Eugene McCarthy

Eugene McCarthy
McCarthy in 1964
United States Senator
from Minnesota
In office
January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1971
Preceded byEdward John Thye
Succeeded byHubert Humphrey
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Minnesota's 4th district
In office
January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1959
Preceded byEdward Devitt
Succeeded byJoseph Karth
Personal details
Born
Eugene Joseph McCarthy

(1916-03-29)March 29, 1916
Watkins, Minnesota, U.S.
DiedDecember 10, 2005(2005-12-10) (aged 89)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyMinnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Spouse
(m. 1945; sep. 1969)
Children5
Alma materSaint John's University (BA)
University of Minnesota (MA)
Profession
  • Academic
  • author
  • editor
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
UnitMilitary Intelligence Division
Battles/warsWorld War II

Eugene Joseph McCarthy (March 29, 1916 – December 10, 2005) was an American politician, writer, and academic from Minnesota. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the United States Senate from 1959 to 1971. McCarthy sought the Democratic presidential nomination in the 1968 election, challenging incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson on an anti-Vietnam War platform. McCarthy unsuccessfully ran for U.S. president four more times.

Born in Watkins, Minnesota, McCarthy became an economics professor after earning a graduate degree from the University of Minnesota. He served as a code breaker for the United States Department of War during World War II. McCarthy became a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (the state affiliate of the Democratic Party) and in 1948 was elected to the House of Representatives, where he served until being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1958. McCarthy was a prominent supporter of Adlai Stevenson II for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960, and was himself a candidate for the Democratic vice-presidential nomination in 1964. He co-sponsored the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, though he later expressed regret about its impact and became a member of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

As the 1960s progressed, McCarthy emerged as a prominent opponent of Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War. After Robert F. Kennedy declined the request of a group of antiwar Democrats to challenge Johnson in the 1968 Democratic primaries, McCarthy entered the race on an antiwar platform.[1] Though he was initially given little chance of winning, the Tet Offensive galvanized opposition to the war, and McCarthy finished in a strong second place in the New Hampshire primary. After that, Kennedy entered the race, and Johnson announced that he would not seek reelection. McCarthy and Kennedy each won several primaries before Kennedy was assassinated in June 1968. McCarthy won the plurality of the primary vote, which at the time was non-binding, losing at the 1968 Democratic National Convention to Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Johnson's preferred candidate.

McCarthy did not seek reelection in the 1970 Senate election. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972 but fared poorly in the primaries. He ran in several more races after that but was never elected to another office. He ran as an Independent in the 1976 presidential election and won 0.9% of the popular vote. He was a plaintiff in the landmark campaign finance case Buckley v. Valeo and supported Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election.

  1. ^ O'Donnell, Lawrence (2017). Playing with Fire – The 1968 Elections and the Transformation of American Politics (1st ed.). Penguin Press. ISBN 9780399563140.