George McGovern has died…

Last week or so I wrote about former Senator  George McGovern who had been admitted to a hospice with a deadly disease. Now, at 90 years old, McGovern has died.

McGovern ran for President 3 times and was nominated once, but lost to Richard Nixon. He was a North Dakota’s Representative to the U.S. House from 1957 to 1961 and a U.S. Senator from 1963 to 1981. For 24 years he was one of the leaders of the Democratic Party.

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Ex-Senator and former Presidential Candidate George McGovern in a South Dakota Hospice.

“He’s coming to the end of his life,” McGovern’s daughter, Ann, stated. She didn’t elaborate but noted that her 90-year-old father has suffered several health problems in the last year.

George McGovern became a leader of the Democrats’ liberal wing during his three decades in Congress but lost his 1972 challenge to Richard Nixon. McGovern turned his focus in recent years to world hunger.

It was after a lecture tour a year ago that he was treated for exhaustion, then two months later, he fell and hit his head.

McGovern spent several days in a Florida hospital in April for tests to determine why he occasionally passed out and had difficulty speaking. His daughter said he has moved in the Dougherty Hospice House in Sioux Falls, SD, where he moved in August to spend more time near his family.

McGovern was a member of the U.S. House from 1957 to 1961 and a U.S. senator from 1963 to 1981.

Related articles

• Ex-presidential nominee George McGovern in hospice (sfgate.com)
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Sargent Shriver dies at 95…

The last great name from the John F. Kennedy Administration, Sargent Shriver died of Alzheimer’s on Tuesday at age 95. He was the first Director of the Peace Corps, the leader of the War on Poverty for Lyndon Johnson, George McGovern‘s running mate as VP candidate, Husband of the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver with whom he created the Special Olympics, Ambassador to France, and once was called the “First Brother-In-Law.

“Sarge has been a presence in our lives for decades,” President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement. “We went into public service because of the example of leaders like Sarge, who translated President Kennedy’s call to service into action.”

No task was too hard for Shriver, and Jacqueline Kennedy turned to him in her hour of despair to plan and execute JFK’s funeral. For Johnson he created the Head Start program.

Beginning in 2003 he started showing the effects of Alzheimer’s and eventually could not recognize members of his own family, a heartbreaking occurance for his daughter Maria Shriver Schwarzenegger.

A truly great man who helped define the latter half of the Twentieth Century.

Related Articles

• Son: Ex-V.P. Nominee Sargent Shriver Dies at 95 (time.com)
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• Sargent Shriver, Peace Corps founder, dies age 95 (telegraph.co.uk)
• Sargent Shriver dies at 95 * (laobserved.com)

McGovern to Obama: Get Out of Afghanistan

It’s a sign of how old I am that I remember Viet Nam. Too many voters today don’t. I wish Obama did.