George McGovern

A Representative and a Senator from South Dakota. Born in Avon, Bon Homme County, S. Dak. , July 19, 1922. Attended the public schools of Mitchell, S. Dak. , and Dakota Wesleyan University, 1940-1942. Enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in June 1942, flew combat missions in the European Theater, and was discharged from the service in July 1945. Returned to Dakota Wesleyan University and graduated in 1946. Held teaching assistantship and fellowship at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. , 1948-1950, receiving his Ph. D. From that university in 1953. Professor of history and government at Dakota Wesleyan University 1950-1953. Executive secretary of South Dakota Democratic Party 1953-1956. Member of Advisory Committee on Political Organization of Democratic National Committee 1954-1956. Elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-fifth and Eighty-sixth Congresses (January 3, 1957-January 3, 1961). Was not a candidate for renomination in 1960, but was unsuccessful for election to the United States Senate. Appointed special assistant to the President January 20, 1961, as director of the Food for Peace Program, and served until his resignation July 18, 1962, to become a candidate for the United States Senate. Elected to the United States Senate in 1962. Reelected in 1968 and 1974 and served from January 3, 1963, to January 3, 1981. Chairman, Select Committee on Unmet Basic Needs (Ninetieth Congress), Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs (Ninety-first through Ninety-fifth Congresses). Unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the U. S. Senate in 1980. Unsuccessful candidate for Democratic presidential nomination in 1968 and 1984. Unsuccessful Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1972. Lecturer and teacher. U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Agencies in Rome, Italy, 1998-2001. Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on August 9, 2000. Appointed United Nations Global Ambassador on World Hunger in 2001. Died October 21, 2012. Interment in Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D. C.