I wanted to run for the presidency in the worst possible way – and last year I sure did."<ref name="wapo-might"/><ref name="nytm-mcginniss"/><ref>Mann, ''A Grand Delusion'', p. 710.</ref> Emotions surrounding the loss would remain with McGovern for decades, as it did with some other defeated presidential nominees.<ref name="wapo-might"/> Nixon resigned in August 1974 because of the Watergate scandal. McGovern said President [[Gerald Ford]]'s subsequent September 1974 pardon of Nixon was difficult to understand, given that Nixon's subordinates were going to prison.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4XEzAAAAIBAJ&pg=628,2390236&dq=george-mcgovern+pardon+nixon&hl=en | title=Reaction splits on party lines | agency=[[Associated Press]] | newspaper=[[Bangor Daily News]] | date=September 9, 1974 | page=1}}</ref>

McGovern displayed the political resiliency he had shown in the past.<ref name="miroff-293"/> In [[1974 United States Senate election in South Dakota|1974]], he faced possible political peril because of his having neglected the state during his long presidential campaign, and by May 1973, he had already begun campaigning for re-election.<ref name="nytm-mcginniss">{{cite news | url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F20B13FD3954137A93C4A9178ED85F478785F9 | author=McGinniss, Joe | title=Second Thoughts of George McGovern | magazine=[[The New York Times Magazine]] | date=May 6, 1973 | author-link=Joe McGinniss}}</ref> An Air Force pilot and Medal of Honor recipient, [[Leo K. Thorsness]], had just been repatriated after six years as a [[prisoner of war]] in North Vietnam; he publicly accused McGovern of having given aid and comfort to the enemy and of having prolonged his time as a POW.<ref name="nytm-mcginniss"/> McGovern replied that if there had been no war, there would have been no POWs, and that everything he had done had been toward the goal of ending the war sooner.<ref name="nytm-mcginniss"/> Thorsness became the Republican nominee against McGovern, but despite the two men's different roles in it, the war did not become a significant issue.<ref name="nyt110674">{{cite news |url= http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10916FB3D5B147B93C4A9178AD95F408785F9 |title= M'Govern Wins 3d Senate Term |author=Kneeland, Douglas E. |newspaper=The New York Times |date= November 6, 1974 |page=40}}</ref> Instead, the campaign was dominated by farm policy differences and economic concerns over the [[1973–75 recession]].<ref name="nyt110674"/><ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19741002&id=HeQNAAAAIBAJ&pg=7171,192628 | title=Fear of Depression Puts McGovern Ahead | author=Evans, Rowland | author2=Novak, Robert | newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] | date=October 2, 1974 | author-link=Rowland Evans | author-link2=Robert Novak }}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Thorsness charged McGovern with being a "part-time senator" more concerned with national office and with spending over $2&nbsp;million on his re‑election bid, while McGovern labeled Thorsness a [[carpetbagger]] owing to his having grown up in Minnesota.<ref name="nyt110674"/> In a year in which Democrats were advantaged by the aftereffects of the Watergate scandal,<ref name="nyt110674"/> McGovern won re-election in November 1974 with 53 percent of the vote.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=guAoAAAAIBAJ&pg=6385,3454910 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151102094208/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=guAoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ACkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6385,3454910 | url-status=dead | archive-date=November 2, 2015 | title=McGovern, Bayh, Dole Win Again | newspaper=[[The Milwaukee Journal]] | date=November 6, 1974 | page=11}}</ref>

Following the [[Fall of Saigon]] and the end of the Vietnam War in April 1975, McGovern attributed the outcome not to Congressional refusal to fund more military aid to South Vietnam, as President Ford had wanted.  Instead, McGovern said, the regime of [[Nguyễn Văn Thiệu]] "fell because the leadership was corrupt and decadent and did not have the support of its own people."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/82267686/?terms=mcgovern%2B%22of%2Bthe%2Brefugees%22%2B%22better%2Boff%22 | title=Time to put house in order: McGovern | newspaper=Journal Gazette | location=Mattoon, Illinois | date=May 5, 1975 | page=1 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Regarding the [[Indochina refugee crisis]] that soon developed, McGovern introduced legislation in early May 1975 to enable Vietnamese refugees who had left the country in panic fearing a post-war bloodbath to return to the country.  He said, "Ninety percent of the refugees would be better off going back to their own land.  And I say that in a humanitarian spirit. ... The [new] Saigon government has already given orders that the people are not to be molested ... that is more respect than Thieu's army frequently demonstrated. ... our program for dealing with these refugees should include as the highest priority steps to facilitate their early return to Vietnam."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/173226335/?terms=mcgovern%2B%22of%2Bthe%2Brefugees%22%2B%22better%2Boff%22 | title=McGovern's proposal: Help those who want to return | first=George | last=McGovern | newspaper=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] | date=May 18, 1975 | page=7–E | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  McGovern's stance brought immediate criticism from some quarters; syndicated columnist [[John D. Lofton, Jr.]] said it proved that McGovern was "the most immoral hypocrite on the American political scene today."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/173226335/?terms=mcgovern%2B%22of%2Bthe%2Brefugees%22%2B%22better%2Boff%22 | title=Quotes from the past: His words have a hollow ring | first=John D. Jr. | last=Lofton | newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer | date=May 18, 1975 | page=7–E | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  McGovern objected to what he termed distorted interpretations of his proposal, but newspaper publisher [[Creed C. Black]] considered the criticism fair.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/173226335/?terms=mcgovern%2B%22of%2Bthe%2Brefugees%22%2B%22better%2Boff%22 | title=McGovern is, indeed, hypocritical on the refugee issue | first=Creed C. | last=Black | newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer | date=May 18, 1975 | page=7–E | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Following his Senate re-election victory, McGovern harbored thoughts of running in the [[1976 U.S. presidential election]]. Given the magnitude of his defeat in 1972, very few in the Democratic Party wanted him as a presidential candidate again.<ref name="wapo-might"/><ref>Marano, ''Vote Your Conscience'', p. 17.</ref> Unfamiliar and uncomfortable with Democratic nominee [[Jimmy Carter]], McGovern secretly voted for Ford instead.{{refn|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 United States presidential election|1980 presidential election]].<ref name="lkl-trans">{{cite news | url=http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0701/02/lkl.01.html | title=Farewell To President Ford (transcript) | work=[[Larry King Live]] | publisher=CNN | date=January 2, 2007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070622161727/http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0701/02/lkl.01.html | archive-date=June 22, 2007}}</ref>|group="nb"}} 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.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19780822&id=UjBPAAAAIBAJ&pg=4151,2001683 | newspaper = [[The Blade (Toledo)|The Blade]] | location=Toledo, Ohio | title = McGovern Cites Genocide, Asks Cambodia Intervention | date=August 22, 1978 | agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

[[Image:Senator Bob Dole and Senator George McGovern.jpg|thumb|left|McGovern with Bob Dole (second from left) and other senators]]

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.<ref name="NYTObit"/><ref name="nestle"/><ref name="brody">{{cite book | last=Brody | first=Jane | author-link=Jane Brody | title=Jane Brody's Nutrition Book | publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] | location=New York | isbn=0-393-01429-0 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/janebrodysnutri000brod/page/9 9–11] | url=https://archive.org/details/janebrodysnutri000brod/page/9 | year=1981 }}</ref> Titled ''Dietary Goals for the United States'', but also known as the "McGovern Report",<ref name="NYTObit">{{cite news |author=Pearce, Jeremy |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/health/09hegsted.html |title=D. Mark Hegsted, 95, Harvard Nutritionist, Is Dead |newspaper=The New York Times |date= July 8, 2009}}</ref> it suggested that Americans eat less fat, less cholesterol, less refined and processed sugars, and more complex carbohydrates and fiber.<ref name="brody"/> 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.<ref name="brody"/> The recommendations proved controversial with the cattle, dairy, egg, and sugar industries, including from McGovern's home state.<ref name="nestle">{{cite book | title=Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health | first=Marion | last=Nestle | edition=2nd | publisher=[[University of California Press]] | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-520-25403-9 | pages=38–42}}</ref> The McGovern committee guidelines led to reorganization of some federal executive functions<ref name="brody"/> 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]].<ref name="NYTObit"/>

In [[1980 United States Senate election in South Dakota|1980]], McGovern was one of several liberal Democratic senators targeted for defeat by the [[National Conservative Political Action Committee]] (NCPAC), which put out a year's worth of negative advertising about McGovern.<ref>Marano, ''Vote Your Conscience'', pp. 22–23.</ref> It and other [[United States anti-abortion movement|anti-abortion]] groups especially focused on McGovern's support for [[United States abortion-rights movement|abortion rights]] laws.<ref name="nyt110580">{{cite news |url= http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10B10F63B5C11728DDDAC0894D9415B8084F1D3 |title= McGovern Fails in Attempt At Fourth Term as Senator |author=Petersen, Iver |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 5, 1980 |page=A21}}</ref> McGovern faced a Democratic primary challenge for the first time, from a pro-life candidate.<ref>Marano, ''Vote Your Conscience'', p. 27.</ref> McGovern's Republican opponent was [[James Abdnor]], a four-term incumbent congressman who held identical positions to McGovern's on farm issues, was solidly conservative on national issues, and was well liked within the state.<ref name="nyt110580"/><ref>Marano, ''Vote Your Conscience'', p. 29.</ref> Abdnor's campaign focused on both McGovern's liberal voting record and what it said was McGovern's lack of involvement in South Dakota affairs.<ref name="nyt110580"/> McGovern made an issue of NCPAC's outside involvement, and that group eventually withdrew from the campaign after Abdnor denounced a letter it had sent out.<ref name="nyt110580"/> Far behind in the polls earlier, McGovern outspent Abdnor two-to-one and repeatedly criticized Abdnor's refusal to debate him, thereby drawing attention to a slight speech defect Abdnor had.<ref name="nyt110580"/><ref name="marano-32">Marano, ''Vote Your Conscience'', p. 32.</ref> Showing the comeback pattern of some of his past races in the state, McGovern closed the gap for a while.<ref name="time111780"/> In November 1980, McGovern was defeated for re-election, winning only 39 percent of the vote to Abdnor's 58 percent.<ref name="marano-32"/> In what became known as the "[[Reagan Revolution]]", McGovern was one of many Democratic casualties of that year's Republican sweep.<ref name="time111780">{{cite news | url=http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,950490,00.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204155308/http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,950490,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 4, 2013 | title=Nation: Reagan Gets a G.O.P Senate | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=November 17, 1980}}</ref>