George McGovern

George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American politician, diplomat, and historian from South Dakota who served in both chambers of the United States Congress, first as a member of the United States House of Representatives representing South Dakota's 1st congressional district from 1957 to 1961, and then as a United States Senator from 1963 to 1981. McGovern also served as the director of Food for Peace in 1961 and 1962 under President John F. Kennedy. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's presidential nominee in the 1972 presidential election. McGovern was born in Avon, South Dakota, and grew up in the near city of Mitchell, where he became a renowned debater. He volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Forces upon the country's entry into World War II. As a B-24 Liberator pilot, he flew 35 missions over German-occupied Europe from a base in Italy. Among the medals he received was a 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. House of Representatives in 1956 and re-elected in 1958. After a failed bid for the U.S. Senate in 1960, he was a successful candidate in 1962. As a senator, McGovern was a prominent example of modern American liberalism. He became most known for his outspoken opposition to the growing U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. He staged a brief nomination run in the 1968 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 caucuses and primaries and...