McGovern, George Stanley

McGovern, George Stanley (mugŭv'urn) [key], 1922–, U.S. senator from South Dakota (1963–81), b. Avon, S.Dak. He was (1942–45) a decorated B-24 bomber pilot during World War II and later taught (1949–53) American history. After serving as a Democrat (1957–61) in the U.S. House of Representatives, he was (1961–62) director of President Kennedy's Food for Peace Program and helped to found the UN World Food Program. Elected (1962) to the U.S. Senate, McGovern became an outspoken critic of defense spending and was among the first senators to oppose the Vietnam War. At the 1968 Democratic convention he tried unsuccessfully to rally the antiwar supporters of the late Robert F. Kennedy. McGovern announced (1971) his candidacy for the presidency on a platform promising to end the war in Vietnam, cut defense spending by $30 billion, and provide a guaranteed annual income for all Americans. His grassroots campaign won (1972) him the Democratic nomination, but his handling of the Thomas Eagleton affair, in which he announced complete support for his running mate and then dropped him for Sargent Shriver, and Republican charges of radicalism, contributed to his defeat by Richard M. Nixon in the election. McGovern subsequently served as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations under Presidents Ford and Carter. He lost a bid for a fourth Senate term in 1980, and made an unsuccessful run for the 1984 Democratic presidential nomination. Under President Clinton, McGovern served as U.S. representative to the Food and Agriculture Organization. In 2001 he became the World Food Program's first global ambassador on hunger. He has written War Against Want (1964), A Time of War, A Time of Peace (1968), The Great Coalfield War (1972), Terry: My Daughter's Life-and-Death Struggle with Alcoholism (1996), The Third Freedom: Ending Hunger in Our Time (2001), and The Essential America (2004).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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