Farewell to a kindred spirit

In 1972 Senator George McGovern was the Democratic Candidate for President. He ran against President Richard Nixon. The economy was under water (kinda like today). The political gurus said the South Dakota Senator had no chance.

McGovern said if elected President he would stimulate the economy by giving every man, woman and child in America $1,000. I immediately thought of Robin Hood (stealing from the rich to give to the poor) and used part of my expected $1,000 to create a poster titled “Robin McGovern alias George Hood.”

The poster ended up in Time Magazine and I received a call from McGovern’s Administrative Assistant, asking if the Senator could get one. I sent six with the agreement that McGovern would autograph three and send those back to me.

Defeated by Nixon, McGovern returned to the Senate and pressed there to end the Vietnam war while championing agriculture, anti-hunger and food stamp programs in the United States and food programs abroad. He won re-election to the Senate in 1974, by which point he could make wry jokes about his presidential defeat.

"For many years," he once told guests at a formal press dinner in Washington, DC, "I wanted to run for the presidency in the worst possible way ... and last year, I sure did."

George McGovern ran for President three times. He was a good and honest public servant and a strong advocate for human rights. He died last Sunday. I will light a candle for him.