Editing George McGovern

{{Short description|American politician and historian (1922–2012)}}
{{redirect|Senator McGovern}}
{{good article}}
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{{Infobox officeholder
| image               = George McGovern (D-SD).jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 1972
| jr/sr               = United States Senator
| state               = [[South Dakota]]
| term_start          = January 3, 1963
| term_end            = January 3, 1981
| predecessor         = [[Joe Bottum]]
| successor           = [[James Abdnor]]
| office1             = [[United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture]]
| president1          = {{plainlist|
* [[Bill Clinton]]
* [[George W. Bush]]
}}
| term_start1         = March 10, 1998
| term_end1           = September 28, 2001
| predecessor1        = Thomas A. Forbord
| successor1          = [[Tony P. Hall]]
| office2             = Chair of the [[United States Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs]]
| term_start2         = July 1968
| term_end2           = December 1977
| predecessor2        = ''Committee established''
| successor2          = ''Committee abolished''
| office3             = Director of [[Food for Peace]]
| president3          = [[John F. Kennedy]]
| term_start3         = January 21, 1961
| term_end3           = July 18, 1962
| predecessor3        = ''Position established''
| successor3          = [[Richard W. Reuter]]
| state4              = [[South Dakota]]
| district4           = {{ushr|SD|1|1st}}
| term_start4         = January 3, 1957
| term_end4           = January 3, 1961
| predecessor4        = [[Harold Lovre]]
| successor4          = [[Ben Reifel]]
| birth_name          = George Stanley McGovern
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1922|7|19}}
| birth_place         = [[Avon, South Dakota]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2012|10|21|1922|7|19}}
| death_place         = [[Sioux Falls, South Dakota]], U.S.
| resting_place       = [[Rock Creek Cemetery]]
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| otherparty          = [[Progressive Party (United States, 1948)|Progressive]] (1948)
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Eleanor McGovern|Eleanor Stegeberg]]|October 31, 1943|January 25, 2007|reason=died}}
| children            = 5 with Eleanor<br>1 or 2 others<ref name="ex03" group="nb" />
| education           = [[Dakota Wesleyan University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />{{longitem|[[Garrett Theological Seminary]]}}<br />[[Northwestern University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]], [[PhD]])
| signature           = George McGovern Signature.svg
| branch              = [[United States Army Air Forces]]
| serviceyears        = 1943–1945
| rank                = [[First lieutenant]]
| unit                = {{tree list}}
* [[Fifteenth Air Force]]
** [[455th Bombardment Group]]
*** [[740th Missile Squadron|741st Bomb Squadron]]
{{tree list/end}}
| battles             = {{tree list}}
* [[World War II]]
** [[Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army|Mediterranean theater]]
** [[European theatre of World War II|European theater]]
{{tree list/end}}
| mawards             = {{plainlist|
* [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]]
* [[Air Medal]] (4)
}}
| module              = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=|title=George McGovern's voice|type=speech|description=George McGovern on the 'Concentration of Power' during his [[1984 Democratic Party presidential primaries|1984 Presidential Campaign]]<br />Recorded March 11, 1984}}
}}
<!--Please SEE naming conventions at WP:MOSBIO, please do not add details like "Dr."(this includes adding postnominal degrees after name such as MD or PhD) -->
'''George Stanley McGovern''' (July 19, 1922&nbsp;– October 21, 2012) was an American politician, diplomat, and historian who was a [[U.S. representative]] and three-term [[U.S. senator]] from [[South Dakota]], and the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] presidential nominee in the [[1972 U.S. presidential election]].

McGovern grew up in [[Mitchell, South Dakota]], where he became a renowned debater. He volunteered for the [[U.S. Army Air Forces|U.S.&nbsp;Army Air Forces]] upon the country's [[American entry into World War II|entry into World War&nbsp;II]]. As a [[B-24 Liberator]] pilot, he flew 35&nbsp;missions over [[German-occupied Europe]] from a base in Italy. Among the medals he received was a [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] for making a hazardous emergency landing of his damaged plane and saving his crew. After the war, he earned degrees from [[Dakota Wesleyan University]] and [[Northwestern University]], culminating in a PhD, and served as a history professor. He was elected to the U.S.&nbsp;House of Representatives in 1956 and re-elected in 1958. After a failed bid for the U.S.&nbsp;Senate [[1960 United States Senate election in South Dakota|in 1960]], he was a successful candidate [[1962 United States Senate election in South Dakota|in 1962]].

As a senator, McGovern was an example of [[modern American liberalism]]. He became most known for his outspoken opposition to the growing U.S.&nbsp;involvement in the [[Vietnam War]]. He staged a brief nomination run in the [[1968 U.S. presidential election]] as a stand-in for the assassinated [[Robert F. Kennedy]]. The subsequent [[McGovern–Fraser Commission]] fundamentally altered the presidential nominating process, by increasing the number of [[caucus]]es and [[primaries]] and reducing the influence of party insiders. The [[McGovern–Hatfield Amendment]] sought to end the Vietnam War by legislative means but was defeated in 1970 and 1971. McGovern's long-shot, grassroots-based [[George McGovern 1972 presidential campaign|1972 presidential campaign]] found triumph in gaining the Democratic nomination but left the party split ideologically, and the failed vice-presidential pick of [[Thomas Eagleton]] undermined McGovern's credibility. In the general election, McGovern lost to incumbent [[Richard Nixon]] in one of the biggest [[Landslide victory|landslides]] in U.S. electoral history. Although re-elected to the Senate in 1968 and 1974, McGovern was defeated in his bid for a fourth term in 1980.

Beginning with his experiences in war-torn Italy and continuing throughout his career, McGovern was involved in issues related to agriculture, food, nutrition, and hunger. As the first director of the [[Food for Peace]] program in 1961, McGovern oversaw the distribution of U.S. surpluses to the needy abroad and was instrumental in the creation of the United Nations-run [[World Food Programme]]. As sole chairman of the [[Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs]] from 1968 to 1977, McGovern publicized the problem of hunger within the United States and issued the "McGovern Report", which led to a new set of nutritional guidelines for Americans. McGovern later served as [[U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture]] from 1998 to 2001 and was appointed the first UN global ambassador on world hunger by the World Food Programme in 2001. The [[McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program|McGovern–Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program]] has provided school meals for millions of children in dozens of countries since 2000 and resulted in McGovern's being named [[World Food Prize]] co‑laureate in 2008.

==Early years and education==
McGovern was born in the 600‑person farming community of [[Avon, South Dakota]].<ref name="cby-265">''Current Year Biography 1967'', p. 265.</ref><ref name="nyt-mitn-66"/> His father, the Rev. Joseph C. McGovern, born in 1868, was pastor of the local [[Wesleyan Methodist Church (United States)|Wesleyan Methodist Church]] there.<ref name="nyt-mitn-66"/><ref name="nyt-mitn-61">{{cite news | url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FA0E15FD3E5D1B728DDDA80B94DB405B818AF1D3 | title=Man in the News: George Stanley McGovern: Friend of Farmers | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | date=March 31, 1961 | page=8}}</ref> Joseph, the son of an alcoholic who had immigrated from Ireland,<ref name="ambrose-29"/> had grown up in several states, working in coal mines from the age of nine and parentless from the age of thirteen.<ref name="anson-15"/> He had been a professional baseball player in the [[minor league baseball|minor leagues]],{{refn|Joseph McGovern was a [[second baseman]] for a team in [[Des Moines, Iowa]], but gave it up in 1891 or 1892.<ref name="anson-15">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 15–16.</ref><ref>Knock, ''The Rise of a Prairie Statesman'', p. 3.</ref>|group="nb"}} but had given it up due to his teammates' heavy drinking, gambling, and womanizing, and entered the seminary instead.<ref name="ambrose-29">Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 27, 29.</ref> George's mother was the former Frances McLean, born {{circa|1890}} and initially raised in [[Ontario]], [[Canada]]; her family had later moved to [[Calgary]], [[Alberta]], and then she came to South Dakota looking for work as a secretary.<ref name="ambrose-29"/><ref name="cbc-sun-ed"/><ref name="nyt-mitn-72">{{cite news | url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F20E14F93C5A137A93C1A8178CD85F468785F9 | title=Man in the News: George Stanley McGovern: Mild-Spoken Nominee With a Strong Will to Fight | newspaper=The New York Times | date=July 13, 1972 | page=24 | author=Lydon, Christopher | author-link=Christopher Lydon}}</ref> George was the second oldest of four children.<ref name="ambrose-29"/> Joseph McGovern's salary never reached $100 per month, and he often received compensation in the form of potatoes, cabbages, or other food items.<ref name="nyt-mitn-66"/><ref name="ambrose-30">Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', p. 30.</ref> Joseph and Frances McGovern were both firm [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]], but were not politically active or doctrinaire.<ref>Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', p. 28.</ref><ref name="anson-27"/>

[[File:Mitchell corn palace.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Corn Palace]], a longtime sight of McGovern's hometown of [[Mitchell, South Dakota|Mitchell]], South Dakota]]
[[File:Dust Bowl - Dallas, South Dakota 1936.jpg|thumb|left|Effects of a 1936 [[Black Sunday (storm)|Dust Bowl storm]] in nearby Gregory County, South Dakota]]
When George was about three years old, the family moved to Calgary for a while to be near Frances's ailing mother, and he formed memories of events such as the [[Calgary Stampede]].<ref name="cbc-sun-ed">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/ |title=George McGovern interview |last=Sylvestor |first=Kevin |work=[[The Sunday Edition (CBC Radio)|The Sunday Edition]] |publisher=[[CBC Radio One]] |date=July 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615015554/http://dailysplice.com/directory/CBC-Radio-The-Sunday-Edition-podcast/episode-433682 |archive-date=June 15, 2021 |url-status=dead  }}</ref><ref>Anson, ''McGovern'', p. 17.</ref> When George was six, the family returned to the United States and moved to [[Mitchell, South Dakota]], a community of 12,000.<ref name="nyt-mitn-66"/> McGovern attended public schools there<ref name="cby-265"/> and was an average student.<ref name="ambrose-30"/> He was painfully shy as a child and was afraid to speak in class during first grade.<ref name="airjourn"/> His only reproachable behavior was going to see movies, which were among the worldly amusements forbidden to good Wesleyan Methodists.<ref name="ambrose-30"/> Otherwise he had a normal childhood marked by visits to the renowned Mitchell [[Corn Palace]]<ref name="airjourn"/> and what he later termed "a sense of belonging to a particular place and knowing your part in it".<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/> He would long remember the [[Dust Bowl]] storms and [[Locust|grasshopper plagues]] that swept the [[Great Plains|prairie states]] during the [[Great Depression]].<ref>McGovern, ''The Third Freedom'', pp. 19–20.</ref> The McGovern family lived on the edge of the [[poverty line]] for much of the 1920s and 1930s.<ref>Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 24–25.</ref> Growing up so close to privation gave young George a lifelong sympathy for underpaid workers and struggling farmers.<ref name="nyt-mitn-66">{{cite news |url= http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FB0714FA3855107A93C2AA178CD85F428685F9 |title= Man in the News: George Stanley McGovern: Senatorial Price Critic |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 30, 1966 |page=10}}</ref> He was influenced by the currents of [[populism]] and agrarian unrest, as well as the "practical divinity" teachings of cleric [[John Wesley]] that sought to fight poverty, injustice, and ignorance.<ref name="mann-292">Mann, ''A Grand Delusion'', pp. 292–293.</ref>

McGovern attended [[Mitchell High School (South Dakota)|Mitchell High School]],<ref name="cby-265"/> where he was a solid but unspectacular member of the track team.<ref name="ambrose-31"/> A turning point came when his tenth-grade English teacher recommended him to the debate team, where he became quite active.<ref name="airjourn"/> His high-school debate coach, a history teacher who capitalized on McGovern's interest in that subject, proved to be a great influence in his life, and McGovern spent many hours honing his meticulous, if colorless, forensic style.<ref name="anson-27">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 27–31.</ref><ref>Knock, "Come Home America", p. 86.</ref> McGovern and his debating partner won events in his area and gained renown in a state where debating was passionately followed by the general public.<ref name="anson-27"/><ref>E. McGovern, ''Uphill'', p. 52.</ref> Debate changed McGovern's life, giving him a chance to explore ideas to their logical end, broadening his perspective, and instilling a sense of personal and social confidence.<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/><ref name="anson-27"/> He graduated in 1940 in the top ten percent of his class.<ref name="cby-265"/><ref name="anson-33"/>

McGovern enrolled at small [[Dakota Wesleyan University]] in Mitchell<ref name="cby-265"/> and became a star student there.<ref name="ambrose-46">Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', p. 46.</ref> He supplemented a forensic scholarship by working a variety of odd jobs.<ref name="anson-33">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 32–33.</ref> With World War II under way overseas and feeling insecure about his own courage,{{refn|In the seventh grade, a gym teacher had called McGovern a "physical coward" for being afraid to dive headfirst and somersault over a gymnastics [[vaulting horse]]; the incident had troubled McGovern psychologically and part of his motivation in taking up flying was to prove himself.<ref name="ambrose-31">Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 31–32.</ref>|group="nb"}} McGovern took flying lessons in an [[Aeronca Aircraft|Aeronca aircraft]] and received a pilot's license through the government's [[Civilian Pilot Training Program]].<ref name="airjourn"/><ref name="ambrose-31"/> McGovern recalled: "Frankly, I was scared to death on that first solo flight. But when I walked away from it, I had an enormous feeling of satisfaction that I had taken the thing off the ground and landed it without tearing the wings off."<ref name="airjourn">{{cite news|url=http://www.airportjournals.com/Display.cfm?varID=0605004 |work=[[Airport Journals]] |title=The Outspoken American: Aviator, Senator and Humanitarian George McGovern |author=Moore, S. Clayton |date=May 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927174718/http://www.airportjournals.com/Display.cfm?varID=0605004 |archive-date=September 27, 2007 }}</ref> In late 1940 or early 1941, McGovern had pre-marital sex with an acquaintance that resulted in her giving birth to a daughter during 1941, although this did not become public knowledge during his lifetime.{{refn|The woman in question moved to Indiana to have the child in secret during 1941.  The so-named "Fort Wayne" story circulated as a rumor in political and press circles for years.<ref name="wapo-confess"/> An FBI background check conducted after McGovern was appointed to the Food for Peace director position within the Kennedy administration included it, and Nixon's 1972 campaign had access to the information but chose not to use it.<ref name="al-fbi"/> The existence of the child became known to those around liberal circles such as Ted Van Dyk, and McGovern first informed his wife of the story late in the 1972 campaign, when it was thought that the ''[[St. Louis Globe Democrat]]'' might run a story on it (they did not).<ref name="usam-secret">{{cite news | url=https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/nixon-could-keep-a-secret | title=Nixon Could Keep A Secret | first=Diana | last=Klebanow | magazine=[[USA Today (magazine)|USA Today]] | date=May 2016 }}</ref> Hints of the story did become public in 1973, when former White House chief of staff [[H. R. Haldeman]] alluded to it during the [[Senate Watergate Committee]] hearings;<ref>Glasser, ''The Eighteen-Day Running Mate'', pp. 172, 342n.</ref> [[Bob Woodward]] and [[Carl Bernstein]] wrote about it for the ''[[Washington Post]]'', including confirmation from a birth certificate, but McGovern issued a denial at that time and the story quickly faded.<ref name="usam-secret"/> McGovern eventually told the truth of the episode to his future biographer, Thomas J. Knock, expressing considerable remorse over his involvement.<ref name="wapo-confess">{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/07/30/in-confession-to-historian-george-mcgovern-revealed-he-had-a-secret-child/ | title=In confession to historian, George McGovern revealed he had a secret child | first=Justin Wm. | last=Moyer | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | date=July 30, 2015}}</ref> The story became fully public in 2015, three years after McGovern's death, following release of McGovern's FBI files.<ref name="al-fbi"/> <p> The tale of the European secret child is according to [[Donald C. Simmons Jr.]], a close friend, associate, and co-author of McGovern's in his final years.<ref name="an-second"/> This had not been known in political circles, and  first appeared in a story in the ''[[Black Hills Pioneer]]'' in 2015, soon after the story about the first secret child become public.<ref name="usam-secret"/>  Per Simmons, the European child did not survive into adulthood and McGovern had a haunted feeling at seeing the grave.<ref name="an-second">{{cite news | url=https://eu.aberdeennews.com/story/news/local/2015/07/28/column-mcgoverns-secret-children-weighed-on-his-mind/45420713/ | title=McGovern's secret children weighed on his mind | first=Tom | last=Lawrence | newspaper=[[Aberdeen News]] | date=July 28, 2015}}</ref> It is not clear if there is any corroborating evidence regarding this second secret child.|group="nb"|name="ex03"}} In April 1941 McGovern began dating fellow student [[Eleanor McGovern|Eleanor Stegeberg]], who had grown up in [[Woonsocket, South Dakota]].<ref name="ambrose-45">Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', p. 45.</ref><ref>E. McGovern, ''Uphill'', pp. 57–58.</ref> They had first encountered each other during a high school debate in which Eleanor and her twin sister Ila defeated McGovern and his partner.<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/>

McGovern was listening to a radio broadcast of the [[New York Philharmonic Orchestra]] for a sophomore-year music appreciation class when he heard the news of the December 7, 1941, [[attack on Pearl Harbor]].<ref name="ambrose-42">Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 42–43.</ref> In January 1942 he drove with nine other students to [[Omaha, Nebraska]], and volunteered to join the [[United States Army Air Forces]].<ref>Knock, ''The Rise of a Prairie Statesman'', p. 40.</ref> The military accepted him, but they did not yet have enough airfields, aircraft, or instructors to start training all the volunteers, so McGovern stayed at Dakota Wesleyan.<ref name="ambrose-45"/> George and Eleanor became engaged, but initially decided not to marry until the war was over.<ref name="ambrose-45"/> During his sophomore year, McGovern won the statewide intercollegiate South Dakota Peace Oratory Contest with a speech called "My Brother's Keeper", which was later selected by the [[National Council of Churches]] as one of the nation's twelve best orations of 1942.<ref name="nyt-mitn-61"/><ref>Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 34–35.</ref> Smart, handsome, and well liked, McGovern was elected president of his sophomore class and voted "Glamour Boy" during his junior year.<ref name="knock-cha-87"/> In February 1943, during his junior year, he and a partner won a regional debate tournament at [[North Dakota State University]] that featured competitors from thirty-two schools across a dozen states; upon his return to campus, he discovered that the Army had finally called him up.<ref name="ambrose-46"/><ref name="knock-cha-87">Knock, "Come Home America", p. 87.</ref>

==Military service==

===Groundschool and trainers===
Soon thereafter McGovern was sworn in as a [[Private (rank)|private]] at [[Fort Snelling]] in [[Minnesota]].<ref name="ambrose-49">Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', p. 49.</ref> He spent a month at [[Jefferson Barracks Military Post]] in [[Missouri]] and then five months at [[Southern Illinois Normal University]] in [[Carbondale, Illinois]], for ground school training. McGovern later maintained that both the academic work and physical training were the toughest he ever experienced.<ref name="ambrose-56">Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 54, 56–57.</ref> He spent two months at a base in [[San Antonio, Texas]], and then went to [[Hatbox Field]] in [[Muskogee, Oklahoma]], for basic flying school, training in a single-engined [[PT-19|PT‑19]].<ref name="ambrose-56"/> McGovern married Eleanor Stegeberg on October 31, 1943, during a three-day leave (lonely and in love, the couple had decided to not wait any longer).<ref name="ambrose-65">Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 65–66.</ref> His father presided over the ceremony at the Methodist church in Woonsocket.<ref>Knock, ''The Rise of a Prairie Statesman'', pp. 51–52.</ref>
 
After three months in Muskogee, McGovern went to [[Coffeyville Army Airfield]] in [[Kansas]] for a further three months of training on the [[BT-13|BT‑13]].<ref name="ambrose-68">Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 68–70, 73–74.</ref> Around April 1944, McGovern went on to advanced flying school at [[Pampa Army Airfield]] in [[Texas]] for twin-engine training on the [[Cessna AT-17|AT‑17]] and [[Curtiss AT-9|AT‑9]].<ref name="ambrose-68"/> Throughout, Air Cadet McGovern showed skill as a pilot, with his exceptionally good [[depth perception]] aiding him.<ref name="ambrose-56"/> Eleanor McGovern followed him to these duty stations, and was present when he received his wings and was commissioned a [[Second Lieutenant (United States)|second lieutenant]].<ref name="ambrose-68"/>

===Training in the B-24===
[[Image:Liberal Army Airfield KS 7 Oct 1943.jpg|thumb|left|Liberal Army Airfield in Kansas during World War II, where McGovern learned to fly the B-24]]

McGovern was assigned to [[Liberal Army Airfield]] in Kansas and its transition school to learn to fly the B‑24 Liberator, an assignment he was pleased with.<ref name="ambrose-68"/> McGovern recalled later: "Learning how to fly the B‑24 was the toughest part of the training. It was a difficult airplane to fly, physically, because in the early part of the war they didn't have hydraulic controls. If you can imagine driving a Mack truck without any power steering or power brakes, that's about what it was like at the controls. It was the biggest bomber we had at the time."<ref name="airjourn"/> Eleanor was constantly afraid.<ref>Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 68, 72, 100.</ref> Accidents while training claimed a huge toll of airmen over the course of the war.<ref>Knock, ''The Rise of a Prairie Statesman'', p. 57.</ref>

This schooling was followed by a stint at [[Lincoln Army Airfield]] in [[Nebraska]], where McGovern met his B-24 crew.<ref name="ambrose-96">Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 94, 96, 99.</ref>  Traveling around the country and mixing with people from different backgrounds proved to be a broadening experience for McGovern and others of his generation.<ref name="ambrose-96"/> The USAAF sped up training times for McGovern and others, owing to the heavy losses that bombing missions were suffering over Europe.<ref>Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', p. 115.</ref>  Despite, and partly because of, the risk that McGovern might not come back from combat, the McGoverns decided to have a child, and Eleanor became pregnant.<ref>Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 87–88.</ref> In June 1944, McGovern's crew received final training at [[Mountain Home Army Air Field]] in [[Idaho]].<ref name="ambrose-96" /> They then shipped out via [[Camp Patrick Henry]] in [[Virginia]], where McGovern found history books with which to fill downtime, especially during the trip overseas on a slow troopship.<ref>Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 102–104.</ref>

===Italy===
In September 1944 McGovern joined the 741st Squadron of the [[455th Bombardment Group]] of the [[Fifteenth Air Force]], stationed at [[San Giovanni Airfield]] near [[Cerignola]] in the [[Apulia]] region of Italy.<ref name="ambrose-124">Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 124, 128–130.</ref> There he and his crew found a starving, disease-ridden local population wracked by the ill fortunes of war and far worse off than anything they had seen back home during the Depression.<ref name="ambrose-124"/><ref name="nyt-prof-1968"/> Those sights would form part of his later motivation to fight hunger.<ref name="staug"/> Starting on November 11, 1944, McGovern flew 35&nbsp;missions over enemy territory from San Giovanni, the first five as co-pilot for an experienced crew and the rest as pilot for his own plane, known as the ''Dakota Queen'' after his wife Eleanor.<ref>Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', p. 153.</ref> His targets were in [[Austria]]; [[Czechoslovakia]]; [[Nazi Germany]]; [[Hungary]]; [[Poland]]; and [[German invasion of Italy|northern, German-controlled Italy]], and were often either [[oil refinery]] complexes or rail [[marshalling yard|marshaling yards]], all as part of the [[Strategic bombing during World War II#US bombing in Europe|U.S.&nbsp;strategic bombing campaign in Europe]]. The eight- or nine-hour missions were grueling tests of endurance for pilots and crew, and while German fighter aircraft were a diminished threat by this time as compared with earlier in the war, his missions often faced heavy [[anti-aircraft artillery]] fire that filled the sky with flak bursts.<ref>Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', p. 125.</ref>

On McGovern's December 15 mission over [[Linz]], his second as pilot, a piece of shrapnel from flak came through the windshield and missed fatally wounding him by only a few inches.<ref>Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 179–180.</ref> The following day on a mission to [[Brüx]], he nearly collided with another bomber during close-formation flying in complete cloud cover.<ref>Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', p. 181.</ref> The following day, he was recommended for a medal after surviving a blown wheel on the always-dangerous B-24 take-off, completing a mission over Germany, and then landing without further damage to the plane.<ref>Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 187–189.</ref> On a December 20 mission against the [[Škoda Works]] at [[Plzeň|Pilsen]], Czechoslovakia, McGovern's plane had one engine out and another in flames after being hit by flak. Unable to return to Italy, McGovern flew to a British airfield on [[Vis (island)|Vis]], a small island in the [[Adriatic Sea]] off the Yugoslav coast that was controlled by [[Josip Broz Tito]]'s [[Partisan (military)|Partisans]]. The short field, normally used by small fighter planes, was so unforgiving to four-engined aircraft that many of the bomber crews who tried to make emergency landings there perished.  But McGovern successfully landed, saving his crew, a feat for which he was awarded the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (USA)|Distinguished Flying Cross]].<ref name="ambrose-192">Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 192–196.</ref><ref name="1000-176">Schlesinger, ''A Thousand Days'', p. 176.</ref>

[[Image:15th AF B-24 Liberator.jpg|thumb|right|A B‑24 Liberator of the Fifteenth Air Force's 451st Bombardment Group (not McGovern's group, but also stationed in Italy), on a March 1945 mission over Germany]]

In January 1945 McGovern used [[R&R (military)|R&R]] time to see every sight that he could in Rome, and to participate in an [[audience with the Pope|audience with the pope]].<ref>Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 202–206.</ref> Bad weather prevented many missions from being carried out during the winter, and during such downtime McGovern spent much time reading and discussing how the war had come about. He resolved that if he survived it, he would become a history professor.<ref>Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 186, 190.</ref> In February, McGovern was promoted to [[first lieutenant]].<ref>Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', p. 219.</ref> On March 14 McGovern had an incident over Austria in which he accidentally bombed a family farmhouse when a jammed bomb inadvertently released above the structure and destroyed it, an event that haunted McGovern.<ref name="ambrose-228">Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 228–233.</ref> Four decades later, after McGovern related the incident during an Austrian television program and indicated he was still haunted by it, the owner of the farm called the television station to say that his farm was hit by that bomb but that no one had been hurt and the farmer felt that it had been worth the price if that event helped achieve the defeat of Nazi Germany in some small way. McGovern said finding this out was "an enormous release".<ref>Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 262–263.</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80094970/ | title=McGovern haunted by fear he killed innocent family | agency=Associated Press | newspaper=[[The Bismarck Tribune]] | date=May 19, 1989 | page=5A}}</ref>

On returning to base from the flight, McGovern was told his first child Ann had been born four days earlier.<ref name="ambrose-228" /> April 25 saw McGovern's 35th&nbsp;mission, which marked fulfillment of the Fifteenth Air Force's requirement for a combat tour, against heavily defended Linz. The sky turned black and red with flak – McGovern later said, "Hell can't be any worse than that" – and the ''Dakota Queen'' was hit multiple times, resulting in 110&nbsp;holes in its fuselage and wings and an inoperative hydraulic system.  McGovern's waist gunner was injured, and his flight engineer was so unnerved by his experience that he would subsequently be hospitalized with [[Combat stress reaction|battle fatigue]], but McGovern managed to bring back the plane safely with the assistance of an improvised landing technique.<ref name="1000-176" /><ref name="ambrose-240">Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 240–245.</ref> According to a McGovern associate speaking after McGovern's passing, sometime during his wartime experiences in Europe, McGovern had an extramarital affair and fathered a child with an unknown woman.<ref name="ex03" group="nb" />

===Postwar relief===
In May and June 1945, following the end of the European war, McGovern continued with the 741st Bomb Squadron delivering surplus food and supplies near [[Trieste]] in Northeastern Italy; this was then trucked to the hungry in nearby locations, including to German prisoners of war.<ref>Ambrose, ''The Wild Blue'', pp. 254–256, 258.</ref><ref name="Knock, p. 75"/> McGovern liked making these relief flights, as it gave a way to address the kinds of deprivations he had witnessed when first arriving in Italy.<ref name="Knock, p. 75"/> He then flew back to the United States with his crew.<ref name="Knock, p. 75">Knock, ''The Rise of a Prairie Statesman'', p. 75.</ref> McGovern was discharged from the Army Air Forces in July 1945, with the rank of first lieutenant.<ref name="cby-265"/> He was also awarded the [[Air Medal]] with three [[oak leaf cluster]]s,<ref name="nyt-mitn-61"/> one instance of which was for the safe landing on his final mission.<ref>Anson, ''McGovern'', p. 43.</ref>

==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>

==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" />

==Food for Peace director==
[[File:JFKennedy GeorgeMcGovern.jpg|thumb|right|McGovern as Food for Peace director in 1961, with President John F. Kennedy]]
Having relinquished his House seat to run for the Senate, McGovern was available for a position in the new [[Kennedy administration]].{{refn|McGovern first indicated his interest in becoming [[Secretary of Agriculture]], and gained the backing of some farm groups as well as the support of [[Robert F. Kennedy]]. The president-elect wanted to appoint him, but others felt that McGovern at age 38 lacked sufficient seniority. By the time of Kennedy's selection, McGovern was happy with the lesser position of Food for Peace director, as he had come to realize that Secretary of Agriculture was usually a difficult job and a dead end for political careers.<ref>Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 98–101.</ref><ref>Schlesinger, ''A Thousand Days'', p. 144.</ref>|group="nb"}} McGovern was picked to become a special assistant to the president and first director of Kennedy's high-priority [[Food for Peace]] program, which realized what McGovern had been advocating in the House.<ref name="cby-266"/> McGovern assumed the post on January 21, 1961.<ref name="jfk-let"/>

As director, McGovern urged the greater use of food to enable foreign economic development, saying, "We should thank God that we have a food abundance and use the over-supply among the underprivileged at home and abroad."<ref name="nyt-mitn-61"/> He found space for the program in the [[Old Executive Office Building|Executive Office Building]] rather than be subservient to either the [[State Department]] or [[U.S. Department of Agriculture|Department of Agriculture]].<ref>Schlesinger, ''A Thousand Days'', p. 170.</ref> McGovern worked with deputy director [[James W. Symington]] and Kennedy advisor [[Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.]] in visiting South America to discuss surplus grain distribution, and attended meetings of the United Nations [[Food and Agriculture Organization]].<ref name="cby-266"/> In June 1961, McGovern became seriously ill with [[hepatitis]], contracted from an infected White House dispensary needle used to give him inoculations for his South American trip; he was hospitalized and unable to come to his office for two months;<ref name="anson-110">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 110–113.</ref> his campaign disguised the condition by saying it was a mild kidney infection.<ref>Glasser, ''The Eighteen-Day Running Mate'', pp. 171–172.</ref>

[[Image:Arthur Schlesinger and George McGovern, Madras, India.jpg|thumb|left|McGovern with Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. in Southern India in February 1962, seeing a photograph of President Kennedy enshrined beneath one of Mahatma Gandhi]]

By the close of 1961, the Food for Peace program was operating in a dozen countries,<ref name="cby-266"/> and 10 million more people had been fed with American surplus than the year before.<ref name="anson-110"/> In February 1962, McGovern visited India and oversaw an expanded [[school lunch]] program thanks to Food for Peace. Subsequently, one in five Indian schoolchildren would be fed from it;<ref name="anson-110"/> by mid-1962, it fed 35 million children around the world.<ref name="knock-ftw-107">Knock, "Feeding the World and Thwarting the Communists", p. 107.</ref> During an audience in Rome, [[Pope John XXIII]] warmly praised McGovern's work,<ref name="anson-110"/><ref name="knock-ftw-114">Knock, "Feeding the World and Thwarting the Communists", pp. 114–115.</ref> and the distribution program was also popular among South Dakota's wheat farmers.<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/> In addition, McGovern was instrumental in the creation of the United Nations-run [[World Food Programme]] in December 1961; it started distributing food to affected regions of the world the following year and would go on to become the largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.<ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=eo-aQU31tfAC&pg=PA97 | title = UN Contributions to Development Thinking and Practice | isbn = 978-0-253-34407-6 | last1 = Jolly | first1 = Richard | year = 2004 | pages=97–98 | publisher=Indiana University Press | location=Bloomington | first2= Louis |last2= Emmerij | first3= Dharam |last3=Ghai | first4= Frédéric |last4=Lapeyre}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.wfp.org/about/corporate-information/mission-statement | title=About WFP | publisher=[[World Food Programme]] | access-date=June 26, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816143323/http://www.wfp.org/about/corporate-information/mission-statement | archive-date=August 16, 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Administration was never McGovern's strength, and he was restless for another try at the Senate.<ref>Anson, ''McGovern'', p. 116.</ref> With the approval of President Kennedy, McGovern resigned his post on July 18, 1962.<ref name="cby-266"/><ref name="jfk-let"/> Kennedy said that under McGovern the program had "become a vital force in the world", improving living conditions and economies of allies and creating "a powerful barrier to the spread of Communism".<ref name="jfk-let">{{cite web | url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=8773 | title=Letter Accepting Resignation of George McGovern as Director of the food for Peace Program | author=Kennedy, John F. | publisher=[[The White House]] | date=July 18, 1962 | author-link=John F. Kennedy}}</ref> Columnist [[Drew Pearson (journalist)|Drew Pearson]] wrote that it was one of the "most spectacular achievements of the young Kennedy administration",<ref name="knock-ftw-107"/> while Schlesinger would later write that Food for Peace had been "the greatest unseen weapon of Kennedy's third-world policy".<ref name="anson-110"/>

==U.S. Senator==

===1962 election and early years as a senator===
In April 1962, McGovern announced he would [[1962 United States Senate election in South Dakota|run for election to South Dakota's other Senate seat]], intending to face incumbent Republican [[Francis H. Case]].<ref name="cby-266"/> Case died in June, and McGovern instead faced an appointed senator, former lieutenant governor [[Joseph H. Bottum]].<ref name="cby-266"/> Much of the campaign revolved around policies of the Kennedy administration and its [[New Frontier]];<ref name="cby-267">''Current Year Biography 1967'', p. 267.</ref> Bottum accused the Kennedy family of trying to buy the Senate seat.<ref name="nyt102062">{{cite news | url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F00F1FF73958137A93C2AB178BD95F468685F9 | title=McGovern Wages Uphill Battle in Senate Race in South Dakota | author=Janson, Donald | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | date=October 20, 1962 | page=9}}</ref> McGovern appealed to those worried about the outflux of young people from the state, and had the strong support of the [[National Farmers Union (United States)|Farmers Union]].<ref name="nyt102062"/> Polls showed Bottum slightly ahead throughout the race, and McGovern was hampered by a recurrence of his hepatitis problem in the final weeks of the campaign.<ref name="nyt102062"/> (During this hospitalization, McGovern read [[Theodore H. White]]'s classic ''[[The Making of the President 1960]],'' and for the first time began thinking about running for the office someday.<ref name="white-1972-40"/>) Eleanor McGovern campaigned for her ailing husband and may have preserved his chance of winning.<ref>Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. ix, 125.</ref> The November 1962 election result was very close and required a recount, but McGovern's 127,458 votes prevailed by a margin of 597, making him the first Democratic senator from the state in 26 years<ref name="cby-267"/> and only the third since statehood in 1889.<ref name="nyt102062"/>

When he joined the Senate in January 1963 for the [[88th&nbsp;Congress]], McGovern was seated on the [[United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry|Senate Agriculture and Forestry Committee]] and [[United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources|Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee]].<ref name="cby-267"/> On the Agriculture Committee, McGovern supported high farm prices, full parity, and controls on beef importation, as well as the administration's Feed Grains Acreage Diversion Program.<ref name="anson-135">Anson, ''McGovern'', p. 135.</ref> McGovern had a fractious relationship with Secretary of Agriculture [[Orville Freeman]], who was less sympathetic to farmers; McGovern's 1966 resolution to informally scold Freeman made the senator popular back in his home state.<ref name="anson-135"/> Fellow new senator [[Edward M. Kennedy]] saw McGovern as a serious voice on farm policy and often sought McGovern's guidance on agriculture-related votes.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/28/us/28senate.html |title=Senate Has Changed in Kennedy's Time |author=Stolberg, Sheryl Gay |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 27, 2009}}</ref> McGovern was largely inactive on the Interior Committee until 1967, when he was given the chairmanship of the subcommittee on Indian affairs;<ref name="anson-144">Anson, McGovern, pp. 143–144.</ref> however, Interior Committee chairman [[Henry M. Jackson]], who did not get along with McGovern personally or politically, refused to allow McGovern his own staff, limiting his effectiveness.<ref name="anson-144"/> McGovern regretted not accomplishing more for South Dakota's 30,000 [[Sioux Indian]]s, although after a McGovern-introduced resolution on Indian self-determination passed in 1969, the [[Oglala Sioux]] named McGovern "Great White Eagle."<ref name="anson-144"/>

In his first speech on the Senate floor in March 1963, McGovern praised Kennedy's [[Alliance for Progress]] initiative but spoke out against [[Cuba – United States relations|U.S.&nbsp;policy toward Cuba]], saying that it suffered from "our Castro fixation".<ref name="cby-267"/> In August 1963 McGovern advocated reducing the $53&nbsp;billion [[Military budget of the United States|defense budget]] by $5 billion; influenced by advisor [[Seymour Melman]], he held a special antipathy toward the doctrine of [[Nuclear overkill|nuclear "overkill"]].<ref name="anson-130">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 129–131.</ref> McGovern would try to reduce defense appropriations or limit military expenditures in almost every year during the 1960s.<ref name="anson-133">Anson, ''McGovern'', p. 133.</ref> He also voted against many weapons programs, especially missile and antimissile systems, and also opposed military assistance to foreign nations.<ref name="anson-133" /> In 1964 McGovern published his first book, ''War Against Want: America's Food for Peace Program''.<ref name="cby-267"/> In it he argued for expanding his old program, and a Senate measure he introduced was eventually passed, adding $700&nbsp;million to the effort's funding.<ref>Anson, ''McGovern'', p. 136.</ref>

Preferring to concentrate on broad policy matters and speeches, McGovern was not a master of Senate legislative tactics, and he developed a reputation among some other senators for "not doing his homework".<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/><ref name="anson-138">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 138–139.</ref> Described as "a very private, unchummy guy", he was not a member of the Senate "club" nor did he want to be, turning down in 1969 a chance to join the powerful [[Senate Rules Committee]].<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/><ref name="anson-138"/> Relatively few pieces of legislation bore his name, and his legislative accomplishments were generally viewed as modest, although he would try to influence the contents of others' bills.<ref name="nyt-record"/><ref name="anson-138"/> In his political beliefs, McGovern fit squarely within [[modern American liberalism]]; through 1967 he had voted in accordance with the rated positions of the ADA 92&nbsp;percent of the time, and when lacking specific knowledge on a particular matter, he would ask his staff, "What are the liberals doing?"<ref name="nyt-prof-1968"/><ref name="nyt-record"/><ref>Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 139–141.</ref>

===Opposition to Vietnam War===
[[File:George McGovern Vietnam trip Nov 1965.jpg|thumb|right|Senator McGovern on his first trip to [[South Vietnam]], November 1965]]
In a speech on the Senate floor in September 1963, McGovern became the first member to challenge the [[Role of the United States in the Vietnam War#Under the Kennedy Administration|growing U.S.&nbsp;military involvement in Vietnam]].<ref name="anson-150"/><ref name="weil-16">Weil, ''The Long Shot'', pp. 16–17.</ref> Bothered by the [[Buddhist crisis]] and other recent developments, and with concerns influenced by Vietnam historian [[Bernard Fall]], McGovern said:
{{cquote|The current dilemma in Vietnam is a clear demonstration of the limitations of military power&nbsp;... [Current U.S. involvement] is a policy of moral debacle and political defeat&nbsp;... The trap we have fallen into there will haunt us in every corner of this revolutionary world if we do not properly appraise its lessons.<ref name="nyt-record"/><ref name="anson-150">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 149–151.</ref>}}

As the speech was little noticed, McGovern backed away from saying anything publicly for over a year afterward, partly because of the November 1963 [[assassination of President Kennedy]] and partly to not appear strident.<ref name="anson-152">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 152–154.</ref> Though more skeptical about it than most senators,<ref name="mann-366">Mann, ''A Grand Delusion'', pp. 357, 366–368.</ref> McGovern voted in favor of the August 1964 [[Gulf of Tonkin Resolution]], which turned out to be an essentially unbounded authorization for President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] to escalate U.S. involvement in the war.<ref name="nyt-record"/> McGovern thought the commander in chief should be given limited authority to retaliate against an attack;<ref name="weil-16"/> subsequently, he said his instinct had been to vote no, but that he had voted yes because of Senator [[J. William Fulbright]]'s urging to stand behind Johnson politically.<ref name="anson-152"/><ref name="mann-366"/> The day after the resolution vote, McGovern spoke concerning his fears that the vote would lead to greater involvement in the war;<ref name="nyt-record"/> [[Wayne Morse]], one of only two senators to oppose the resolution, sardonically noted that this fell into the category of "very interesting, but very belated."<ref name="anson-152"/> This would become the vote that McGovern most bitterly regretted.<ref name="weil-16"/><ref name="mann-366"/>

In January 1965 McGovern made his first major address on Vietnam, saying that "We are not winning in South Vietnam&nbsp;... I am very much opposed to the policy, now gaining support in Washington, of extending the war to the north."<ref name="cby-267"/><ref name="anson-155">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 154–157.</ref> McGovern instead proposed a five-point plan advocating a negotiated settlement involving a federated Vietnam with local autonomy and a UN&nbsp;presence to guarantee security and fair treatment.<ref name="anson-155"/> The speech gave McGovern national visibility as one of the "doves" in the debate over Vietnam;<ref name="anson-155"/><ref name="knock-cha-105">Knock, "Come Home America", pp. 104–105.</ref> however, McGovern made moderate-to-hawkish statements at times too, flatly rejecting unconditional withdrawal of U.S.&nbsp;forces and criticizing [[Opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War|antiwar]] [[draft-card burning]]s as "immature, impractical, and illegal".<ref name="anson-160"/> He eschewed personal criticism of Johnson.<ref name="knock-cha-105"/> In November 1965 McGovern traveled to South Vietnam for three weeks.<ref name="mann-486">Mann, ''A Grand Delusion'', p. 486.</ref> The human carnage he saw in hospital wards deeply upset him, and he became increasingly outspoken about the war upon his return, more convinced than ever that Vietnam was a political, not military, problem.<ref name="nyt-record"/><ref name="cby-267"/><ref name="anson-160">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 160–164.</ref> Now he was ready, as he later said, "not merely to dissent, but to crusade" against the war.<ref name="mann-486"/>

McGovern voted in favor of Vietnam military appropriations in 1966 through 1968, not wanting to deprive U.S. forces of necessary equipment.<ref name="anson-160"/> Nevertheless, his antiwar rhetoric increased throughout 1967.<ref name="anson-165">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 165–166.</ref> Over the years, Johnson had invited McGovern and other Senate doves to the [[White House]] for attempts to explain the rationale for his actions in Vietnam; McGovern came away from the final such visit, in August 1967, shaken by the sight of a president "tortured and confused&nbsp;... by the mess he has gotten into in Vietnam."<ref name="anson-165"/>

===1968 presidential and Senate campaigns===
In August 1967 activist [[Allard K. Lowenstein]] founded the [[Dump Johnson movement]], and soon it was seeking a Democratic Party figure to make a primaries campaign challenge against Johnson in the [[1968 U.S. presidential election]].<ref name="white-1968-72">White, ''The Making of the President 1968'', pp. 72–74.</ref> The group's first choice was Senator Robert Kennedy, who declined, as did another, and by late September 1967 they approached McGovern.<ref name="nyt-prof-1968"/><ref name="white-1968-72"/> After much deliberation McGovern declined, largely because he feared such a run would significantly damage his own chances for reelection to his Senate seat in 1968.<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/><ref name="anson-4"/> A month later the anti-Johnson forces were able to persuade Senator [[Eugene McCarthy]] to run;<ref name="white-1968-72"/> he was one of the few "dove" senators not up for reelection that year.<ref name="anson-4">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 2–8.</ref>

In the 1968 Democratic primary campaign, McCarthy staged a strong showing. Robert Kennedy entered the race, President Johnson withdrew and Vice President [[Hubert Humphrey]] joined the field. While McGovern privately favored Kennedy, McCarthy and Humphrey were both from the neighboring state of Minnesota and publicly McGovern remained neutral.<ref name="anson-188">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 188–192.</ref> McGovern hosted all three as they campaigned for the June 4 South Dakota Democratic primary, which resulted in a strong win by Kennedy to go along with his win in the crucial California primary that night.<ref name="anson-188"/> McGovern spoke with Kennedy by phone minutes before [[Robert F. Kennedy assassination|Kennedy was assassinated]] in Los Angeles.<ref name="anson-188"/> The death of Bobby Kennedy left McGovern the most emotionally distraught he had ever been to that point in his life.<ref name="anson-188"/>

Within days, some of Kennedy's aides were urging McGovern to run in his place; their antipathy toward McCarthy and ideological opposition to Humphrey made them unwilling to support either candidate.<ref name="anson-193"/> McGovern delayed making a decision, making sure that Bobby's brother [[Ted Kennedy]] did not want to enter, and with his staff still concerned about the senator's own reelection prospects.<ref name="anson-193">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 192–199.</ref> McGovern's voting had changed during 1968, with his ADA rating falling to 43 as he sought more middle-of-the-road stances.<ref name="nyt-record"/> In late July, McGovern's decision became more complicated when his daughter Teresa was arrested in [[Rapid City]] on [[drug possession|marijuana possession]] charges.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10C10F93E5E1A7B93CAAB178CD85F4C8685F9 |title= McGovern's Daughter Held |agency=[[United Press International]] |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 28, 1968 |page=52}}</ref> She had led a troubled life since her teenage years, developing problems with alcohol and depression and suffering the consequences of a relationship with an unstable neighborhood boy.<ref>McGovern, ''Terry'', pp. 64–66.</ref> On the basis of a recently enacted strict state drugs law, Terry now faced a minimum five-year prison sentence if found guilty.<ref name="terry-71">McGovern, ''Terry'', pp. 71–74.</ref> McGovern was also convinced that the socially conservative voters of South Dakota would reject him owing to his daughter's arrest.<ref name="terry-71"/> Charges against her were subsequently dropped because of an invalid search warrant.<ref>Anson, ''McGovern'', p. 195.</ref>

McGovern formally announced his candidacy on August 10, 1968, in Washington, two weeks in advance of the [[1968 Democratic National Convention]], committing himself to "the goals for which Robert Kennedy gave his life."<ref>{{cite news |url= http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10D13F8345E157A8EDDA80994D0405B888AF1D3 |title= M'Govern Opens Presidential Bid With Peace Plea |author=Hunter, Majorie |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 11, 1968 |page=1}}</ref> Asked why he was a better choice than McCarthy, he said, "Well – Gene really doesn't want to be president, and I do."<ref name="white-1968-265"/> At the convention in Chicago, Humphrey was the near-certain choice, while McGovern became the initial rallying point for around 300 leaderless Kennedy delegates.<ref name="white-1968-265">White, ''The Making of the President 1968'', pp. 265–266.</ref> The chaotic circumstances of the convention found McGovern denouncing the Chicago police tactics against demonstrators as "police brutality."<ref name="anson-207">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 207–211.</ref> Given the internal politics of the party, it was difficult for McGovern to gain in delegate strength, and black protest candidate [[Channing E. Phillips]] drew off some of his support.<ref name="anson-207"/> In the actual roll call, McGovern came in third with 146½ delegates, far behind Humphrey's 1760¼ and McCarthy's 601.<ref>White, ''The Making of the President 1968'', Appendix C.</ref>

McGovern endorsed Humphrey at the convention, to the dismay of some antiwar figures who considered it a betrayal.<ref name="anson-207"/> Humphrey went on to lose the general election to [[Richard Nixon]]. McGovern returned to his [[1968 United States Senate election in South Dakota|Senate reelection race]], facing Republican former governor [[Archie M. Gubbrud]]. While South Dakota voters sympathized with McGovern over his daughter's arrest,<ref name="terry-76">McGovern, ''Terry'', pp. 76, 79.</ref> he initially suffered a substantial drop in popularity over the events in Chicago;<ref name="anson-213">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 213–216.</ref> however, McGovern conducted an energetic campaign that focused on his service to the state, while Gubbrud ran a lackluster effort.<ref name="anson-213"/> In November, McGovern won 57&nbsp;percent of the vote in what he would consider the easiest and most decisive victory of his career.<ref name="terry-76"/>

===Middle Senate years and continued opposition to the Vietnam War===
During the 1968 Democratic Convention, a motion had been passed to establish a commission to reform the Democratic Party nomination process.<ref>White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', pp. 17–20.</ref> In 1969 McGovern was named chairman of the [[Commission on Party Structure and Delegate Selection]], also known as the McGovern–Fraser Commission; owing to the influence of former McCarthy and Kennedy supporters on the staff, the commission significantly reduced the role of party officials and insiders in the nomination process.<ref name="White, pp. 24">White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', pp. 24–33.</ref><ref name="reichley-285"/> The commission's 1970 report, ''Mandate for Reform'',<ref name="kauf"/> was approved by the Democratic National Committee in 1971.<ref name="reichley-285"/> It required that delegates be selected either by a party primary where delegate preferences were indicated on the ballot or by a state convention process where the first stage was open caucuses.<ref name="reichley-285"/> It also mandated quotas for proportional black, female, and youth delegate representation.<ref name="White, pp. 24"/><ref name="reichley-285"/> The new rules had an immediate effect; in 1972, a third more primaries were held in the Democratic nomination process than in 1968 and those primaries produced half again as many delegates.<ref>White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', p. 71.</ref> Over the next few presidential election cycles, this trend towards holding primaries increased in both parties, with eventually over 80&nbsp;percent of delegates being chosen via primaries; whereas before McGovern–Fraser, two-thirds of all delegates were chosen by state conventions controlled by party elites.<ref name="kauf"/> Thus the U.S.&nbsp;presidential nominating process has been different ever since the McGovern–Fraser reforms, with scholars and politicians debating whether all the changes are for the better.<ref name="reichley-285">Reichley, ''The Life of the Parties'', pp. 283, 285–287.</ref><ref name="kauf">{{cite journal | last1=Kaufmann | first1=Karen M. | first2=James G. | last2=Gimpel | first3=Adam H. | last3=Hoffman | title=A Promise Fulfilled? Open Primaries and Representation | journal=[[The Journal of Politics]] | volume=65 | issue= 2 | year=2003 | pages=457–476 | doi=10.1111/1468-2508.t01-2-00009 | s2cid=154515817 }} At pp. 457, 459.</ref>

In the wake of several high-profile reports about hunger and [[malnutrition]] in the United States, the [[Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs]] had been created in July 1968, with McGovern as its chairman.<ref>Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 220–224.</ref> Seeking to dramatize the problem, in March 1969 McGovern took the committee to [[Immokalee, Florida]], the base for 20,000 [[migrant farm worker]]s.<ref name="anson-225">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 225–229.</ref> They saw graphic examples of hunger and malnutrition firsthand, but also encountered resistance and complaints about bad publicity from local and state officials.<ref name="anson-225"/><ref>{{cite news |url= http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F70C10FD3B5D137A93C3A81788D85F4D8685F9 |title=Senators on Hunger Tour See Squalor in Florida |author=Hunter, Majorie |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 11, 1969 |page=31}}</ref> McGovern battled the Nixon administration and Southerners in Congress during much of the next year over an expanded [[Food Stamp Program]]; he had to compromise on a number of points, but legislation signed in 1970 established the principles of free food stamps and a nationwide standard for eligibility.<ref>Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 229–234.</ref>

McGovern generally lacked both interest and expertise in [[economics]], but was outspoken in reaction to Nixon's imposition of [[wage and price controls]] in 1971.<ref>Anson, ''McGovern'', p. 137.</ref> McGovern declared: "This administration, which pledged to slow inflation and reduce unemployment, has instead given us the highest rate of inflation and the highest rate of unemployment in a decade."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1971/12295509436546-1/#title |title=Economic Crisis: 1971 Year in Review |publisher=United Press International |access-date=October 29, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212064553/http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1971/12295509436546-1/#title |archive-date=February 12, 2009 }}</ref> Regarding another heated domestic issue, ''[[60 Minutes]]'' included McGovern in a 1971 report about liberal politicians and journalists who advocated integrated schooling while avoiding it for their children.{{refn|The report, by [[Mike Wallace]], detailed the senator's support of [[desegregation busing]] even while the Washington, D.C., resident was paying non-resident tuition for his own daughter to attend [[Bethesda, Maryland]], public schools, which were only 3&nbsp;percent black. McGovern responded that where he sent his children to school was a private matter.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zY1JAAAAIBAJ&pg=3688,478219 | title=Hypocrisy, Unlimited | author=Hart, Jeffrey | newspaper=[[The News and Courier]] | location=Charleston, South Carolina | date=January 3, 1972 | page=8A| author-link=Jeffrey Hart }}{{dead link|date=October 2016}}</ref>|group="nb"}}

{{U.S. Congressional opposition to war}}
But most of all, McGovern was known for his continued opposition to the Vietnam War. In March 1969, he became the first senator to explicitly criticize the new president's policy there, an action that was seen as a breach of customary protocol by other Senate doves.<ref name="anson-168">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 167–169.</ref> The ongoing diversion to South Vietnam of much of Food for Peace's aid, where it was used to subsidize that country's budget, when there were countries around the world affected by drought and food shortages, upset him.<ref>Knock, "Feeding the World and Thwarting the Communists", pp. 112–113.</ref> By the end of 1969, McGovern was calling for an immediate cease-fire and a total withdrawal of all American troops within a year.<ref name="anson-168"/> In October 1969 McGovern was a featured speaker before 100,000&nbsp;demonstrators in Boston at the [[Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam]], and in November he spoke before 350,000 at Moratorium/[[National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam|Mobilization]]'s antiwar march to the [[Washington Monument]].<ref name="anson-172">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 169–174.</ref> Afterward, he decided that radicalized peace demonstrations were counterproductive and criticized antiwar figures such as [[Rennie Davis]], [[Tom Hayden]], [[Huey Newton]], [[Abbie Hoffman]], and [[Jerry Rubin]] as "reckless" and "irresponsible".<ref name="anson-172"/>

Instead, McGovern focused on legislative means to bring the war to an end.<ref name="anson-177"/> The [[McGovern–Hatfield Amendment]] to the annual military procurement bill, co-sponsored by Republican [[Mark Hatfield]] of Oregon, required via funding cutoff a complete withdrawal of all American forces from Indochina by the end of 1970.<ref name="nyt090270">{{cite news | url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FA0B1FF73D551B7493C0A91782D85F448785F9 | title=Senate Defeats 'End War' Move By Vote Of 55–39 | author=Smith, Robert M. | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | date=September 2, 1970 | page=1}}</ref> It underwent months of public discussion and alterations to make it acceptable to more senators, including pushing the deadline out to the end of 1971.<ref name="mann-669"/> In May 1970 McGovern obtained a [[second mortgage]] on his Washington home in order to fund a half-hour televised panel discussion on the amendment on [[NBC]].<ref name="mann-669"/> The broadcast brought in over $500,000 in donations that furthered work on passage,<ref name="anson-177"/> and eventually the amendment gained the support of the majority of the public in polls.<ref name="mann-669"/> The effort was denounced by opposition groups organized by White House aide [[Charles Colson]], which called McGovern and Hatfield "apostles of retreat and defeat" and "salesmen of surrender" and maintained that only the president could conduct foreign policy.<ref name="mann-669"/> The amendment was defeated in September 1970 by a 55–39 vote, just short of what McGovern had hoped would constitute at least a [[moral victory]].<ref name="anson-177">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 174–178.</ref> During the floor debate, McGovern criticized his colleagues opposing the measure:
{{cquote|
Every Senator in this chamber is partly responsible for sending 50,000 young Americans to an early grave. This chamber reeks of blood. Every Senator here is partly responsible for that human wreckage at Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval and all across our land{{snd}}young men without legs, or arms, or genitals, or faces or hopes. There are not very many of these blasted and broken boys who think this war is a glorious adventure. Do not talk to them about bugging out, or national honor or courage. It does not take any courage at all for a congressman, or a senator, or a president to wrap himself in the flag and say we are staying in Vietnam, because it is not our blood that is being shed. But we are responsible for those young men and their lives and their hopes. And if we do not end this damnable war those young men will some day curse us for our pitiful willingness to let the Executive carry the burden that the Constitution places on us.<ref name="anson-177"/><ref name="mann-669"/>}}

The Senate reacted in startled, stunned silence, and some faces showed anger and fury;<ref name="weil-16"/> when one member told McGovern he had been personally offended by the speech, McGovern said, "That's what I meant to do."<ref name="mann-669">Mann, ''A Grand Delusion'', pp. 666–670.</ref> McGovern believed Vietnam an immoral war that was destroying much of what was pure, hopeful, and different about America's character as a nation.<ref name="weil-16"/>

The defeat of the amendment left McGovern embittered and somewhat more radicalized.<ref name="anson-179">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 179–180.</ref> He accused the vice president of South Vietnam, [[Nguyen Cao Ky]], of running a heroin trafficking operation that was addicting American soldiers.<ref name="anson-179"/> In a retort to the powerful Senate [[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services|Armed Services Committee]] chairman [[John Stennis]]'s suggestion that U.S.&nbsp;troops might have to return to Cambodia, McGovern declared, "I'm tired of old men dreaming up wars for young men to fight. If he wants to use American ground troops in Cambodia, let him lead the charge himself."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/printerfriendly.aspx?ref=355047 |newspaper=[[The Harvard Crimson]] |title=McGovern Runs for President |date=February 17, 1971 |author=Southwick, Thomas P. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060218061205/http://www.thecrimson.com/printerfriendly.aspx?ref=355047 |archive-date=February 18, 2006 }}</ref> He denounced Nixon's policy of [[Vietnamization]] as "subsidiz[ing] the continued killing of the people of Indochina by technology and mercenaries."<ref>Mann, ''A Grand Delusion'', p. 680.</ref> In a ''[[Playboy]]'' interview, he said that [[Ho Chi Minh]] was the North Vietnamese [[George Washington]].<ref name="anson-179"/>

McGovern–Hatfield was put up for a vote again in 1971, with somewhat weaker provisions designed to gain more support.<ref name="weil-21">Weil, ''The Long Shot'', pp. 21–22.</ref> In polls, a large majority of the public now favored its intent, and McGovern took his name off a final form of it, as some senators were just objecting to him.<ref name="mann-682"/> Nevertheless, in June 1971, it failed to pass again, gaining only a few more votes than the year before.<ref name="mann-682">Mann, ''A Grand Delusion'', pp. 682–684.</ref> McGovern was now certain that the only way the war would come to a quick end was if there was a new president.<ref name="weil-21"/>

===1972 presidential campaign===
{{Main|George McGovern 1972 presidential campaign}}
{{Further|1972 Democratic Party presidential primaries|1972 United States presidential election}}
McGovern announced his candidacy on January 18, 1971, during a televised speech from the studios of [[KELO-TV]] in [[Sioux Falls, South Dakota]].<ref name="anson-267">Anson, ''McGovern'', pp. 267–268.</ref> At the time of his announcement, McGovern ranked fifth among Democrats in a presidential preference [[Gallup Poll]].<ref>Weil, ''The Long Shot'', p. 33.</ref> The earliest such entry since [[Andrew Jackson]],<ref>Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', p. 45.</ref> it was designed to give him time to overcome the large lead of the frontrunner, Maine senator [[Edmund Muskie]].<ref>{{cite news |url= http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F30C11F7345C107B93CBA8178AD85F458785F9 |title=McGovern Enters '72 Race, Pledging Troop Withdrawal |author=Apple Jr., R. W. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 19, 1971 |page=1|author-link=R. W. Apple, Jr }}</ref> By January 1972, McGovern had only 3&nbsp;percent national support among Democrats in the Gallup Poll and had not attracted significant press coverage.<ref>White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', p. 211.</ref> McGovern's campaign manager [[Gary Hart]] decided on a guerrilla-like insurgency strategy of battling Muskie in only selected primaries, not everywhere, so as to focus the campaign's organizational strength and resources.<ref>White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', pp. 101–102.</ref>

[[Image:George McGovern, c 1972.jpg|thumb|left|McGovern speaking on June 30, 1972]]

Muskie fell victim to inferior organizing, an over-reliance on party endorsements, and Nixon's "[[ratfucking|dirty tricks]]" operatives,<ref name="witcover-579">Witcover, ''Party of the People'', pp. 578–580.</ref><ref>Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', pp. 54–55.</ref><ref>Reichley, ''The Life of the Parties'', pp. 287–288.</ref> and in the March 7, 1972, [[New Hampshire primary]], did worse than expected with McGovern coming in a close second.<ref>White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', pp. 80–82.</ref> As Muskie's campaign funding and support dried up, Hubert Humphrey, who had rejoined the Senate, became McGovern's primary rival for the nomination,<ref name="nyt-071372-nom"/> with Alabama governor [[George Wallace]] also in the mix after dominating the March 14 primary in Florida.<!-- <ref name="witcover-579"/> --> McGovern won a key breakthrough victory over Humphrey and Wallace on April 4 in Wisconsin,<ref name="witcover-579"/> where he added blue-collar economic populism to his appeal.<ref>Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', pp. 57–59.</ref> He followed that by dominating the April 25 primary in Massachusetts.<ref name="white-1972-106">White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', pp. 106–107, 110–112.</ref> At that point, McGovern had become the frontrunner.<ref name="white-1972-106"/> A late decision to enter the May 2 Ohio primary, considered a Humphrey stronghold, paid dividends when McGovern managed a very close second there amid charges of election fraud by pro-Humphrey forces.<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/><ref>Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', pp. 61–62.</ref> The other two leading candidates for the nomination also won primaries, but Wallace's campaign in effect ended when he was seriously wounded in a May assassination attempt,<ref name="witcover-581"/> and McGovern's operation was effective in garnering delegates in caucus states.<ref>Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', pp. 62–63.</ref>

The climactic contest took place in California, with Humphrey attacking McGovern in several televised debates; in the June 6 vote, McGovern defeated him by five percentage points and claimed all the delegates due to the state's winner-take-all rules.<ref>White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', pp. 121–122, 127–129.</ref> He then appeared to clinch the nomination with delegates won in the New York primary on June 20.<ref name="witcover-581">Witcover, ''Party of the People'', pp. 580–582.</ref> Humphrey's attacks on McGovern as being too radical began a downward slide in the latter's poll standing against Nixon.<ref>Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', pp. 68–69.</ref> McGovern became tagged with the label "amnesty, abortion, and acid", supposedly reflecting his positions.{{refn|The label's origins later turned out to come from Thomas Eagleton, several months before he became the vice presidential nominee.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna19694666 |title='Meet the Press' transcript for July 15, 2007 | publisher=[[NBC News]] | date=July 15, 2007}}</ref><ref>Giglio, "The Eagleton Affair", p. 650.<!--approx--></ref>|group="nb"}} During his primary victories, McGovern used an approach that stressed [[grassroots]]-level organization while bypassing conventional campaign techniques and traditional party power centers.<ref name="nyt-mitn-72"/><ref name="nyt-071372-nom">{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1972/07/13/90717133.pdf | title=A Stunning Sweep: Senator Seeks Unity – McGovern wins Party's Presidential Nomination on the First Ballot | author=Frankel, Max | date=July 13, 1972 | page=1 | work=The New York Times| author-link=Max Frankel }}</ref> He capitalized on support from antiwar activists and reform liberals;<ref name="witcover-579"/> thousands of students engaged in door-to-door campaigning for him.<ref>Wayne, ''The Road to the White House 2008'', p. 148.</ref> He benefited by the eight primaries he won being those the press focused on the most; he showed electoral weakness in the South and industrial Midwest, and actually received fewer primary votes overall than Humphrey and had only a modest edge over Wallace.<ref name="cook-51">Cook, ''The Presidential Nominating Process'', pp. 51, 53.</ref>

[[Image:GeorgeMcGovern.png|thumb|right|upright|McGovern as seen in a 1972 campaign poster]]

McGovern ran on a [[political platform|platform]] that advocated withdrawal from the Vietnam War in exchange for the return of American [[prisoners of war]]<ref>White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', p. 116.</ref> and amnesty for draft evaders who had left the country.<ref>White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', p. 337.</ref> McGovern's platform also included an across-the-board 37-percent reduction in defense spending over three years.<ref>White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', p. 117.</ref> He proposed a "demogrant" program that would give a $1,000&nbsp;payment to every citizen in the United States.<ref name="white-1972-119">White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', pp. 119–120.</ref> Based around existing ideas such as the [[negative income tax]] and intended to replace the welfare bureaucracy and complicated maze of existing public-assistance programs, it nonetheless garnered considerable derision as a poorly thought-out "liberal giveaway" and was dropped from the platform in August.<ref name="witcover-579"/><ref name="white-1972-119"/><ref name="time-issues">{{cite news | url=http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,906634,00.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204202302/http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,906634,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 4, 2013 | title=Issues '72: Nixon v. McGovern on Taxes, Prices, Jobs | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=October 30, 1972}}</ref>{{refn|The concept behind the demogrant was in part a conservative one, was similar to the [[negative income tax]] long advocated by economist [[Milton Friedman]], and by the Nixon Administration in the form of the Family Assistance Program, which called for a minimum family grant of $1,600 per year, later raised to $2,400. McGovern had previously sponsored a bill, submitted by the [[National Welfare Rights Organization]], for $6,500 [[guaranteed minimum income]] per year to families. But the demogrant differed from all these other plans by going to everyone and not being needs-based.<ref name="white-1972-119"/>|group="nb"}}

An "Anybody But McGovern" coalition, led by southern Democrats and organized labor, formed in the weeks following the final primaries.<ref>Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', pp. 74–78.</ref> McGovern's nomination did not become ensured until the first night of the [[1972 Democratic National Convention]] in [[Miami Beach, Florida]], where, following intricate parliamentary maneuverings led by campaign staffer [[Rick Stearns]], a Humphrey credentials challenge regarding the California winner-take-all rules was defeated.<ref>White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', p. 174–175.</ref><ref>Thompson, ''Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72'', pp. 276–310.</ref> Divisive arguments over the party platform then followed; what resulted was arguably the most liberal one of any major U.S. party.<ref name="nyt-obit"/> On July 12, 1972, McGovern officially won the Democratic nomination. In doing so and in taking over the party's processes and platform, McGovern produced what ''The New York Times'' termed "a stunning sweep."<ref name="nyt-071372-nom"/> The convention distractions led to a hurried process to pick a vice presidential running mate.<ref>Witcover, ''Party of the People'', pp. 583–584.</ref> Turned down by his first choice, Ted Kennedy, as well as by several others, McGovern selected – with virtually no vetting – Missouri senator [[Thomas Eagleton]].<ref>Giglio, "The Eagleton Affair", pp. 648–649.<!--approx--></ref> On the final night of the convention, procedural arguments over matters such as a new party charter, and a prolonged vice presidential nomination process that descended into farce, delayed the nominee's acceptance speech.<ref>White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', pp. 184–186.</ref> As a result, McGovern delivered his speech, "Come home America!", at three o'clock in the morning, reducing his television audience from about 70&nbsp;million people to about 15&nbsp;million.<ref>Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', p. 87.</ref>

Just over two weeks after the convention, it was revealed that Eagleton had been hospitalized and received [[electroshock therapy]] for "nervous exhaustion" and "depression" several times during the early to mid-1960s.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1972/07/26/80798105.pdf | title=Eagleton Tells of Shock Therapy on Two Occasions | author=Lydon, Christopher | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | date=July 26, 1972 | page=1| author-link=Christopher Lydon }}</ref> Years later, Eagleton's diagnosis was refined to [[bipolar II disorder]].<ref>Giglio, "The Eagleton Affair", p. 657.<!--approx--></ref> McGovern initially supported Eagleton, in part because he saw parallels with his daughter Terry's battles with mental illness.<ref name="terry-review"/><ref name="wapo-might"/> He was additionally sympathetic due to his wife Eleanor having experienced depression; and he was also harboring a secret about his own past, that being an undisclosed child.<ref>Glasser, ''The Eighteen-Day Running Mate'', pp. 172, 342n15.</ref> On the following day, July 26, McGovern stated publicly, "I am 1,000&nbsp;percent for Tom Eagleton and have no intention of dropping him from the ticket."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Fm9kAAAAIBAJ&pg=3529,2580768&dq=percent+eagleton+no-intention+dropping&hl=en | title=Eagleton May Still Withdraw | author=Lydon, Christopher | newspaper=[[The Calgary Herald]] | date=July 27, 1972 | pages=1, 2| author-link=Christopher Lydon }}</ref> Though many people still supported Eagleton's candidacy, an increasing number of influential politicians and newspapers questioned his ability to handle the office of vice president and, potentially, president<ref name="miroff-93"/> or questioned the McGovern campaign's ability to survive the distraction.<ref name="giglio-withdraw">Giglio, "The Eagleton Affair", pp. 662-665.<!--approx--></ref> The resulting negative attention – combined with McGovern's consultation with preeminent psychiatrists, including [[Karl Menninger]], as well as doctors who had treated Eagleton – prompted McGovern to accept, and announce on August 1, Eagleton's offer to withdraw from the ticket.<ref name="giglio-withdraw"/><ref>Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', pp. 94–95.</ref> It remains the only time a major party vice presidential nominee has been forced off the ticket.<ref>Giglio, "The Eagleton Affair", p. 647.<!--should be--></ref> Five prominent Democrats then publicly turned down McGovern's offer of the vice presidential slot: in sequence, Kennedy again, [[Abraham Ribicoff]], Humphrey, [[Reubin Askew]], and Muskie. ([[Larry O'Brien]] was also approached but no offer made).<ref name="white-1972-207"/> Finally, he named U.S. ambassador to France [[Sargent Shriver]], a brother-in-law of John F. Kennedy.<ref name="white-1972-207">White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', p. 207–210.</ref> McGovern's [[1000 percent|1,000 percent]] statement and subsequent reneging made him look both indecisive and an opportunist, and has since been considered one of the worst gaffes in presidential campaign history.<ref name="miroff-93">Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', pp. 89, 93.</ref> McGovern himself would long view the Eagleton affair as having been "catastrophic" for his campaign.<ref name="wapo-might"/>

[[File:George McGovern UH.jpeg|thumb|right|upright|McGovern speaking at an October 1972 rally in Houston during the final weeks of the campaign]]

The general election campaign did not go well for McGovern. Nixon did little campaigning;<ref>Reeves, ''President Nixon'', pp.&nbsp;524–525.</ref> he was buoyed by the success of [[1972 Nixon visit to China|his visit to China]] and [[Moscow Summit (1972)|arms-control-signing summit meeting in the Soviet Union]] earlier that year, and shortly before the election [[Henry Kissinger]]'s somewhat premature statement that "peace is at hand" in Vietnam.<ref>Witcover, ''Party of the People'', pp. 587–588.</ref> Top Republican figures attacked McGovern for being weak on defense issues and "encouraging the enemy";<ref>{{cite news |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1972/08/22/93417749.pdf |title= Criticism Harsh: Democrat Is Assailed As Extremist Periling Nixon Peace Bid |author=Frankel, Max |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 22, 1972 |page=1|author-link= Max Frankel }}</ref> Nixon asserted that McGovern was for "peace at any price" in Vietnam rather than the "[[peace with honor]]" that Nixon said he would bring about.<ref name="autogenerated252">Wayne, ''The Road to the White House 2008'', pp. 252–253.</ref> McGovern chose to not emphasize his own war record during the campaign.{{refn|McGovern would later say of not emphasizing his war record more during the campaign: "I think it was a political error, but I always felt kind of foolish talking about my war record – what a hero I was. How do you do that?&nbsp;... [I]t was not in my nature to turn the campaign into a constant exercise in self-congratulatory autobiography."<ref name=Kauffman>{{cite news|author=Kauffman, Bill |date=January 30, 2006 |url=http://www.amconmag.com/article/2006/jan/30/00012/ |title=Come Home, America |magazine=[[The American Conservative]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514005534/http://www.amconmag.com/article/2006/jan/30/00012/ |archive-date=May 14, 2011 |author-link=Bill Kauffman }}</ref> Such disinclination was common among World War II veterans.<ref name="nyt-obit"/>|group="nb"}} The McGovern Commission changes to the convention rules marginalized the influence of establishment Democratic Party figures, and McGovern struggled to get endorsements from figures such as former President Johnson and Chicago mayor [[Richard J. Daley]].<ref>Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', p. 102.</ref> The [[AFL–CIO]] remained neutral, after having always endorsed the Democratic presidential candidate in the past.<ref>Reeves, ''President Nixon'', pp. 516–517.</ref> Some southern Democrats, led by former Texas governor [[John Connally]], switched their support to the Republican incumbent through a campaign effort called [[Democrats for Nixon]].<ref>Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', pp. 228–229.</ref> Nixon outspent McGovern by more than two-to-one.<ref>Wayne, ''The Road to the White House 2008'', p. 66.</ref>

Nixon directly requested that his aides use government records to try to dig up dirt on McGovern and his top contributors.<ref>Reeves, ''President Nixon'', pp.&nbsp;520–521.</ref> McGovern was publicly attacked by Nixon surrogates<ref>Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', pp. 239–241.</ref> and was the target of various operations of the Nixon "dirty tricks" campaign.<ref name="miroff-243">Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', pp. 241–243.</ref> The infamous [[Watergate burglaries|Watergate break-in]] of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in June 1972 was an alternate target after bugging McGovern's headquarters was explored.<ref name="miroff-243"/> The full dimensions of the subsequent [[Watergate scandal]] did not emerge during the election;<ref name="miroff-243"/> the vast majority of the press focused on McGovern's difficulties and other news rather than the break-in or who was behind it, and a majority of voters were unaware of Watergate.<ref>Reeves, ''President Nixon'', pp. 503, 507, 519, 569.</ref>  In the end, Nixon's covert operations had little effect in either direction on the election outcome.<ref name="miroff-243"/><ref>White, ''The Making of the President 1972'', pp. 296–297.</ref>

[[File:1972 United States presidential election results map by county.svg|thumb|left|alt=Colored map|County-by-county results of the election, shaded by percentage won: Nixon in red, McGovern in blue]]

By the final week of the campaign, McGovern knew he was going to lose.<ref>Thompson, ''Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72'', pp. 402–404.</ref> While he was appearing in [[Battle Creek, Michigan]], on November 2, a Nixon admirer heckled him. McGovern told the heckler, "I've got a secret for you", then said softly into his ear, "Kiss my ass."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DXksAAAAIBAJ&pg=2998,472856&dq=mcgovern+kiss-my-ass&hl=en | title=George, Heckler Exchange Words | agency=[[Associated Press]] | newspaper=[[The Spartanburg Herald]] | date=November 3, 1972 | page=B8}}</ref> The incident was overheard and reported in the press, and became part of the tale of the campaign.{{refn|By McGovern's later telling, "KMA" buttons were being worn by people in the crowds at McGovern rallies by the following night.<ref>McGovern, ''Grassroots'', p. 246.</ref> Some observers felt it showed a forcefulness that his campaign had theretofore lacked.<ref name="autogenerated252"/> Several years later, McGovern observed [[Mississippi]] Senator [[James Eastland]], not a big supporter of his, looking at him from across the Senate floor and chuckling to himself. He subsequently approached McGovern and asked, "Did you really tell that guy in '72 to kiss your ass?" When McGovern smiled and nodded, Eastland replied, "That was the best line in the campaign."<ref>{{cite book|title=Presidential Campaigns|first=Paul|last=Boller|year=2004|page=340|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fZ_fSmFIabQC| isbn=0-19-516716-3 | publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York}}</ref> |group="nb"}}

In the general election on November 7, 1972, the McGovern–Shriver ticket suffered a 61 percent to 37 percent defeat to Nixon – at the time, the second biggest landslide in American history, with an [[U.S. Electoral College|Electoral College]] total of 520 to 17. McGovern's two electoral vote victories came in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, and he failed to win his home state of South Dakota, which had gone Democratic in only three of the previous eighteen presidential elections and would continue to go Republican in presidential elections to come.<ref>{{cite web|author=David Leip |url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/compare.php?year=2016&fips=46&f=1&off=0&elect=0&type=state |title=Presidential General Election Results Comparison – South Dakota |website=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections |access-date=April 25, 2017}}</ref> Over the nation as a whole he carried a mere 135&nbsp;counties.{{refn|Overall McGovern carried 130 counties in the contiguous U.S., the District of Columbia, and four county-equivalents <!-- changed from three by some IP editor who says 'H actually also carried Hoonah-Angoon Census Area according to precinct data' -->[[United States presidential election in Alaska, 1972|in Alaska]].|group="nb"}} At just over four percent of the nation's counties, McGovern's county wins remain the fewest by almost a factor of three for any major-party nominee.<ref>{{cite book | last=Menendez | first= Albert J. | title=The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868–2004 | page=98 | isbn=0-7864-2217-3 | publisher=McFarland | date=2005}}</ref>
{{clear}}

===Remaining Senate years===
[[File:George McGovern in Tbilisi 1977.jpg|thumb|right|Senator McGovern visiting an American photography exhibition in [[Tbilisi]] in the Soviet Union in 1977]]
After this loss, McGovern remained in the Senate. He was scarred by the enormous defeat,<ref name="miroff-293">Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', p. 293.</ref> and his wife, Eleanor, took it even worse; during the winter of 1972–1973, the couple seriously considered moving to England.<ref name="nytm-mcginniss"/> His allies were replaced in positions of power within the Democratic Party leadership, and the McGoverns did not get publicly introduced at party affairs they attended.<ref name="wapo-might"/> On January 20, 1973, a few hours after Richard Nixon was re-inaugurated, McGovern gave a speech at the [[Oxford Union]] that talked about the abuses of Nixon's presidency; it brought criticism, including from some Democrats, for being ill-mannered.<ref name="wapo-might"/>

To get past the "bitterness and self-pity" he felt, McGovern forced himself to deal with the defeat humorously before audiences; starting at the March 1973 [[Gridiron Dinner]], he frequently related his campaign misadventures in a self-deprecating fashion, such as saying, "For many years, I wanted to run for the presidency in the worst possible way – and last year I sure did."<ref name="wapo-might"/><ref name="nytm-mcginniss"/><ref>Mann, ''A Grand Delusion'', p. 710.</ref> Emotions surrounding the loss would remain with McGovern for decades, as it did with some other defeated presidential nominees.<ref name="wapo-might"/> Nixon resigned in August 1974 because of the Watergate scandal. McGovern said President [[Gerald Ford]]'s subsequent September 1974 pardon of Nixon was difficult to understand, given that Nixon's subordinates were going to prison.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4XEzAAAAIBAJ&pg=628,2390236&dq=george-mcgovern+pardon+nixon&hl=en | title=Reaction splits on party lines | agency=[[Associated Press]] | newspaper=[[Bangor Daily News]] | date=September 9, 1974 | page=1}}</ref>

McGovern displayed the political resiliency he had shown in the past.<ref name="miroff-293"/> In [[1974 United States Senate election in South Dakota|1974]], he faced possible political peril because of his having neglected the state during his long presidential campaign, and by May 1973, he had already begun campaigning for re-election.<ref name="nytm-mcginniss">{{cite news | url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F20B13FD3954137A93C4A9178ED85F478785F9 | author=McGinniss, Joe | title=Second Thoughts of George McGovern | magazine=[[The New York Times Magazine]] | date=May 6, 1973 | author-link=Joe McGinniss}}</ref> An Air Force pilot and Medal of Honor recipient, [[Leo K. Thorsness]], had just been repatriated after six years as a [[prisoner of war]] in North Vietnam; he publicly accused McGovern of having given aid and comfort to the enemy and of having prolonged his time as a POW.<ref name="nytm-mcginniss"/> McGovern replied that if there had been no war, there would have been no POWs, and that everything he had done had been toward the goal of ending the war sooner.<ref name="nytm-mcginniss"/> Thorsness became the Republican nominee against McGovern, but despite the two men's different roles in it, the war did not become a significant issue.<ref name="nyt110674">{{cite news |url= http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10916FB3D5B147B93C4A9178AD95F408785F9 |title= M'Govern Wins 3d Senate Term |author=Kneeland, Douglas E. |newspaper=The New York Times |date= November 6, 1974 |page=40}}</ref> Instead, the campaign was dominated by farm policy differences and economic concerns over the [[1973–75 recession]].<ref name="nyt110674"/><ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19741002&id=HeQNAAAAIBAJ&pg=7171,192628 | title=Fear of Depression Puts McGovern Ahead | author=Evans, Rowland | author2=Novak, Robert | newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] | date=October 2, 1974 | author-link=Rowland Evans | author-link2=Robert Novak }}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Thorsness charged McGovern with being a "part-time senator" more concerned with national office and with spending over $2&nbsp;million on his re‑election bid, while McGovern labeled Thorsness a [[carpetbagger]] owing to his having grown up in Minnesota.<ref name="nyt110674"/> In a year in which Democrats were advantaged by the aftereffects of the Watergate scandal,<ref name="nyt110674"/> McGovern won re-election in November 1974 with 53 percent of the vote.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=guAoAAAAIBAJ&pg=6385,3454910 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151102094208/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=guAoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ACkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6385,3454910 | url-status=dead | archive-date=November 2, 2015 | title=McGovern, Bayh, Dole Win Again | newspaper=[[The Milwaukee Journal]] | date=November 6, 1974 | page=11}}</ref>

Following the [[Fall of Saigon]] and the end of the Vietnam War in April 1975, McGovern attributed the outcome not to Congressional refusal to fund more military aid to South Vietnam, as President Ford had wanted.  Instead, McGovern said, the regime of [[Nguyễn Văn Thiệu]] "fell because the leadership was corrupt and decadent and did not have the support of its own people."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/82267686/?terms=mcgovern%2B%22of%2Bthe%2Brefugees%22%2B%22better%2Boff%22 | title=Time to put house in order: McGovern | newspaper=Journal Gazette | location=Mattoon, Illinois | date=May 5, 1975 | page=1 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Regarding the [[Indochina refugee crisis]] that soon developed, McGovern introduced legislation in early May 1975 to enable Vietnamese refugees who had left the country in panic fearing a post-war bloodbath to return to the country.  He said, "Ninety percent of the refugees would be better off going back to their own land.  And I say that in a humanitarian spirit. ... The [new] Saigon government has already given orders that the people are not to be molested ... that is more respect than Thieu's army frequently demonstrated. ... our program for dealing with these refugees should include as the highest priority steps to facilitate their early return to Vietnam."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/173226335/?terms=mcgovern%2B%22of%2Bthe%2Brefugees%22%2B%22better%2Boff%22 | title=McGovern's proposal: Help those who want to return | first=George | last=McGovern | newspaper=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] | date=May 18, 1975 | page=7–E | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  McGovern's stance brought immediate criticism from some quarters; syndicated columnist [[John D. Lofton, Jr.]] said it proved that McGovern was "the most immoral hypocrite on the American political scene today."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/173226335/?terms=mcgovern%2B%22of%2Bthe%2Brefugees%22%2B%22better%2Boff%22 | title=Quotes from the past: His words have a hollow ring | first=John D. Jr. | last=Lofton | newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer | date=May 18, 1975 | page=7–E | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  McGovern objected to what he termed distorted interpretations of his proposal, but newspaper publisher [[Creed C. Black]] considered the criticism fair.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/173226335/?terms=mcgovern%2B%22of%2Bthe%2Brefugees%22%2B%22better%2Boff%22 | title=McGovern is, indeed, hypocritical on the refugee issue | first=Creed C. | last=Black | newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer | date=May 18, 1975 | page=7–E | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Following his Senate re-election victory, McGovern harbored thoughts of running in the [[1976 U.S. presidential election]]. Given the magnitude of his defeat in 1972, very few in the Democratic Party wanted him as a presidential candidate again.<ref name="wapo-might"/><ref>Marano, ''Vote Your Conscience'', p. 17.</ref> Unfamiliar and uncomfortable with Democratic nominee [[Jimmy Carter]], McGovern secretly voted for Ford instead.{{refn|McGovern did not publicly reveal his vote for the Republican Ford until 2007, after the former president's death, and said that without his knowledge his family had done the same thing. He later voted for Carter in the [[1980 United States presidential election|1980 presidential election]].<ref name="lkl-trans">{{cite news | url=http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0701/02/lkl.01.html | title=Farewell To President Ford (transcript) | work=[[Larry King Live]] | publisher=CNN | date=January 2, 2007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070622161727/http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0701/02/lkl.01.html | archive-date=June 22, 2007}}</ref>|group="nb"}} McGovern's view on intervention in Southeast Asia took a turn in 1978 in reaction to the ongoing [[Cambodian genocide]]. Noting that it affected a percentage of the population that made "Hitler's operation look tame", he advocated an international military intervention in Cambodia to put the [[Khmer Rouge]] regime out of power.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19780822&id=UjBPAAAAIBAJ&pg=4151,2001683 | newspaper = [[The Blade (Toledo)|The Blade]] | location=Toledo, Ohio | title = McGovern Cites Genocide, Asks Cambodia Intervention | date=August 22, 1978 | agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

[[Image:Senator Bob Dole and Senator George McGovern.jpg|thumb|left|McGovern with Bob Dole (second from left) and other senators]]

McGovern's Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs expanded its scope to include national nutrition policy. In 1977, it issued a new set of nutritional guidelines for Americans that sought to combat leading killer health conditions.<ref name="NYTObit"/><ref name="nestle"/><ref name="brody">{{cite book | last=Brody | first=Jane | author-link=Jane Brody | title=Jane Brody's Nutrition Book | publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] | location=New York | isbn=0-393-01429-0 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/janebrodysnutri000brod/page/9 9–11] | url=https://archive.org/details/janebrodysnutri000brod/page/9 | year=1981 }}</ref> Titled ''Dietary Goals for the United States'', but also known as the "McGovern Report",<ref name="NYTObit">{{cite news |author=Pearce, Jeremy |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/health/09hegsted.html |title=D. Mark Hegsted, 95, Harvard Nutritionist, Is Dead |newspaper=The New York Times |date= July 8, 2009}}</ref> it suggested that Americans eat less fat, less cholesterol, less refined and processed sugars, and more complex carbohydrates and fiber.<ref name="brody"/> While many public health officials had said all of this for some time, the committee's issuance of the guidelines gave it higher public profile.<ref name="brody"/> The recommendations proved controversial with the cattle, dairy, egg, and sugar industries, including from McGovern's home state.<ref name="nestle">{{cite book | title=Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health | first=Marion | last=Nestle | edition=2nd | publisher=[[University of California Press]] | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-520-25403-9 | pages=38–42}}</ref> The McGovern committee guidelines led to reorganization of some federal executive functions<ref name="brody"/> and became the predecessor to the more detailed [[Dietary Guidelines for Americans]] later issued twice a decade by the [[Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion]].<ref name="NYTObit"/>

In [[1980 United States Senate election in South Dakota|1980]], McGovern was one of several liberal Democratic senators targeted for defeat by the [[National Conservative Political Action Committee]] (NCPAC), which put out a year's worth of negative advertising about McGovern.<ref>Marano, ''Vote Your Conscience'', pp. 22–23.</ref> It and other [[United States anti-abortion movement|anti-abortion]] groups especially focused on McGovern's support for [[United States abortion-rights movement|abortion rights]] laws.<ref name="nyt110580">{{cite news |url= http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10B10F63B5C11728DDDAC0894D9415B8084F1D3 |title= McGovern Fails in Attempt At Fourth Term as Senator |author=Petersen, Iver |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 5, 1980 |page=A21}}</ref> McGovern faced a Democratic primary challenge for the first time, from a pro-life candidate.<ref>Marano, ''Vote Your Conscience'', p. 27.</ref> McGovern's Republican opponent was [[James Abdnor]], a four-term incumbent congressman who held identical positions to McGovern's on farm issues, was solidly conservative on national issues, and was well liked within the state.<ref name="nyt110580"/><ref>Marano, ''Vote Your Conscience'', p. 29.</ref> Abdnor's campaign focused on both McGovern's liberal voting record and what it said was McGovern's lack of involvement in South Dakota affairs.<ref name="nyt110580"/> McGovern made an issue of NCPAC's outside involvement, and that group eventually withdrew from the campaign after Abdnor denounced a letter it had sent out.<ref name="nyt110580"/> Far behind in the polls earlier, McGovern outspent Abdnor two-to-one and repeatedly criticized Abdnor's refusal to debate him, thereby drawing attention to a slight speech defect Abdnor had.<ref name="nyt110580"/><ref name="marano-32">Marano, ''Vote Your Conscience'', p. 32.</ref> Showing the comeback pattern of some of his past races in the state, McGovern closed the gap for a while.<ref name="time111780"/> In November 1980, McGovern was defeated for re-election, winning only 39 percent of the vote to Abdnor's 58 percent.<ref name="marano-32"/> In what became known as the "[[Reagan Revolution]]", McGovern was one of many Democratic casualties of that year's Republican sweep.<ref name="time111780">{{cite news | url=http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,950490,00.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204155308/http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,950490,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 4, 2013 | title=Nation: Reagan Gets a G.O.P Senate | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=November 17, 1980}}</ref>

==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" />

==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>

==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"/>

==Awards and decorations==
{{Main|List of awards and honors received by George McGovern}}
McGovern's decorations include:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApps?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=118699 |title=George Stanley McGovern |publisher=Together We Served |access-date=March 2, 2018}}</ref>
{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
|colspan="3"|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=USAAF Wings.png|width=206|alt=}}
|-
|{{ribbon devices|number=|type=oak|ribbon=Distinguished_Flying_Cross_ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=3|type=oak|ribbon=Air_Medal_ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=|type=oak|other_device=|ribbon=Presidential_Medal_of_Freedom_(ribbon).svg|width=106}}
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=4|type=service-star|ribbon=European-African-Middle_Eastern_Campaign_ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto;"
|-
|colspan="3"|[[United States Aviator Badge|Army Air Forces Pilot Badge]]
|-
|[[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]]
|[[Air Medal]]<br />with 3 bronze [[oak leaf clusters]]
|[[Presidential Medal of Freedom]]
|-
|[[American Campaign Medal]]
|[[European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal]]<br />with 4 bronze [[campaign stars]]
|[[World War II Victory Medal]]
|}

==Legacy==
[[File:McGovern Speaking 1.JPG|thumb|left|McGovern speaking at the [[Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum]],  2009]]

Owing to his resounding loss to Nixon in the 1972 election and the causes behind it, "McGovernism" became a label that a generation of Democratic politicians tried to avoid.<ref>Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', p. 120.</ref> In 1992, nationally syndicated ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' columnist [[Bob Greene]] wrote, "Once again politicians – mostly Republicans, but some Democrats, too – are using his name as a synonym for presidential campaigns that are laughable and out of touch with the American people."<ref name="bob greene">{{cite news
| title=McGovern not haunted by '72 race
| author=Greene, Bob
| newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]
| date=August 9, 1992 | author-link=Bob Greene
}}</ref> Conservatives used McGovern's name as a ready synonym for what they saw as liberal failures.<ref name="nyt-obit"/> According to Daniel McCarthy of ''[[The American Conservative]]'', the Republican Party began to act after 1972 as if "every Democratic leader, no matter how Southern, how pro-war, how middle-of-the-road, is really a McGovernite. Indeed, for nearly 40 years the [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative movement]] has defined itself in opposition to the Democratic standard-bearer of 1972. Anti-McGovernism has come to play for the Right the unifying role that anticommunism once played, much to the detriment of older principles such as limited government, fiscal continence, and prudence in foreign policy."<ref name=McCarthy>{{cite news|author=McCarthy, Daniel |date=January 12, 2009 |url=http://www.amconmag.com/article/2009/jan/12/00016/ |title=McGovern Beats Nixon |magazine=[[The American Conservative]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518165541/http://amconmag.com/article/2009/jan/12/00016/ |archive-date=May 18, 2011 }}</ref>

The association with dovishness and weakness on defense has been especially prevalent,<ref name="miroff-1">Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', pp. 1–2.</ref> although McGovern publicly stated in 1972 that he was not a [[pacifist]] and that use of force was sometimes necessary, such as in World War II.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,906071,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204215411/http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,906071,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 4, 2013 |title=Defense: Pulling Back |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=June 26, 1972 }}</ref> McGovern later said in 2001 that his political image had been exaggerated: "I am a liberal and always have been – just not the wild-eyed character the Republicans made me out to be."<ref name="nyt-label" /> He continued to feel that he was marginalized with his views miscast.<ref name="ap102906" /> He saw himself as a son of the prairie, in 2005 reciting his traditional upbringing and family values, culminating with "I'm what a normal, healthy, ideal American should be like",<ref name="nyt-obit" /> and in 2006 asked, "How the hell do you get elected in South Dakota for twenty years if you're a wild-eyed radical?"<ref name="ap102906" />

In later decades, McGovern remained a symbol, or standard-bearer, of the [[American Left]], particularly in relation to the turbulent 1960s and early 1970s when the country was torn by U.S.&nbsp;involvement in the Vietnam War and the corruption and abuse of power of the Nixon administration.<ref name="nyt-obit">{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/us/politics/george-mcgovern-a-democratic-presidential-nominee-and-liberal-stalwart-dies-at-90.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all |title=A Prairie Liberal, Trounced but Never Silenced |author=Rosenbaum, David E. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 22, 2012 |page=A1}}</ref> Throughout his career, McGovern's positions reflected his own experiences as well as a personal synthesis of the traditions of American liberalism and progressivism.<ref name="knock-cha-84">Knock, "Come Home America", p. 84.</ref> [[Southern Methodist University]] historian Thomas J. Knock wrote in 2003 that "[McGovern's] career was extraordinary and historic ... primarily because of his impress as searching and prophetic critic" and that "few political careers offer an alternative understanding of the American Century as compelling and instructive as McGovern's."<ref name="knock-cha-84" />

As chairman of the McGovern–Fraser Commission in 1969–1970, McGovern instituted major changes in Democratic party rules that continue to this day and, to a large degree, were ultimately adopted by the Republican Party as well, with large institutional changes taking place in both.<ref name="reichley-285" /> Among those was the centralization of decisions about the nominating process at the national party level, rather than with the states.<ref name="cook-44">Cook, ''The Presidential Nominating Process'', pp. 43–44.</ref> His 1972 campaign fundamentally altered how presidential primary campaigns were waged.<ref name="miroff-2">Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', pp. 2–3.</ref> Within the Democratic Party, power shifted from the [[New Deal coalition]] to younger, more affluent, issue-oriented activists; the women's movement and gay rights movement found a place; skepticism about military buildups and foreign interventions took hold; and the 1960s "New Politics" found its culmination in McGovern's nomination.<ref name="miroff-2" /> In turn, the overwhelming defeat of McGovern in the general election led to the [[Liberal wing of the Democratic Party (United States)|liberal wing of the Democratic Party]] being stigmatized for decades to come and a turn in the party towards centrist directions.<ref name="miroff-2" /> McGovern himself recognized the mixed results of his 1972 candidacy, saying, "We made a serious effort to open the doors of the Democratic Party – and as soon as we did, half the Democrats walked out."<ref name="nytm-mcginniss" /> The 2005 documentary film ''[[One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern]]'' captured some of these achievements and lamentations.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.salon.com/2005/09/16/one_bright_shining_moment/ | title='One Bright Shining Moment' | first=Andrew | last=O'Hehir | work=[[Salon.com|Salon]] | date=September 16, 2005}}</ref> [[SUNY Albany]] political scientist Bruce Miroff wrote in 2007 that the McGovern campaign was the last time in presidential politics that liberals had "their chance to speak of their goals with enthusiasm and their dreams with fire&nbsp;... Yet almost at the instant that the insurgents successfully stormed the heights of American politics, they found themselves on the brink of one of the worst free falls on record."<ref name="miroff-1" /> Half a century after McGovern's 1972 winning nomination effort, writers were making extensive comparisons between it and the [[Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/bernie-sanders-george-mcgovern/606883/ | title=Bernie Sanders Is George McGovern | author-first=Derek | author-last=Thompson | author-link=Derek Thompson (journalist) | magazine=[[The Atlantic]] | date=February 21, 2020}}</ref>

[[Image:B-1 nose art commemorating B-24 Dakota Queen.jpg|thumb|right|Nose art on a [[B-1 Lancer]] seen in 2007 commemorating McGovern's service as a B-24 pilot]]

Staffers who worked on McGovern's 1972 campaign later became influential within the Democratic Party.<ref name="miroff-290">Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', pp. 290–293.</ref> Campaign manager Gary Hart staged his own presidential runs in 1984 and 1988. Future president Bill Clinton, with assistance from his future wife and politician, [[Hillary Rodham]], had managed the McGovern campaign's operations in Texas.<ref name="nyt-obit"/> Hart both embraced and moved away from aspects of his past affiliation with McGovern,<ref>Miroff, ''The Liberals' Moment'', pp. 286–288.</ref><ref>Witcover, ''Party of the People'', p. 635.</ref> while Clinton, and the [[Democratic Leadership Council]] movement of which he was a part, explicitly rejected McGovern's ideology.<ref>Witcover, ''Party of the People'', p. 632.</ref> There was still a legacy in terms of staffing, as the Clinton White House would be full of former "McGovernites".<ref name="miroff-290"/><ref>Knock, "Feeding the World and Thwarting the Communists", pp. 114, 120.</ref>

McGovern's post-political career generally enhanced his reputation; [[Tom Brokaw]], who referred to McGovern as part of the "[[The Greatest Generation (book)|Greatest Generation]]", wrote in 1998 that "he remains one of the country's most decent and thoughtful public servants."<ref name="brokaw-121"/> McGovern's legacy also includes his commitment to combating hunger both in the United States and around the globe. He said, "After I'm gone, I want people to say about me: He did the best he could to end hunger in this country and the world."<ref name="staug"/> In the view of Knock, McGovern in all his activities arguably accomplished more for people in need than most presidents or secretaries of state in U.S. history.<ref name="knock-ftw-114"/> Responding to the [[Serenity Prayer]]'s desire to "grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change", McGovern said simply that he rejected that notion: "I keep trying to change them."<ref name="ap102906"/>

==Writings==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* McGovern, George S. ''War Against Want: America's Food for Peace Program'', Walker & Co., 1964.
* McGovern, George (ed.) ''Agricultural Thought in the Twentieth Century'', Bobbs-Merrill, 1966.
* McGovern, George. ''A Time of War! A Time of Peace'', Vintage Books, 1968. {{ISBN|0-394-70481-9}}.
* McGovern, George S. and Leonard F. Guttridge. ''The Great Coalfield War'', Houghton Mifflin, 1972.
* McGovern, George. ''Grassroots: The Autobiography of George McGovern'', Random House, 1977. {{ISBN|0-394-41941-3}}.
* McGovern, George. ''Terry: My Daughter's Life-And-Death Struggle With Alcoholism'', New York: Villard, 1996. {{ISBN|0-679-44797-0}}, {{oclc|34701568}}.
* McGovern, George. ''The Third Freedom: Ending Hunger in Our Time'', Simon & Schuster, 2001. {{ISBN|0-684-85334-5}}.
* McGovern, George. ''The Essential America: Our Founders and the Liberal Tradition'', Simon & Schuster, 2004. {{ISBN|0-7432-6927-6}}.
* McGovern, George. ''Social Security and the Golden Age: An Essay on the New American Demographic'', Speaker's Corner Books, 2005. {{ISBN|1-55591-589-2}}.
* McGovern, George, [[Bob Dole]] and Donald E. Messer. ''Ending Hunger Now: A Challenge to Persons of Faith'', Augsburg Fortress, 2005. {{ISBN|0-8006-3782-8}}.
* McGovern, George and William R. Polk. ''Out of Iraq: A Practical Plan for Withdrawal Now'', Simon & Schuster, 2006. {{ISBN|1-4165-3456-3}}.
* McGovern, George S., [[Donald C. Simmons, Jr.]] and Daniel Gaken (eds.) ''Leadership and Service: An Introduction'', Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2008. {{ISBN|0-7575-5109-2}}.
* McGovern, George S. ''Abraham Lincoln'', Times Books, 2008. {{ISBN|0-8050-8345-6}}, {{oclc|229028942}}.
* McGovern, George with Linda Kulman. ''What It Means to Be a Democrat'', Blue Rider Press, 2011. {{ISBN|0-399-15822-7}}.
{{refend}}

==See also==
[[Image:McGovern Thompson 1972.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|McGovern in conversation with self-described gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, June 1972]]
* [[List of awards and honors received by George McGovern]]
* [[Electoral history of George McGovern]]
* [[List of peace activists]]
* [[Jim McGovern (American politician)]]
{{clear}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group="nb"}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
{{refbegin|35em}}
* [[Ambrose, Stephen]], ''[[The Wild Blue|The Wild Blue : The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany 1944–45]]'', Simon & Schuster, 2001. {{ISBN|0-7432-0339-9}}.
* [[Robert Sam Anson|Anson, Robert Sam]], ''McGovern: A Biography'', New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. {{ISBN|0-03-091345-4}}.
* [[Brokaw, Tom]], ''[[The Greatest Generation (book)|The Greatest Generation]]'', New York: Random House, 1998.
* [[Clinton, Bill]], ''[[My Life (Bill Clinton autobiography)|My Life]]'', Vintage, 2005. {{ISBN|1-4000-3003-X}}.
* Cook, Rhodes, ''The Presidential Nominating Process: A Place for Us?'', Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004 (paperback). {{ISBN|0-7425-2594-5}}.
* Dougherty, Richard, ''Goodbye, Mr. Christian: A Personal Account of McGovern's Rise and Fall'', Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1973. {{ISBN|0-385-01546-1}}.
* Giglio, James N., "The Eagleton Affair: Thomas Eagleton, George McGovern, and the 1972 Vice Presidential Nomination", ''Presidential Studies Quarterly,'' December 2009, Vol. 39 Issue 4, pp.&nbsp;647–676.
* Glasser, Joshua M., ''The Eighteen-Day Running Mate: McGovern, Eagleton, and a Campaign in Crisis'', New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012. {{ISBN|0-300-17629-5}}.
* [[Hart, Gary]], ''Right from the Start: A Chronicle of the McGovern Campaign'', New York: Quadrangle, 1973. {{ISBN|0-8129-0372-2}}.
* Knock, Thomas J., "Feeding the World and Thwarting the Communists: George McGovern and Food for Peace" in Jespersen, J. Christopher, and Schmitz, David F. (eds.), ''Architects of the American Century: Essays on American Foreign Policymakers and the Organizations They Have Shaped'', Chicago: Imprint Publications, 2000. pp.&nbsp;98–120.
* Knock, Thomas J., "'Come Home, America': The Story of George McGovern" in Woods, Randall B. (ed.), ''Vietnam and the American Political Tradition: The Politics of Dissent'', New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. {{ISBN|0-521-81148-1}}. pp.&nbsp;82–120.
* Knock, Thomas J. ''The Rise of a Prairie Statesman: The Life and Times of George McGovern'', Volume 1, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016. {{ISBN|0-691-14299-8}}.
* Lauck, Jon K. "George S. Mcgovern and the Farmer: South Dakota Politics, 1953–1962", ''South Dakota History,'' Winter 2002, Vol. 32 Issue 4, pp.&nbsp;331–353.
* Lempke, Mark A. ''My Brother's Keeper: George McGovern and Progressive Christianity''. Amherst, University of Massachusetts Press, 2017. {{ISBN|1-62534-277-2}}.
* Mann, Robert, ''A Grand Delusion: America's Descent Into Vietnam'', New York: Basic Books, 2001. {{ISBN|0-465-04369-0}}.
* Marano, Richard Michael, ''Vote Your Conscience: The Last Campaign of George McGovern'', Praeger Publishers, 2003. {{ISBN|0-275-97189-9}}.
* [[Eleanor McGovern|McGovern, Eleanor]], ''Uphill: A Personal Story'', Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974. {{ISBN|0-395-19414-8}}.
* Miroff, Bruce, ''The Liberals' Moment: The McGovern Insurgency and the Identity Crisis of the Democratic Party'', University Press of Kansas, 2007. {{ISBN|0-7006-1546-6}}.
* Moritz, Charles (ed.), ''[[Current Biography Yearbook|Current Biography Yearbook 1967]]'', H. W. Wilson Company, 1968. <!-- book has no ISBN -->
* [[Richard Reeves (American writer)|Reeves, Richard]], ''President Nixon: Alone in the White House'', New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001 (paperback). {{ISBN|0-7432-2719-0}}.
* Reichley, A. James, ''The Life of the Parties: A History of American Political Parties'', Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2000 (paperback). {{ISBN|0-7425-0888-9}}.
* [[Schlesinger Jr., Arthur M.]], ''[[A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House]]'', Houghton Mifflin, 1965. {{ISBN|0-618-21927-7}}.
* [[Hunter S. Thompson|Thompson, Hunter S.]], ''[[Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72]]'', Warner Books, 1973. {{ISBN|0-446-31364-5}}.
[[File:In Memoriam George McGovern library display.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Monmouth County Library]] Headquarters displayed books by and about McGovern, following his October 2012 death.]]
* Watson, Robert P. (ed.), ''George McGovern: A Political Life, A Political Legacy'', South Dakota State Historical Society Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-9715171-6-9}}.
* Wayne, Stephen J., ''The Road to the White House 2008: The Politics of Presidential Elections'' (8th edition), Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2008. {{ISBN|0-495-09632-6}}.
* Weil, Gordon L., ''The Long Shot: George McGovern Runs for President'', New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1973. {{ISBN|0-393-05498-5}}.
* [[Theodore H. White|White, Theodore H.]], ''The Making of the President 1968'', Antheneum Publishers, 1969. <!-- book has no ISBN -->
* White, Theodore H., ''The Making of the President 1972'', Antheneum Publishers, 1973. {{ISBN|0-689-10553-3}}.
* [[Jules Witcover|Witcover, Jules]], ''Party of the People: A History of the Democrats'', New York: Random House, 2003. {{ISBN|0-375-50742-6}}.
{{refend}}

=== Further reading ===
{{refbegin|35em}}
* Andelic, Patrick. ''Donkey Work: Congressional Democrats in Conservative America, 1974–1994'' (University Press of Kansas, 2019). Liberal Democrats in Congress did not give up after McGovern's presidential defeat in 1972.
* Johnson, Marc C. ''Tuesday Night Massacre: Four Senate Elections and the Radicalization of the Republican Party'' (University of Oklahoma Press, 2021). The 1980 Senate races saw bitter defeats of [[Frank Church]], [[Birch Bayh]], [[John Culver]], and McGovern and weakened moderates in the Republican Party.

{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons}}
[[File:Avon SD McGovern.JPG|thumb|right|A marker commemorating McGovern's birthplace]]
{{CongLinks | congbio=M000452 | votesmart= | fec= | congress= }}<!--
Links formerly displayed via the CongLinks template:
* [http://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n80-39703 Works by or about George McGovern] in libraries ([[WorldCat]] catalog)
* [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/person/1325 Appearances] on [[C-SPAN]] programs
* [http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/2778 Appearances] on [[Charlie Rose (TV show)|''Charlie Rose'']]
* [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0569566 Appearances] at the [[Internet Movie Database]]
* [http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/george_s_mcgovern/index.html Collected news and commentary] at ''[[The New York Times]]''
* -->
* {{C-SPAN|1325}}
** [http://www.c-span.org/video/?301280-1/george-mcgovern-presidential-contender "George McGovern, Presidential Contender"] from [[C-SPAN]]'s ''[[The Contenders]]''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110611083410/http://www.wfp.org/content/george-mcgovern-goodwill-ambassador George McGovern – Goodwill Ambassador at World Food Programme]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110705125203/http://www.fas.usda.gov/excredits/FoodAid/FFE/FFE.asp McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program]
* [http://www.mcgoverncenter.com/ George and Eleanor McGovern Center for Leadership and Public Service at Dakota Wesleyan University]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110714060350/http://www.mcgoverncenter.com/museum.htm McGovern Legacy Museum at McGovern Center]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110629141156/http://www.dwu.edu/library/ McGovern Library at Dakota Wesleyan University]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120510040255/http://www.dwu.edu/library/Archives/mcgovern.htm The Senator George S. McGovern Collection at Dakota Wesleyan University]
* [http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/f7623c58x George S. McGovern Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University]
* [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/3437-1 McGovern nomination acceptance speech, July 10, 1972]
* [http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2015/07/26/george-mcgovern-fbi-files/30690835/ George McGovern FBI files, Part 1]
* [http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2015/07/26/part-2-george-mcgovern-fbi-files/30691139/ George McGovern FBI files, Part 2]
* [https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/items/show/917 Interview with George McGovern by Stephen McKiernan, Binghamton University Libraries Center for the Study of the 1960s, August 13, 2010]
* [http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/cwtpd Recordings of George McGovern presidential campaign radio spots, 1972–1974, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University]

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{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from South Dakota|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br />from [[South Dakota's 1st congressional district]]|years=1957–1961}}
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{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=Kenneth Holum}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[List of United States Senators from South Dakota|U.S. Senator]] from [[South Dakota]]<br />([[Classes of United States Senators|Class 2]])|years=[[1960 United States Senate election in South Dakota|1960]]}}
{{s-aft|after=Donn Wright}}
|-
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[List of United States Senators from South Dakota|U.S. Senator]] from [[South Dakota]]<br />([[Classes of United States Senators|Class 3]])|years=[[1962 United States Senate election in South Dakota|1962]], [[1968 United States Senate election in South Dakota|1968]], [[1974 United States Senate election in South Dakota|1974]], [[1980 United States Senate election in South Dakota|1980]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Tom Daschle]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Hubert Humphrey]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[List of United States Democratic Party presidential tickets|nominee]] for [[President of the United States]]|years=[[1972 United States presidential election|1972]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jimmy Carter]]}}
|-
{{s-par|us-sen}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Joseph H. Bottum]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of United States Senators from South Dakota|United States Senator (Class 3) from South Dakota]]|years=1963–1981|alongside=[[Karl Mundt]], [[James Abourezk]], [[Larry Pressler]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[James Abdnor]]}}
|-
{{s-new|office}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the [[United States Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs|Senate Select Nutrition Committee]]|years=1968–1977}}
{{s-non|reason=Position abolished}}
|-
{{s-dip}}
{{s-bef|before=Thomas A. Forbord}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture]]|years=1998–2001}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Tony P. Hall]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{George McGovern}}
{{Unsuccessful major party pres candidates}}
{{USDemPresNominees}}
{{USSenSD}}
{{SouthDakotaUSRepresentatives}}
{{United States presidential election, 1968}}
{{United States presidential election, 1972}}
{{United States presidential election, 1984}}
{{Gandhi Peace Award laureates}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGovern, George}}
[[Category:George McGovern| ]]
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American biographers]]
[[Category:21st-century American historians]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:American anti–Vietnam War activists]]
[[Category:American autobiographers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American people of Canadian descent]]
[[Category:American people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:American political writers]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1968 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1972 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1984 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:Dakota Wesleyan University alumni]]
[[Category:Dakota Wesleyan University faculty]]
[[Category:Democratic Party (United States) presidential nominees]]
[[Category:Democratic Party United States senators from South Dakota]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Dakota]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Sioux Falls, South Dakota]]
[[Category:Northwestern University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Bon Homme County, South Dakota]]
[[Category:People from Mitchell, South Dakota]]
[[Category:Politicians from Sioux Falls, South Dakota]]
[[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Air Medal]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)]]
[[Category:Representatives of the United States to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces bomber pilots of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces officers]]
[[Category:Writers from South Dakota]]
[[Category:Methodists from South Dakota]]
[[Category:Liberalism in the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]