George McGovern

George Stanley McGovern (Avon, South Dakota, July 19, 1922 – Sioux Falls, South Dakota, October 21, 2012) was an American politician and historian.

Biography

McGovern enlisted as a fighter pilot in World War II, and was decorated for his exploits. He earned a Ph.D. in history from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, and later taught at Dakota Wesleyan University, Mitchell, South Dakota. He was a United States Congressman and Senator in 1956, 1962, and 1974, as well as a Democratic presidential candidate during the 1972 presidential election that he lost to President Richard Nixon, who was running for re-election. McGovern has probably been the Democratic presidential candidate with ideas closest to socialism in the history of the United States and who, according to his detractors, broke all the marks of political radicalism previously registered in the country. His program in the 1972 elections promised an end to American involvement in the Vietnam War and a reduction in the military budget, in addition to supporting programs to combat poverty, recognize civil rights, and even the bold measure of decriminalizing marijuana. McGovern achieved the nomination for the Democratic Party after a tough internal election among ten candidates, and despite losing some important primary elections, such as the one in Florida against George Wallace. It should be noted that future politicians William Jefferson Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Gary Hart worked for this campaign. After a controversial presidential campaign in which the opposition candidate used later discredited tactics such as the Watergate raids, the November 7, 1972 gave a landslide victory to Richard Nixon, with a difference of 60% to 38% in the popular vote and from 520 to 17 in the electoral delegates. However, time proved McGovern right, who provoked a formidable change of orientation in the ideology of the Democratic Party. His latest public activities include: representative of the United States to the FAO in Rome, and Global Ambassador of the United Nations against World Hunger within the framework of the World Food Program.