Editing George McGovern (section)

==Final years and death==
[[Image:George McGovern (3278586359).jpg|thumb|right|McGovern signing books at the [[National Press Club (United States)|National Press Club]], 2009]]

By 2009, McGovern had moved to [[St. Augustine Beach, Florida]].<ref name="staug">{{cite news |url=http://www.staugustine.com/stories/011109/news_0111_032.shtml |title=McGovern moves to Beach |author=Guinta, Peter |newspaper=[[The St. Augustine Record]] |date=January 11, 2009 |access-date=December 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927133901/http://www.staugustine.com/stories/011109/news_0111_032.shtml |archive-date=September 27, 2011 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> McGovern's seventh book (as author, co-author, or contributing editor) issued in the first decade of the 2000s, ''Abraham Lincoln'', was published by [[Times Books]] and released at the close of 2008. Throughout 2009, McGovern embarked on a book tour, including a prominent visit to the [[Nixon Presidential Library and Museum]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Former Senator George McGovern visits Nixon Library |date=August 27, 2009 |newspaper=[[San Gabriel Valley Tribune]] }}</ref>

He was treated for exhaustion during 2011<ref name="pp-hosp"/> and then was hospitalized after a serious fall in December 2011 on his way to participate in a live [[C-SPAN]] [[The Contenders|program about his 1972 presidential campaign]].<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/02/politics/george-mcgovern-fall/ |publisher=CNN |title=George McGovern taken to South Dakota hospital after fall |date=December 3, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Raasch |last2=Ellis |first1=Chuck |first2= Jonathan |title=George McGovern, former presidential candidate, dies |url= https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2012/10/21/george-mcgovern-obituary/1641975/ |newspaper=USA Today |date=October 21, 2012}}</ref> By January 2012 he was promoting his latest book, ''What It Means to Be a Democrat''.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6371.cfm?Id=126193 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130127191927/http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6371.cfm?Id=126193 |url-status= dead |archive-date= January 27, 2013 |title=McGovern Talks About Last Meeting With Janklow |author=Mallory, Brady |publisher=[[KELO-TV]] |date=January 13, 2012}}</ref> He was hospitalized again in April 2012 owing to fainting spells.<ref name="upi-hosp">{{cite news |url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/10/17/George-McGovern-no-longer-responsive/UPI-96211350519457/ |title=George McGovern no longer responsive |work=[[UPI]] |date=October 17, 2012}}</ref> McGovern's 90th birthday was celebrated on July 19, 2012, with a Washington event hosted by [[World Food Program USA]] and attended by many liberal Democratic politicians, along with (as ''The Washington Post'' termed it) "one respectful conservative", South Dakota's Republican senator [[John Thune]].<ref>{{cite news|author=The Reliable Post (Daily Gossip column/blog) |author2=Argetsinger, Amy |author3=Roberts, Roxanne |author-link2=Amy Argetsinger |author-link3=Roxanne Roberts |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/post/george-mcgoverns-90th-birthday-party-celebrates-old-fashioned-liberal-thank-you-for-being-born/2012/07/22/gJQACtp02W_blog.html |title=George McGovern's 90th birthday party celebrates old-fashioned liberal: 'Thank you for being born.' |archive-date=October 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023222832/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/post/george-mcgoverns-90th-birthday-party-celebrates-old-fashioned-liberal-thank-you-for-being-born/2012/07/22/gJQACtp02W_blog.html |newspaper=The Washington Post (blog) |quote="...&nbsp;one respectful conservative, South Dakota's Sen. [[John Thune]] (R)." |date=July 23, 2012 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> On July 27, 2012, McGovern's son Steven died at age 60. McGovern's daughter Ann said, "Steve had a long struggle with alcoholism. We will all miss him deeply, but are grateful that he is now at peace."<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.foxnews.com/us/steven-mcgovern-son-of-former-sd-senator-dies/ |title=Steven McGovern, son of former SD senator, dies |agency=Associated Press |publisher=[[Fox News]] |date=July 28, 2012}}</ref> In August 2012, McGovern moved back to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to be nearer to his family.<ref name="pp-hosp"/> His final public appearance was on October 6, 2012, when he introduced his recorded narration for [[Aaron Copland]]'s "[[Lincoln Portrait]]" with the [[South Dakota Symphony Orchestra]].<ref name="upi-hosp"/>

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."<ref name="pp-hosp">{{cite news |url= http://www.twincities.com/national/ci_21778593/george-mcgovern-moves-into-hospice-care |title=George McGovern, 1972 Democratic presidential nominee, moves into hospice care |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=[[St. Paul Pioneer Press]] |date=October 15, 2012}}</ref><ref name="AP-hospice">{{cite news |url= https://news.yahoo.com/family-ex-sen-mcgovern-no-longer-responsive-193847961.html |title=Family: Ex-Sen. McGovern 'no longer responsive' |date=October 17, 2012 |work=Yahoo! News |agency=Associated Press }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/family-spokesman-george-mcgovern-dead-age-90-17527808#.UIPdP0LhDw4 |title=Family Spokesman: George McGovern Dead at Age 90 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |date=October 21, 2012 |access-date=October 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022224227/https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/family-spokesman-george-mcgovern-dead-age-90-17527808#.UIPdP0LhDw4 |archive-date=October 22, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-former-us-sen-george-mcgovern-dead-at-90-20121021,0,151594.story |title=Former U.S. Sen George McGovern dead at 90 |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=October 21, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023213231/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-former-us-sen-george-mcgovern-dead-at-90-20121021%2C0%2C151594.story |archive-date=October 23, 2012 |access-date=December 21, 2018 }}</ref> In addition to his three remaining children, he was survived by ten grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.<ref name="nyt-obit"/>

President Obama paid tribute to McGovern as "a champion for peace" and a "statesman of great conscience and conviction".<ref name="nyt-obit"/> 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."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/10/biden-remembers-mcgovern-147295.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508090948/http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico44/2012/10/biden-remembers-mcgovern-147295 |archive-date=May 8, 2016 |title=Biden remembers McGovern |first=Byron |last=Tau |author-link=Byron Tau |newspaper=[[Politico]] |date=October 25, 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> His funeral was held in the [[Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science]] in Sioux Falls,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.c-span.org/Events/Funeral-Service-For-Former-Sen-George-McGovern-D-SD/10737435330/ |title=Funeral Service For Former Sen. George McGovern (D-SD) |publisher=[[C-SPAN]] |date=October 26, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115124928/http://www.c-span.org/Events/Funeral-Service-For-Former-Sen-George-McGovern-D-SD/10737435330/ |archive-date=November 15, 2012 }}</ref> with his ashes to be buried alongside his wife and daughter Terry at [[Rock Creek Cemetery]] in Washington.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/mcgoverns-ashes-to-be-buried-in-dc-early-2013/?id=141277 |title=McGovern's Ashes To Be Buried In DC Early 2013 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=[[KELO-TV]] |date=December 15, 2012 |access-date=December 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130811100916/http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/mcgoverns-ashes-to-be-buried-in-dc-early-2013/?id=141277 |archive-date=August 11, 2013 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

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.<ref name="al-fbi">{{cite news | url=http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2015/07/26/fbi-mined-secrets-mcgoverns-past/30689729/ | title=FBI mined secrets from George McGovern's past | first=Jonathan | last=Ellis | newspaper=[[Argus Leader]] | location=Sioux Falls | date=July 27, 2015}}</ref> The newspaper also published the complete FBI file on McGovern that was obtained through a [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]] request filed shortly after McGovern's death.<ref name="al-fbi"/>