Editing George McGovern (section)

==Later education and early career==
Upon coming home, McGovern returned to Dakota Wesleyan University, aided by the [[G.I. Bill]], and graduated from there in June 1946 with a [[B.A.]] degree ''[[magna cum laude]]''.<ref name="cby-265"/><ref name="anson-50">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 50–53.</ref> For a while he suffered from nightmares about flying through flak barrages or his plane being on fire.<ref>E. McGovern, ''Uphill'', pp. 74–75.</ref> He continued with debate, again winning the state Peace Oratory Contest with a speech entitled "From Cave to Cave" that presented a Christian-influenced [[Wilsonian]] outlook.<ref name="anson-50"/> The couple's second daughter, Susan, was born in March 1946.<ref name="anson-50"/>

McGovern switched from Wesleyan Methodism to less fundamentalist regular [[Methodism]].<ref name="anson-50"/> Influenced by [[Walter Rauschenbusch]] and the [[Social Gospel]] movement,<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/> McGovern began divinity studies at [[Garrett Theological Seminary]] in [[Evanston, Illinois]], near [[Chicago]].<ref name="stp-pew">{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19720722&id=hMkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5666,1271056 | title=Facts About McGovern's Ministry | author=Bradburn, Rev. Weldon E. | newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]] | date=July 22, 1972 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Among Methodist seminaries, Garrett tended towards social involvement paired with a theologically liberal approach, and many of the students there leaned towards pacifism.<ref>Lempke, ''My Brother's Keeper'', p. 32.</ref> McGovern was influenced by the weekly sermons of a well-known local minister, [[Ernest Fremont Tittle]], and the ideas of [[Boston personalism]].<ref>Lempke, ''My Brother's Keeper'', p. 35.</ref> McGovern preached as a Methodist student supply minister at Diamond Lake Church in [[Mundelein, Illinois]], during 1946 and 1947, but became dissatisfied by the minutiae of his pastoral duties.<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/><ref name="stp-pew"/> In late 1947 McGovern left the ministry and enrolled in graduate studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, where he also worked as a teaching assistant.<ref name="anson-55">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 55–56.</ref> The relatively small history program there was among the best in the country,<ref name="knock-cha-89">Knock, "Come Home America", p. 89.</ref> and McGovern took courses given by noted academics [[Ray Allen Billington]], [[Richard W. Leopold]], and [[L. S. Stavrianos]].<ref>Knock, "Feeding the World and Thwarting the Communists", p. 103.</ref> He received an [[M.A.]] in history in 1949.<ref name="cby-265"/><ref name="nyt-mitn-66"/>

McGovern then returned to his alma mater, Dakota Wesleyan, and became a professor of history and political science.<ref name="cby-265"/> With the assistance of a Hearst fellowship for 1949–50, he continued pursuing graduate studies during summers and other free time.<ref name="cby-265"/> The couple's third daughter, Teresa, was born in June 1949.<ref>McGovern, ''Terry'', p. ix.</ref> Eleanor McGovern began to suffer from bouts of [[Major depressive disorder|depression]] but continued to assume the large share of household and child-rearing duties.<ref name="terry-46">McGovern, ''Terry'', pp. 44–46, 49.</ref> McGovern earned a [[Ph.D.]] in history from [[Northwestern University]] in 1953.<ref name="cby-265"/>{{refn|McGovern is one of only two major party presidential nominees to have earned a Ph.D., the other being [[Woodrow Wilson]].<ref name=McCarthy/>|group="nb"}} His 450-page dissertation, ''The Colorado Coal Strike, 1913–1914'', was a sympathetic account of the miners' revolt against [[Rockefeller family|Rockefeller]] interests in the [[Colorado Coalfield War]].<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/><ref name="terry-46"/> His thesis advisor, noted historian [[Arthur S. Link]], later said he had not seen a better student than McGovern in 26 years of teaching.<ref>Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 61–62.</ref> McGovern was influenced not only by Link and the "[[Consensus School]]" of American historians but also by the previous generation of [[progressive historians|"progressive" historians]].<ref name="knock-cha-89"/> Most of his future analyses of world events would be informed by his training as a historian, as well as his personal experiences during the Great Depression and World War II.<ref name="knock-cha-94">Knock, "Come Home America", p. 94.</ref> Meanwhile, McGovern had become a popular if politically outspoken teacher at Dakota Wesleyan, with students dedicating the college yearbook to him in 1952.<ref name="knock-cha-92">Knock, "Come Home America", p. 92.</ref>

Nominally a Republican growing up, McGovern began to admire Democratic president [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] during World War II, even though he supported Roosevelt's opponent [[Thomas Dewey]] in the [[1948 U.S. presidential election|1944 U.S. presidential election]].<ref name="white-1972-40">White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', pp. 40–41.</ref><ref name="Knock, p. 122">Knock, ''The Rise of a Prairie Statesman'', p. 122.</ref>{{refn|In his autobiography, McGovern described his reaction upon hearing of Roosevelt's death in April 1945 while stationed in Italy during the war: "Most of us had never really known the United States except with FDR as President. We did not think of him as a politician. He was that magnificent voice of the fireside chat, who, along with Winston Churchill, inspired all those who stood for freedom and decency in the war. What would the United States be like without him?"<ref>McGovern, ''Grassroots'', p. 29.</ref>|group="nb"}} At Northwestern, his exposure to the work of China scholars [[John King Fairbank]] and [[Owen Lattimore]] had convinced him that unrest in [[Southeast Asia]] was homegrown and that U.S.&nbsp;foreign policy toward Asia was counterproductive.<ref name="mann-292"/> Discouraged by the [[Origins of the Cold War|onset of the Cold War]], and never thinking well of incumbent president [[Harry S. Truman]], in the [[1948 U.S. presidential election]] McGovern was attracted to the campaign of former vice president and secretary of agriculture [[Henry A. Wallace]].<ref name="anson-58">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 58–61.</ref><ref>Knock, "Come Home America", pp. 90–91.</ref> He wrote columns supporting Wallace in the ''[[Mitchell Daily Republic]]'' and attended the Wallace [[Progressive Party (United States, 1948)|Progressive Party]]'s first national convention as a [[Delegate (American politics)|delegate]].<ref>Knock, ''The Rise of a Prairie Statesman'', pp. 112–116.</ref> There he became disturbed by aspects of the convention atmosphere, decades later referring to "a certain rigidity and fanaticism on the part of a few of the strategists."<ref>Knock, ''The Rise of a Prairie Statesman'', pp. 116–119.</ref> He remained a public supporter of Wallace and the Progressive Party afterward.<ref name="Knock, p. 122"/> As Wallace was kept off the ballot in Illinois where McGovern was now registered, McGovern did not vote in the general election.<ref>Knock, ''The Rise of a Prairie Statesman'', pp. 121, 454n.</ref>

By 1952, McGovern was coming to think of himself as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]].<ref>Knock, ''The Rise of a Prairie Statesman'', p. 141.</ref> He was captivated by a radio broadcast of Governor [[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]]'s speech accepting the presidential nomination at the [[1952 Democratic National Convention]].<ref name="grass-49">McGovern, ''Grassroots'', pp. 49–51.</ref> He immediately dedicated himself to Stevenson's campaign, publishing seven articles in the ''Mitchell Daily Republic'' newspaper outlining the historical issues that separated the Democratic Party from the Republicans.<ref name="grass-49"/> The McGoverns named their only son, Steven, born immediately after the convention, after his new hero.<ref name="terry-46"/><ref name="uphill-86"/>{{refn|McGovern's admiration for Stevenson was lined with his antipathy towards his eventual antagonist: "I have loathed Richard Nixon since he first came on the national scene wielding his red brush in 1946, but I especially resented his cheap insults to Adlai Stevenson – my first genuine political hero".<ref>McGovern, ''Grassroots'', p. 47.</ref>|group="nb"}} Although Stevenson lost the election, McGovern remained active in politics, believing that "the engine of progress in our time in America is the Democratic Party."<ref name="white-1972-40"/> In early 1953,<ref name="uphill-86">E. McGovern, ''Uphill'', p. 86.</ref> McGovern left a [[tenure-track]] position at the university<ref name="knock-cha-92"/> to become executive secretary of the [[South Dakota Democratic Party]],<ref name="cby-266">''Current Year Biography 1967'', p. 266.</ref> the state chair having recruited him after reading his articles.<ref name="grass-49"/> Democrats in the state were at a low, holding no statewide offices and only 2 of the 110 seats in the state legislature.<ref name="cby-266"/> Friends and political figures had counseled McGovern against making the move, but despite his mild, unassuming manner, McGovern had an ambitious nature and was intent upon starting a political career of his own.<ref>Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 66–71.</ref>{{refn|The decision to enter politics was not uncommon among those of what was later dubbed "[[The Greatest Generation (book)|The Greatest Generation]]"; it was a natural destination for those who made sacrifices and learned lessons during the war, and was not limited to those of any particular political ideology.<ref>Brokaw, ''The Greatest Generation'', p. 329.</ref>|group="nb"}}

McGovern spent the following years rebuilding and revitalizing the party, building up a large list of voter contacts via frequent travel around the state.<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/> Democrats showed improvement in the 1954 elections, winning 25 seats in the state legislature.<ref name="anson-73">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 73–75.</ref> From 1954 to 1956 he also was on a political organization advisory group for the [[Democratic National Committee]].<ref name="cby-266"/> The McGoverns' fifth and final child, Mary, was born in 1955.<ref>McGovern, ''Terry'', p. 42.</ref>