Editing George McGovern (section)

==U.S. House of Representatives==
[[Image:George McGovern 1957.jpg|thumb|right|McGovern as a freshman Representative, 1957]]
In 1956, McGovern sought elective office himself, and ran for the House of Representatives from [[South Dakota's 1st congressional district]], which consisted of the counties east of the [[Missouri River]].<ref name="cby-266"/> He faced four-term incumbent Republican Party representative [[Harold O. Lovre]]. Aided by the voter lists he had earlier accumulated,<ref name="anson-73"/> McGovern ran a low-budget campaign, spending $12,000 while borrowing $5,000.<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/><ref>McGovern, ''Terry'', p. 51.</ref> His quiet personality appealed to voters he met, while Lovre suffered from a general unhappiness over [[Eisenhower administration]] farm policy.<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/><ref name="cby-266"/> When polls showed McGovern gaining, Lovre's campaign implied that McGovern's support for admitting the [[People's Republic of China]] to the United Nations and his past support for [[Henry A. Wallace|Henry Wallace]] meant that McGovern was a communist appeaser or sympathizer.<ref name="anson-81">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 81–84.</ref> In his closing speech, McGovern responded: "I have always despised communism and every other ruthless tyranny over the mind and spirit of man."<ref name="anson-81"/> McGovern staged an upset victory, gaining 116,516 votes to his opponent's 105,835, and became the first Democrat elected to Congress from South Dakota in 22 years.<ref name="cby-266"/> The McGoverns established a home in [[Chevy Chase, Maryland]].<ref name="nyt-prof-1968"/>

Entering the [[85th United States Congress]], McGovern became a member of the [[United States House Committee on Education and Labor|House Committee on Education and Labor]].<ref name="cby-266"/> As a representative, McGovern was attentive to his district.<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/> He became a staunch supporter of higher commodity prices,<ref name="nyt-record"/> farm price supports, grain storage programs, and beef import controls,<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/> believing that such stored commodities programs guarded against drought and similar emergencies.<ref name="nyt-mitn-61"/> He favored rural development, federal aid to small business and to education, and medical coverage for the aged under Social Security.<ref name="cby-266"/><ref name="nyt-record"/> In 1957 he traveled and studied conditions in the Middle East under a fellowship from the [[American Christian Palestine Committee]].<ref name="cby-266"/> McGovern first allied with the [[Kennedy family]] by supporting a House version of Senator John F. Kennedy's eventually unsuccessful labor reform bill.<ref name="cby-266"/>

In his 1958 reelection campaign, McGovern faced a strong challenge from South Dakota's two-term Republican governor and World War II [[Medal of Honor]] recipient [[Joe Foss]],<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/> who was initially considered the favorite to win.<ref name="anson-87">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 87–90.</ref> McGovern ran an effective campaign that showcased his political strengths of having firm beliefs and the ability to articulate them in debates and on the stump.<ref name="anson-87"/><ref name="brokaw-121">Brokaw, ''The Greatest Generation'', p. 121.</ref> He prevailed with a slightly larger margin than two years before.<ref name="cby-266"/><ref name="anson-87"/> In the [[86th United States Congress]], McGovern was assigned to the [[House Committee on Agriculture]].<ref name="cby-266" /> The longtime chairman of the committee, [[Harold D. Cooley]], would subsequently say, "I cannot recall a single member of Congress who has fought more vigorously or intelligently for American farmers than Congressman McGovern."<ref name="nyt-mitn-61" /> He helped pass a new food-stamp law.<ref name="nyt-record" /> He was one of nine representatives from Congress to the [[NATO Parliamentary Assembly]] conferences of 1958 and 1959.<ref name="cby-266" /> Along with Senator [[Hubert H. Humphrey]], McGovern strongly advocated a reconstruction of [[Public Law 480]] (an agricultural surplus act that had come into being under Eisenhower) with a greater emphasis on feeding the hungry around the world, the establishment of an executive office to run operations, and the goal of promoting peace and stability around the world.<ref>Schlesinger, ''A Thousand Days'', pp. 168–169.</ref><ref>Knock, "Feeding the World and Thwarting the Communists", pp. 100-101.</ref> During his time in the House, McGovern was regarded as a [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]] overall,<ref name="cby-266" /><ref name="time-1960" /> and voted in accordance with the rated positions of [[Americans for Democratic Action]] (ADA) 34 times and against 3 times.{{refn|{{cite web | url=http://www.adaction.org/pages/publications/voting-records.php | title=Voting Records | publisher=[[Americans for Democratic Action]]}}. Voting records for years 1957 through 1960. At the time the ADA did not give a "score", although by their later methods, his score for the House years would be 87, as McGovern was also absent for two rated votes.|group="nb"}} Two of the themes of his House career, improvements for rural America and the war on hunger, would be defining ones of his legislative career and public life.<ref name="nyt-record">{{cite news |url= http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10E14F93C5A137A93C1A8178CD85F468785F9 |title=McGovern Record During 13 Years in Congress One of Conventional Liberalism |last=Ayres |first=B. Drummond Jr. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 13, 1972}}</ref>

McGovern did not vote on the initial House bill for the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957]],<ref>{{cite journal|title=House – June 18, 1957|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=103|issue=7|publisher=[[U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=9518|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1957-pt7/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1957-pt7-8-2.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}</ref> but voted in favor of the Senate amendment to the bill in August 1957.<ref>{{cite journal|title=House – August 27, 1957|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=103|issue=12|publisher=[[U.S. Government Printing Office]]|pages=16112–16113|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1957-pt12/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1957-pt12-4-2.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}</ref> McGovern voted in favor initial House bill for the [[Civil Rights Act of 1960]],<ref>{{cite journal|title=House – March 24, 1960|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=106|issue=5|publisher=[[U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=6512|url=https://www.congress.gov/bound-congressional-record/1960/03/24/house-section|access-date=February 27, 2022}}</ref> but did not vote on the Senate amendment to the bill in April 1960.<ref>{{cite journal|title=House – April 21, 1960|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=106|issue=7|publisher=[[U.S. Government Printing Office]]|pages=8507–8508|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1960-pt7/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1960-pt7-2-2.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}</ref> In 1960, McGovern decided to [[1960 United States Senate election in South Dakota|run for the U.S. Senate]] and challenge the Republican incumbent [[Karl Mundt]],<ref name="time-1960">{{cite news |url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,894999,00.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101008053933/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,894999,00.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= October 8, 2010 |title=Battle for the Senate |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=October 17, 1960}}</ref> a formidable figure in South Dakota politics whom McGovern loathed as an old-style [[McCarthyite]].<ref name="nyt-prof-1968">{{cite news |url= http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10E13FB355E157A8EDDA80994D0405B888AF1D3 |title=A 'Dove' Who Flew Bombers: McGovern, a Pilot in World War&nbsp;II, Now Presses for Peace |author=Grose, Peter |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 11, 1968 |page=62}}</ref><ref name="anson-92">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 92–94.</ref> The race centered mostly on rural issues, but John F. Kennedy's Catholicism was a drawback at the top of the ticket in the mostly Protestant state.<ref name="time-1960" /> McGovern made careless charges during the campaign, and the press turned against him; he would say eleven years later, "It was my worst campaign. I hated [Mundt] so much I lost my sense of balance."<ref name="anson-92" /> McGovern was defeated in the November 1960 election, gaining 145,217 votes to Mundt's 160,579, but the margin was one third of Kennedy's loss to Vice President Richard M. Nixon in the state's presidential contest.<ref name="cby-266" /><ref name="nyt102062" />