Eugene McCarthy

Eugene McCarthy

Eugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy (March 29, 1916 – December 10, 2005) was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.

In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first candidate to challenge incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States, running on an anti-Vietnam War platform. The unexpected vote total he achieved in the New Hampshire primary and his strong polling in the upcoming Wisconsin primary led Johnson to withdraw from the race, and lured Robert F. Kennedy into the contest. Fellow Minnesotan US Vice-President Hubert Humphrey also entered the race after Johnson's withdrawal. McCarthy would unsuccessfully seek the presidency five times altogether.

Read more about Eugene McCarthy:  Early Life, Entry Into Politics, The 1968 Campaign, Poetry, Private Life, Presidential Campaign 1972, Presidential Campaign 1976, Further Activism, Death, Presidential Election Results, Books By Eugene McCarthy, Papers

Famous quotes containing the word mccarthy:

    There are no new truths, but only truths that have not been recognized by those who have perceived them without noticing. A truth is something that everybody can be shown to know and to have known, as people say, all along.
    —Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)