George S. McGovern
July 19, 1922 - October 21, 2012
[George McGovern]
Bobby Kennedy once called him the most decent man in the Senate, but I’d go farther than that. I doubt there’s ever been a more decent human being in politics than George Stanley McGovern.
George McGovern was a FDR-styled liberal in the Democratic party that had been split by the Vietnam War and civil rights issues since the mid 1960s, Richard Nixon took advantage of that split coalition to eek out a very very narrow victory in the 1968 election against the Democratic candidate Vice President Hubert Humphrey. In 1968, Nixon had promised a secret peace plan to get the United States out of Vietnam (but would never reveal the details), and the Nixon campaign may have leaked information the press to have prevent a real settlement immediately prior to the 1968 election. Having been in the Senate since 1963, McGovern had fought against United States military involvement in Vietnam for years and sponsored legislation against it (including the current War Powers Act, which requires the President to give notification to Congress after 60 days when American military forces are engaged). McGovern favored amnesty to be extended to draft dodgers who had fled to Canada, to avoid serving in the war. McGovern fought for an much more open and fairer primary system for nominating candidates within the Democratic Party, and encouraged minority participation and involvement. McGovern fought for the ending of poverty and hunger within the United States, both as a Senator from the agricultural state of South Dakota and and later in his private life, after leaving public service (Prior to being elected to the Senate, McGovern served as director to President Kennedy's "Food for Peace" program, and would eventually serve as United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, and 2000 started the George McGovern-Robert Dole International Food for Education and Nutrition Program, which served 22 million meals to children in 41 countries over the next eight years. President Bush reappointed McGovern to his position at the UN.
I remember the promise of McGovern's campaign and his crushing loss in the 1972 election, which heralded the start of the horrible label, even within the Democratic Party "A liberal Democrat." As the Republican party became more conservative, to be electable, the Democratic party did too. Senator Ted Kennedy would chide Bill Clinton some twenty two years later, telling him "The last thing this country needs are two Republican parties." I couldn't imagine a President McGovern agreeing to American citizens being assassinated overseas, or agreeing to drone attacks that go horribly wrong and killing innocent civilians. I wished there were a lot more liberal and real progressives in our political system now. We will miss George McGovern.
In fact, McGovern warned President Obama about the risks of going down the rabbit-hole of war and "national security issues" sapping the philosophical life out of a president's administration.
MSNBC correspondent Steve Kornacki's eloquent and moving tribute for George McGovern:
That thing Douglas MacArthur said about old soldiers can be just as true when it comes to old politicians: “They don’t die- they just fade away.” One day they’re in the thick of the action, then they exit the stage, years pass, and we forget they’re still around… until one day while thumbing through the newspaper we happen upon a brief obituary and we say: “Oh yeah, him.” Or oh “Yeah, her.” Maybe it was one of the good ones, so we’ll shake our heads. “That’s too bad.” Or maybe it was one of the not-so good ones and we’ll shrug our shoulders. Either way, we turn the page in a minute or two, and that’s that. But the script doesn’t always go that way and sometimes it shouldn’t.
George McGovern is 90 years old and he doesn’t have much time left. He’s gone home to South Dakota and entered hospice care, and his daughter said Monday that her father is “nearing the end of his life.” Nearing the end, yes- but not there yet. For the moment, he’s still alive. And thank God for that, because it gives all of us a chance to remind ourselves who exactly this man is and to let him know how much his life has mattered to this nation.
Bobby Kennedy once called him the most decent man in the Senate, but I’d go farther than that. I doubt there’s ever been a more decent human being in politics than George Stanley McGovern. He was- he is- a liberal Democrat, but you needn’t be a fellow traveler to tip your cap. What he really is is an unusually honest man from unusually humble roots whose heart is always with the underdog.
He grew up in the worst of Dust Bowl poverty, the son of a Methodist minister, even became a clergyman himself for a few years. He’s a patriot. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, he quit school, enlisted, and flew bombing missions over Germany in a plane called The Dakota Queen. The experiences shaped him and he entered politics with a mission- fighting poverty, to end hunger, stop war, and always, always look out for the little guy- even, or especially, when no one else is.
History says McGovern lost one of the worst landslides ever in the 1972 presidential race. He only carried one state, Massachusetts, and didn’t even crack 40 percent of the vote. But history forgets the promise his campaign began with: a coalition of young voters who didn’t want anymore of their brothers, or cousins or friends or classmates dying in Vietnam, and of blue collar voters who didn’t wanted a fair chance to get ahead. Together, they would have been an unstoppable force, but Richard Nixon saw to it that they were divided. McGovern, the preacher’s son, was the candidate of amnesty, acid and abortion, he told his “silent majority,” and they believed him.
It was a horribly unfair caricature, but McGovern was philosophical. “There are worse things than losing,” he said years later. “That landslide, victorious team of ’72 spent a total of 180 years in prison, and the president resigned in disgrace.” This country’s politics were better with George McGovern a part of them, and this country is a better place because of his life. I’m glad I can look into this camera today and tell him that. And if he means anything at all to you, I hope you’ll find a way to let him know too.
Resources:
Senator McGovern wrote several books on a variety of subjects, including world hunger.
George McGovern on Wikipedia.
Senator McGovern's concession speech after losing the 1972 presidential election.