Eugene McCarthy was an American politician who represented Minnesota in the United States Senate for a number of years. He is best known for being the first contender to oppose incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 1968 presidential election, which contributed to Johnson’s decision to withdraw from the race. Despite the fact that his presidential bid was failed, his participation in the 1968 presidential election had a significant impact on American politics. McCarthy, who was born in Watkins, Minnesota, to a cattle buyer, had no political ties in his family. While still a student at the institution, he began teaching and eventually rose to become a professor of economics and education at St. John’s. He entered politics as a young man and, after a few years, was elected to the United States Senate. As a senator, he was a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War, and he was persuaded to run against incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson by Democratic politician Allard K. Lowenstein and his anti-Vietnam War Dump Johnson organization. McCarthy made a risky move in opposing the mighty Johnson, and Johnson surprisingly dropped out of the contest as a result of his gutsy action. McCarthy, despite his popularity and several efforts, was unable to realize his ambition of becoming president.
Childhood and Adolescence
Eugene Joseph McCarthy was one of four children born to Anna and Michael J. McCarthy on March 29, 1916, in Watkins, Minnesota. His father worked as a cattle buyer and postmaster.
He went to Watkins’ St. Anthony’s Catholic School and Collegeville, Minnesota’s Saint John’s Preparatory School, where he graduated in 1931.
He then went on to Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, and the University of Minnesota to further his study. He worked as a teacher in a variety of public schools while pursuing his master’s degree at the University of Minnesota, which he received in 1939.
Career of Eugene McCarthy
In 1940, he was hired as a professor of economics and education at St. John’s, where he stayed until 1943. In 1944, he was sent to the Military Intelligence Division of the War Department as a civilian technical assistant.
He returned to teaching after the war, taking a post as a sociology and economics instructor at the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1946, eventually rising to become chairman of the sociology department.
During this time, he also became involved in politics, winning the election to the United States House of Representatives in 1948 as a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.
He was elected to the United States Senate in 1958 and served on the important Senate Foreign Relations Committee, among other things. He was a co-sponsor of the Immigration Act of 1965 from the beginning, which he later regretted. He also became a member of the Federation for American Immigration Reform’s Board of Advisors as a senator.
McCarthy was a staunch opponent of the Vietnam War, which had been going on since 1955, and by 1967, he had become an outspoken critic of the conflict. Several others opposed the war and marched in Washington to show their displeasure. President Lyndon B. Johnson’s popularity and political support were suffering as a result of his anti-war stance.
Allard K. Lowenstein and his anti-Vietnam War Dump Johnson movement urged McCarthy to run against incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968, impressed by McCarthy’s prominence as a leader of the anti-war movement. McCarthy garnered a lot of support from other anti-war crusaders as well as the general people.
Eugene McCarthy campaigned on an anti-war platform, claiming that the American people opposed the war for military, economic, diplomatic, and moral reasons. In the Democratic primary in New Hampshire in March 1968, he became an incredibly popular candidate, receiving 42 percent of the vote.
The outcome of this vote aided the anti-war movement, and President Lyndon B. Johnson stated that he would not run for re-election and withdrew from the campaign shortly after. Despite his success in forcing President Johnson out of office, McCarthy was unable to get the nomination, which went to Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
McCarthy returned to the Senate after the 1968 election, but did not seek re-election in 1970. He tried for the Democratic Presidential nomination again a few years later in 1972 but did not perform well and eventually dropped out. In the same year, he abandoned the Democratic Party.
In the 1976 presidential election, he ran as an independent candidate for the first time. During his campaign, he advocated for nuclear disarmament, pledged complete employment, and railed against the IRS. However, he was unable to realize his ambition of becoming President for the second time. In 1988 and 1992, he tried two more times, but both times were unsuccessful.
He was also a writer and poet, with works such as ‘Ground Fog and Night’ (1979), ‘Complexities and Contraries: Essays of Mild Discontent’ (1982), ‘Up ‘Til Now’ (1987), ‘1968: War and Democracy’ (2000), and ‘Parting Shots from My Brittle Brow’ (2002). (2004).
Major Projects of Eugene McCarthy
Eugene McCarthy is most known for being a leader of the anti-war movement in America who ventured to run for President of the United States against incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. His anti-Vietnam War attitude made him highly popular, and it helped to force Johnson out of the presidential election.
Personal History and Legacy
Eugene McCarthy married Abigail Quigley in 1944. They had five children together. He divorced his wife after 24 years of marriage in 1969, but they never divorced. It was claimed that he had an affair with Shana Alexander, a well-known columnist, and journalist. McCarthy had a long-term connection with CBS News correspondent Marya McLaughlin, according to author Dominic Sandbrook, who published McCarthy’s biography.
In his later years, he developed Parkinson’s disease and died on December 10, 2005, at the age of 89.
In 2009, St. John’s University established the Eugene McCarthy Distinguished Public Service Award in his honor.
Eugene McCarthy Net Worth
Eugene is one of the wealthiest politicians and one of the most well-known. Eugene McCarthy’s net worth is estimated to be $1.5 million, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.