Editing George McGovern (section)

==Ambassador to food agencies and other later activities==
[[Image:Roma-santa maria in montesanto.jpg|thumb|right|At the time McGovern was ambassador, the US Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome was housed in [[Piazza del Popolo]], 18 (here seen as the building on the far left).]]

In April 1998 McGovern returned to public service when he began a three-year stint as [[United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture|United States ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture]], serving in [[Rome, Italy]], after having been named to the post by President [[Bill Clinton]].<ref name="ap102906"/><ref name="lns-begin">{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=x840AAAAIBAJ&pg=2652,5320833&dq=mcgovern+ambassador+united+nations+1998&hl=en | title=McGovern begins UN job | agency=[[Associated Press]] | newspaper=[[Lodi News-Sentinel]] | date=April 15, 1998 | page=11}}</ref>  The announcement that Clinton was choosing McGovern for the role had come on February 19,<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/156362048/ | title=Clinton Names McGovern Ambassador | agency=Associated Press | newspaper=[[Albuquerque Journal]] | date=February 20, 1998 | page=A3}}</ref> McGovern's appointment had been confirmed by voice vote of the Senate on March 6,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/105th-congress/935?r=914 | title=PN935 – George McGovern – Department of State | date=March 6, 1998 | publisher=[[United States Congress]] | access-date=July 14, 2017}}</ref> had become official on March 10,<ref name="dos-hist-gsm"/> and he presented his credentials to the UN in Rome on April 14.<ref name="lns-begin"/>  The 75-year-old McGovern said he had not been seeking the position, but that "it's ideal for someone my age because it carries full ambassadorial rank without the hassle of running a big embassy."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://indianagazette.newspaperarchive.com/indiana-gazette/1998-02-20/page-14/ | title=Clinton nominates McGovern for post | newspaper=[[Indiana Gazette]] | date=February 20, 1998 | page=14 | access-date=July 14, 2017 | archive-date=October 23, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023063150/https://indianagazette.newspaperarchive.com/indiana-gazette/1998-02-20/page-14/ | url-status=dead }}</ref>

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 [[School feeding in low-income countries|more surplus food to foreign school-lunch programs]] and the establishment of specific targets such as had been done in old American programs.<ref name="nyt-label"/><ref>Knock, "Feeding the World and Thwarting the Communists", p. 114.</ref> 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 United States.<ref name="nyt-label"/><ref name="tln011201">{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7YIfAAAAIBAJ&pg=4712,1934808&dq=george+mcgovern+ambassador+food+bush&hl=en | title=Bush asks McGovern to keep post | newspaper=[[The Tuscaloosa News]] | date=January 12, 2001 | page=2A}}</ref>

The [[George McGovern–Robert Dole International Food for Education and Nutrition Program]] that was created in 2000, and funded largely through the Congress, would go on to provide more than 22 million meals to children in 41 countries over the next eight years.<ref name="ap-prize">{{cite news | url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-10-14-world-food-prize_N.htm | title=Dole, McGovern school program awarded World Food Prize | author=Jackson, Henry C. | agency=[[Associated Press]] | newspaper=[[USA Today]] | date=October 14, 2008}}</ref>{{refn|The internationally popular McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program<ref name="lodi">{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XwRSAAAAIBAJ&pg=4958,1198025&dq=mcgovern+dole+food+for+nutrition+and&hl=en | title=Farm bill has little aid for needy children abroad | agency=[[Associated Press]] | newspaper=[[Lodi News-Sentinel]] | date=May 14, 2008 | page=18}}</ref> was known as the [[Global Food for Education Initiative]] until 2002, when it was incorporated into the [[2002 Farm Bill]] under its present name.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.usda.gov/excredits/FoodAid/FFE/FFE.asp |title=McGovern-Dole Food for Education |publisher=[[Foreign Agricultural Service]] |access-date=July 2, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110705125203/http://www.fas.usda.gov/excredits/FoodAid/FFE/FFE.asp |archive-date=July 5, 2011 }}</ref> It was initially funded with $300 million in 2000 and then generally at $100 million a year.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2007-09-25-3677522660_x.htm | title=Ex-Senator seeks more food aid funding | author=Lammer, Dirk | agency=[[Associated Press]] | newspaper=[[USA Today]] | date=September 25, 2007}}</ref> There were attempts to give it more permanent funding levels during 2007 and 2008.<ref name="lodi"/> and it received an additional $80 million in 2009.<ref>{{cite press release | url=http://www.fas.usda.gov/scriptsw/PressRelease/pressrel_dout.asp?Entry=valid&PrNum=0057-09 | title=Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Announces Additional $80 Million in Food Assistance Under McGovern-Dole Program | publisher=[[Foreign Agricultural Service]] | date=April 7, 2009 | access-date=July 2, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101018160418/http://www.fas.usda.gov/scriptsw/PressRelease/pressrel_dout.asp?Entry=valid&PrNum=0057-09 | archive-date=October 18, 2010 | url-status=dead }}</ref> By 2011–2012, the funding level was around $200 million per year.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R41812.pdf | title=U.S. Global Food Security Funding, FY2010–FY2012 | publisher=[[Congressional Research Service]] | date=April 28, 2011}}</ref>|group="nb"}} It was also credited with improving school attendance, especially among girls, who were more likely to be allowed to go to school if a meal was being provided.<ref name="ap-prize"/> In August 2000, President Clinton presented McGovern with the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], the nation's highest civilian honor, in recognition of McGovern's service in the effort to eradicate world hunger.<ref>Watson, ''George McGovern'', p. 157.</ref> McGovern's book ''The Third Freedom: Ending Hunger in Our Time'' was published in January 2001; with its title making reference to Roosevelt's [[Four Freedoms speech]], it proposed a plan whereby chronic world hunger could be eliminated within thirty years.<ref>{{cite news | title=McGovern: World Can Be Free of Hunger | author=Patty, Mike | newspaper=[[Rocky Mountain News]] | date=February 6, 2001 }}</ref> In January 2001, McGovern was asked to stay on at the UN post for a while by the incoming [[George W. Bush administration]].<ref name="nyt-label"/><ref name="tln011201"/> His stint then concluded with a termination of mission on September 28, 2001.<ref name="dos-hist-gsm">{{cite web | url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/mcgovern-george-stanley | title=George Stanley McGovern (1922–2012) | publisher=[[Office of the Historian]], [[United States Department of State]] | access-date=July 13, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=McGovern to Lose Post to U.N. Group | agency=[[Associated Press]] | newspaper=[[Aberdeen American News]] | date=July 14, 2001 | page=3B}}</ref>

In October 2001, McGovern was appointed as the first UN global ambassador on world hunger by the World Food Programme,<ref name="wfp-oct01">{{cite press release | url=http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=401 | title=WFP appoints George McGovern as Global Ambassador on Hunger | publisher=[[World Food Programme]] | date=October 19, 2001 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211140129/http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=401 | archive-date=February 11, 2009}}</ref> the agency he had helped found forty years earlier.<ref name="knock-ftw-107"/> He was still active in this [[goodwill ambassador]] position as of 2011<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38066&Cr=hunger&Cr1 | title=UN documentary forum shines a spotlight on global fight against hunger | publisher=[[UN News Centre]] | date=April 8, 2011}}</ref> and remained in it until his death.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wfp.org/content/george-mcgovern-goodwill-ambassador | title=George McGovern – Goodwill Ambassador | publisher=[[World Food Programme]] | access-date=August 10, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728231600/http://www.wfp.org/content/george-mcgovern-goodwill-ambassador | archive-date=July 28, 2013 | url-status=dead }}</ref> McGovern was an honorary life member of the board of Friends of the World Food Program.<ref name="ofw-bio"/> McGovern also served as a senior policy advisor at [[Olsson Frank Weeda]], a food and drug regulatory counseling law and lobbying firm in Washington, D.C., where he specialized on issues of food, nutrition, and agriculture.<ref name="ofw-bio">{{cite web|url=http://www.ofwlaw.com/CM/AttorneyBios/GeorgeMcGovern.asp |title=Professional Directory: Senator George McGovern |publisher=Olsson Frank Weeda |access-date=October 23, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304144320/http://www.ofwlaw.com/CM/AttorneyBios/GeorgeMcGovern.asp |archive-date=March 4, 2012 }}</ref> 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&nbsp;II, ''[[The Wild Blue]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/conversation/july-dec01/wildblue_8-16.html |work=[[Online NewsHour]] |title=The Wild Blue |date=August 16, 2001 |publisher=[[PBS]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050908125255/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/conversation/july-dec01/wildblue_8-16.html |archive-date=September 8, 2005 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="brokaw-121" />

{{external media| float  = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?199919-1/legacy-george-mcgovern "Legacy of George McGovern" "Participants talked about the legacy of George McGovern, especially relating to his fight against world hunger and malnutrition. The celebration included toasts, remembrances, and a video presentation." July 14, 2007], [[C-SPAN]]}}
McGovern continued to lecture and make public appearances, sometimes appearing with Dole on college campuses.<ref name="ap102906">{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hVhIAAAAIBAJ&pg=1607,4003311&dq=george+mcgovern+ambassador+food+bush&hl=en | title=George McGovern, warrior against one war, takes on another | author=Geller, Adam | agency=[[Associated Press]] | newspaper=[[Record-Journal]] | location=Meriden, Connecticut | date=October 29, 2006 | page=E4}}</ref> McGovern and Dole contributed essays to the 2005 volume ''Ending Hunger Now: A Challenge to Persons of Faith''. From around 2003 to 2005, McGovern owned a [[bookstore]] in his summer home of [[Stevensville, Montana|Stevensville]] in [[Montana]]'s [[Bitterroot Valley]],<ref name="argus">{{cite news | title=Former senator against Iraq war| newspaper=[[Argus Leader]] | location=Sioux Falls | author=Harriman, Peter | date=September 21, 2003 | page=B1}}</ref> until deciding to sell it because of lack of sufficient market.<ref name="wapo-might"/> In 2003, the McGoverns became part-time residents of [[Marco Island, Florida]]; by then, Eleanor was struggling with [[heart disease]].<ref name="marco">{{cite news|url=http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jan/25/eleanor_mcgovern_wife_former_sen_george_mcgovern_d/ |title=Eleanor McGovern, wife of former Sen. George McGovern, dies in S.D. |newspaper=[[Marco Eagle]] |date=January 25, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403031353/http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jan/25/eleanor_mcgovern_wife_former_sen_george_mcgovern_d/ |archive-date=April 3, 2012 }}</ref>

In October 2006, the $8.5 million [[George and Eleanor McGovern Library and Center for Leadership and Public Service]] was dedicated at Dakota Wesleyan University. The couple had helped raise the funds for it.<ref name="nyt-obit"/> It seeks to prepare the college's best students for future careers in public service through classes, seminars, research, and internships, and also to raise the visibility of the university.<ref name="wapo-might">{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/2005/02/20/what-might-have-been/26244db0-14e5-48e1-a982-983bd626496f/|last=Leahy|first=Michael|title=What Might Have Been | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]| author-link=Michael Leahy (author)| date= February 20, 2005 | page=W20}}</ref> The dignitaries in attendance were led by former president Clinton.<ref name="ap-center">{{cite news | url=http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Oct07/0,4670,McGovernLibrary,00.html | title=McGovern Library Dedicated in S.D. | author=Brokaw, Chet | agency=[[Associated Press]] | publisher=[[Fox News]] | date=October 7, 2006}}</ref>
McGovern's wife Eleanor was too ill to attend the ceremony,<ref name="ap-center"/> and she died of heart disease on January 25, 2007, at their home in Mitchell.<ref name="lkl-trans"/><ref name="marco"/><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eleanor-mcgovern-85-dies-in-sd/ | title=Eleanor McGovern, 85, Dies In S.D. | agency=[[Associated Press]] | publisher=[[CBS News]] | date=January 26, 2007 | access-date=June 26, 2011 | archive-date=November 4, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104065321/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/26/politics/main2400478.shtml | url-status=live }}</ref>
Later in 2007, several events were held at Dakota Wesleyan and in Washington, D.C., to celebrate McGovern's 85th birthday and the 35th anniversary of his nomination for president. Hundreds of former staff, volunteers, supporters and friends attended, along with public officials.

McGovern still sought to have his voice heard in the American political scene.<ref name="nyt-obit"/> 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''.<ref name="ap102906"/><ref name="argus"/><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1534540/Iraq-must-not-become-Bushs-Vietnam-says-anti-war-hero-McGovern.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1534540/Iraq-must-not-become-Bushs-Vietnam-says-anti-war-hero-McGovern.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live | title=Iraq must not become Bush's Vietnam, says anti-war hero McGovern | author=Harnden, Toby | newspaper=[[The Guardian]] | date=November 18, 2006 | location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2004/01/19/mcgovern-emerges-in-nh-to-support-clark/|title=McGovern emerges in N.H. to support Clark|first=Jill|last=Zuckman|date=January 19, 2004|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|access-date=September 26, 2017|archive-date=September 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926100359/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-01-19/news/0401190188_1_george-mcgovern-general-clark-patriotic-act|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.&nbsp;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."<ref>{{cite news|author=McGovern, George |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010404308_pf.html |title=Why I Believe Bush Must Go |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=January 6, 2008 }}</ref> In the tumultuous [[Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008|2008 Democratic Party presidential nomination campaign]], he first endorsed U.S.&nbsp;senator [[Hillary Clinton]] and then later switched to Senator [[Barack Obama]] after concluding Clinton could no longer win.{{refn|In October 2007, McGovern endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton for the [[Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008|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.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-politics-mcgovern-idUSN0724545420080507 |title=Ex-Sen. George McGovern drops Clinton, backs Obama |author=Ferraro, Thomas |work=Reuters |date=May 7, 2008 |access-date=July 1, 2017 |archive-date=November 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141125053821/http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/05/07/us-usa-politics-mcgovern-idUSN0724545420080507 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/opinion/13mcgovern.html |title=A Two-for-One Campaign |newspaper=The New York Times |author=McGovern, George |date=May 13, 2008}}</ref>|group="nb"}} 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.<ref name="ap-prize" /><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/events/laureate_award_ceremony/2008_ceremony/ | title=The 2008 World Food Prize Laureate Award Ceremony Honoring Hon. Robert Dole and Hon. George McGovern | publisher=[[World Food Prize]] | access-date=October 15, 2010 | archive-date=July 2, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110702075653/http://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/events/laureate_award_ceremony/2008_ceremony/ | url-status=dead }}</ref>