Editing George McGovern (section)

==Post-Senate life and 1984 presidential campaign==
[[File:2029 Connecticut Avenue.JPG|thumb|right|During the 1980s, McGovern lived in the historic Bates Warren Apartment House, a [[Beaux-Arts architecture]]-style building on [[Connecticut Avenue]] in Washington, D.C.]]
McGovern did not mourn leaving the Senate.<ref name="jgjw122080"/> Although being rejected by his own state stung, intellectually he could accept that South Dakotans wanted a more conservative representative; he and Eleanor felt out of touch with the country and in some ways liberated by the loss.<ref>Marano, ''Vote Your Conscience'', pp. 33–34.</ref> Nevertheless, he refused to believe that [[American liberalism]] was dead in the time of Reagan;<ref name="jgjw122080">{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4NElAAAAIBAJ&pg=4863,2962340&dq=george+mcgovern+senate+after+loss&hl=en | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130124144318/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4NElAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XfMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4863,2962340&dq=george+mcgovern+senate+after+loss&hl=en | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 24, 2013 | title=McGovern Leaves With His Ideals Intact | author=Germond, Jack | author2=Witcover, Jules | newspaper=[[The Miami News]] | date=December 20, 1980 | author-link=Jack Germond | author-link2=Jules Witcover}}</ref> remaining active in politics, in January 1981 he founded the political organization Americans for Common Sense.<ref>Marano, ''Vote Your Conscience'', p. 37.</ref> The group sought to rally liberals, encourage liberal thinking, and combat the [[Moral Majority]] and other new [[Christian right]] forces.<ref name="ei021181">{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19810211&id=h-ULAAAAIBAJ&pg=6836,2929463 | title=Liberal Losses Are Lamented By McGovern | author=Garner, Joe | newspaper=[[The Evening Independent]] | date=February 11, 1981 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In 1982 he turned the group into a [[political action committee]], which raised $1.2 million for liberal candidates in the [[1982 United States elections|1982 U.S. congressional elections]].<ref name="nyt-innkeeper">{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/03/nyregion/george-mcgovern-elects-innkeeper.html |title=George McGovern Elects Innkeeper |author=Rierden, Andi |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 3, 1989}}</ref> McGovern shut the committee down when he decided to run again for president.<ref name="nyt-innkeeper"/>

McGovern also began teaching and lecturing at a number of universities in the U.S. and Europe, accepting one-year contracts or less.<ref name="miroff-293"/><ref name="nyt-innkeeper"/><ref name="nyt-label">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/23/us/public-lives-a-mcgovern-liberal-who-s-content-to-stick-to-the-label.html | title=Public Lives: A McGovern Liberal Who's Content to Stick to the Label | author=Becker, Elizabeth | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | date=July 23, 2001 | author-link=Elizabeth Becker (journalist)}}</ref> From 1981 to 1982, McGovern replaced historian [[Stephen Ambrose]] as a professor at the [[University of New Orleans]]. McGovern also began making frequent speeches, earning several hundred thousand dollars a year.<ref name="nyt-label"/> McGovern attempted another presidential run in the [[Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1984|1984 Democratic primaries]].<ref name="miroff-270" /> Friends and political admirers of McGovern initially feared the effort would prove an embarrassment, and McGovern knew that his chances of winning were remote, but he felt compelled to try to influence the intraparty debate in a liberal direction.<ref name="nyt-innkeeper" /><ref name="miroff-270">Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', p. 270.</ref> Freed from the practical concerns of trying to win, McGovern outlined a ten-point program of sweeping domestic and foreign policy changes; because he was not seen as a threat, fellow competitors did not attack his positions, and media commentators praised him as the "conscience" of the Democratic Party.<ref name="miroff-270" />

[[Image:George McGovern and Mayor Raymond L. Flynn (10086202803).jpg|thumb|left|McGovern talking with the Mayor of Boston, Raymond L. Flynn, in the mid-1980s]]

Despite enjoying good name recognition, McGovern had little funding or staff,<ref name="miroff-270"/> although he did garner critical funding from some celebrities and statesmen.<ref>Marano, ''Vote Your Conscience'', pp. 198–199.</ref> He won a surprise third-place showing in the [[Iowa caucuses]] amidst a crowded field of candidates but finished fifth in the New Hampshire primary.<ref name="miroff-270"/> He announced he would drop out unless he finished first or second in the Massachusetts primary, and when he came in third behind his former campaign manager [[Gary Hart]] and former vice president [[Walter Mondale]], he kept his word.<ref name="nyt-innkeeper"/> He later endorsed Mondale, the eventual Democratic nominee.<ref>Marano, ''Vote Your Conscience'', p. 188.</ref> McGovern hosted ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' [[Saturday Night Live (season 9)|on April 14, 1984]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0695020|title=Saturday Night Live George McGovern/Madness (1984)|date=April 14, 1984|publisher=[[IMDb]] |access-date=June 3, 2008}}</ref> McGovern addressed the party's platform committee,<ref>Marano, ''Vote Your Conscience'', p. 189.</ref> 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.<ref name="mn071984" /> He received the votes of four delegates.<ref name="mn071984">{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=faAmAAAAIBAJ&pg=5848,978163&dq=mcgovern+speech+convention+1984&hl=en | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151102165442/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=faAmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mgEGAAAAIBAJ&pg=5848,978163&dq=mcgovern+speech+convention+1984&hl=en | url-status=dead | archive-date=November 2, 2015 | title=McGovern has his day, too | newspaper=[[The Miami News]] | date=July 19, 1984 | page=6A}}</ref> He actively supported the Mondale–[[Geraldine Ferraro]] ticket,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/06/13/Saying-it-is-time-to-close-ranks-George-McGovern/7191455947200/|title=Saying it is time 'to close ranks,' George McGovern...|first=Laurence|last=McQuillan|work=United Press International|date=June 13, 1984}}</ref> whose eventual landslide defeat bore some similarities to his own in 1972.<ref>Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', p. 271.</ref><ref>Marano, ''Vote Your Conscience'', p. 196.</ref>

During the 1980s McGovern was a fellow at the [[Institute for Policy Studies]], a [[think tank]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name="nyt-innkeeper" /> In September 1987, McGovern lectured at the inaugural [[Waldo Family Lecture on International Relations]] at [[Old Dominion University]] in [[Norfolk, Virginia]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Waldo Family Lecture Series Digital Collection|url=http://dc.lib.odu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/waldoseries|publisher=[[Old Dominion University]]|access-date=July 17, 2017|archive-date=October 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016175520/http://dc.lib.odu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/waldoseries|url-status=dead}}</ref> In January 1988, McGovern said that he was considering entering the [[1988 Democratic primaries]] in the event that a front-runner did not emerge in the race.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-24-mn-38165-story.html|title=McGovern Sees Chance of Entering 1988 Race|date=January 24, 1988|agency=United Press International|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Ultimately, he did not enter. McGovern had made several real estate investments in the D.C.&nbsp;area and became interested in hotel operations.<ref name="nyt-innkeeper" /> In 1988, using the money he had earned from his speeches, the McGoverns bought, renovated, and began running a 150-room inn in [[Stratford, Connecticut]], with the goal of providing a hotel, restaurant, and public conference facility.<ref name="nyt-innkeeper" /><ref name="nrw-piece">{{cite news | url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_n38_v26/ai_12685435/?tag=rel.res1 | title=A Politician's Dream – A Businessman's Nightmare | author=McGovern, George | newspaper=[[Nation's Restaurant News]] | date=September 21, 1992}}{{dead link|date=October 2016}}</ref> It went into bankruptcy in 1990 and closed the following year.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/14/style/chronicle-558491.html |title=Chronicle |author= Anderson, Susan Heller |newspaper=New York Times |date= February 14, 1991}}</ref> In 1992 McGovern published his reflections on the experience in the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' and the ''[[Nation's Restaurant News]]''.<ref name="nrw-piece" /><ref>{{cite news | url=https://digital.library.ucla.edu/websites/2008_993_056/Politician_Dream.htm | title=A Politician's Dream Is a Businessman's Nightmare | author=McGovern, George | newspaper=[[Wall Street Journal]] | via=[[UCLA Library]] | date=June 1, 1992 | access-date=November 24, 2023 | archive-date=August 18, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818191714/https://digital.library.ucla.edu/websites/2008_993_056/Politician_Dream.htm | url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> He attributed part of the failure to the [[early 1990s recession]], but also part to the cost of dealing with federal, state, and local regulations that were passed with good intentions but made life difficult for small businesses, and to the cost of dealing with frivolous lawsuits.<ref name="nrw-piece" /> McGovern wrote, "I&nbsp;... wish that during the years I was in public office I had had this firsthand experience about the difficulties business people face every day. That knowledge would have made me a better U.S.&nbsp;senator and a more understanding presidential contender."<ref name="nrw-piece" />  His statement would still be resonating with American conservatives two decades later.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/02/15/what-obamacare-drafters-could-have-learned-from-hairdresser/4qQLCwTHsrqCo8uIebuKHK/story.html | title=What Obamacare's drafters could have learned from a hairdresser | first=Jeff | last=Jacoby | author-link=Jeff Jacoby (columnist) | newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] | date=February 15, 2017 | access-date=July 12, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710180425/http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/02/15/what-obamacare-drafters-could-have-learned-from-hairdresser/4qQLCwTHsrqCo8uIebuKHK/story.html | archive-date=July 10, 2017 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Although he briefly explored another presidential run [[1992 United States presidential election|in the 1992 contest]],{{refn|During early 1991, McGovern publicly explored a run for the [[Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1992|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.<ref name="nyt012591">{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/25/us/new-war-raging-opposing-voices-past-sound-again-mcgovern-am-ready-run.html |title=McGovern: 'I Am Ready' to Run |author=Butterfield, Fox |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 25, 1991 |author-link=Fox Butterfield}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OJwzAAAAIBAJ&pg=3820,69542&dq=george+mcgovern+run+for+president+1992&hl=en |title=McGovern might run for president |agency=[[Associated Press]] |newspaper=[[Lodi News-Sentinel]] |date=March 1, 1991 |page=13}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zatPAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Where+have+all+the+democrats+gone%22&pg=PA10&article_id=2443,7133308 |title=Where have all the Democrats gone? |last=Greenfield |first=Jeff |newspaper=[[Kingman Daily Miner]] |date=February 27, 1991 |page=4 |author-link=Jeff Greenfield }}</ref> 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]].<ref name="nyt012591"/><ref name="ir111506">{{cite news | url= http://helenair.com/news/national/article_910c1181-4ef5-5181-aa89-b83c757d6b49.html |title=McGovern heads to Capitol Hill to urge U.S. withdrawal from Iraq |author=Powell, Stewart M. |agency=[[Hearst Newspapers]] |newspaper=[[Independent Record]] |location=Helena, Montana |date=November 15, 2006}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yzkeAAAAIBAJ&pg=6264,3379785&dq=george+mcgovern+run+for+president+1992&hl=en |title=McGovern won't run for president |newspaper=[[The Dispatch (Lexington)|The Dispatch]] |location=Lexington, North Carolina |date=May 24, 1991 |page=2A}}</ref>|group="nb"}} McGovern instead became president of the [[Middle East Policy Council]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://usa.wfp.org/about/board-directors |title=About Us: Board of Directors |publisher=[[World Food Program USA]] |access-date=June 25, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728183230/http://usa.wfp.org/about/board-directors |archive-date=July 28, 2011 }}</ref> (a nonprofit organization that seeks to educate American citizens and policymakers about the political, economic and security issues impacting U.S. national interests in the Middle East) in July 1991; he had previously served on its board since 1986. He held this position until 1997, when he was replaced by [[Charles W. Freeman Jr.]]<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101680414 | title=Freeman Withdraws From Key Intelligence Post | author=Kelly, Mary Louise | publisher=[[NPR]] | date=March 10, 2009}}</ref> 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]].<ref name="terry-x">McGovern, ''Terry'', pp. x–xi.</ref><ref name="ap102906" /> 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.<ref name="terry-review" /><ref name="terry-x" /> 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.<ref name="terry-review">{{cite news |last=Gordon |first=Meryl|title=Hitting Bottom |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | date=June 2, 1996 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/06/08/nnp/19650.html}}</ref><ref name="wapo-might" /> 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.<ref name="nyt-label" /><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.teresamcgoverncenter.org/teresa_mcgovern_letter.html | title=A Personal Letter from the McGoverns | publisher=Teresa McGovern Center | date=June 23, 2007 | access-date=January 17, 2010 | archive-date=October 4, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101004143337/http://www.teresamcgoverncenter.org/teresa_mcgovern_letter.html | url-status=usurped }}</ref> 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."<ref name="nyt-label" />