Despite mistakes of '72, McGovern, Eagleton remained close friends

ST. LOUIS -- George McGovern was still fighting for the presidential nomination, even as the 1972 Democratic National Convention was under way. Picking a running mate was not high among his priorities.

When several higher profile candidates, including Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, either turned him down or were ruled out, he chose Missouri's 42-year-old first-term senator, Thomas Eagleton.

The result proved disastrous. Within days, word leaked that Eagleton had been hospitalized for depression a decade earlier. He was forced off the ticket, and McGovern's campaign never recovered.

Yet the two men remained close friends until Sunday, when Eagleton died in St. Louis. He was 77.

"I just finished talking to his wife and she's taking it very well," McGovern, 84, said Sunday. "She said he had a long and marvelous life."

Then- Sen. Thomas Eagleton reacted while listening to then- presidential hopeful Sen. George McGovern's announcement that Eagleton was stepping aside as vice-presidential running mate at a Washington news conference, in this Aug. 1, 1972 file photo. Eagleton, who resigned as Sen. McGovern's vice presidential nominee after it was revealed he had been hospitalized for depression, died XXX (Associated Press)

The loss came at an especially difficult time for McGovern. His wife of 63 years, Eleanor, died Jan. 25.

Eagleton and McGovern were alike in many ways. Both were outspoken opponents of the Vietnam War and supporters of environmental reforms.

So when McGovern needed a running mate in June 1972, Eagleton -- young and popular in Missouri, an important swing state -- seemed a solid choice. Besides, McGovern recalled, he was fighting off a bid by former Vice President Hubert Humphrey and was a bit preoccupied.

McGovern and an aide, Frank Mankiewicz, interviewed Eagleton over the phone. In a 2003 interview, Eagleton recalled being asked if he ever used drugs or drank excessively, but the subject of mental illness didn't come up. Eagleton said he had not had symptoms of depression for years and "didn't think it was all that big a deal."

"I think two mistakes were made," McGovern said. "Tom made a mistake in not telling me about this history of serious manic-depressive problems. And I made a mistake in not checking more thoroughly. But that convention was a mad house in 1972."

The stigma of mental illness overwhelmed the McGovern campaign. McGovern initially vowed to back Eagleton "1,000 percent," but relented to mounting pressure. Eagleton was forced off the ticket in favor of Sargent Shriver, an in-law of the Kennedys.

McGovern said that by initially supporting Eagleton, then dropping him, he created "the only credibility problem I've had in politics before or since." He believes that if he had weathered the initial storm and kept Eagleton, they could have beaten President Nixon in the November election. Instead, Nixon won in a landslide, carrying every state but Massachusetts.

"I think we would" have won, McGovern said. "We wouldn't have had this problem of explaining that we're for him [Eagleton], then we're against him. And of course the press wrote it with greater attention than they did the Watergate break-in."

Less than two years after the election, Nixon resigned. "The country went through a terrible tragedy that would not have happened" if the Democrats had won, McGovern said.

McGovern and Eagleton shared more than the same liberal political bent. Both were passionate followers of the St. Louis Cardinals. McGovern said he would often travel to St. Louis and stay with the Eagletons, usually taking in a Cardinals game or two.

The two often exchanged books and articles. They consulted on ideas for speeches. They were last together in the summer of 2005, in Washington to attend a memorial service for longtime Democratic Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin.

"It's a real loss to the country," McGovern said of Eagleton's death. "He was a scrapper -- he didn't back away from a fight, yet he was disarming in his dealings with people."