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Born July 19, 1922
Avon, South Dakota

U.S. senator from South Dakota, 1962–1980;
Democratic presidential nominee in 1972

South Dakota Democratic Senator George McGovern was one of the earliest and harshest critics of American military involvement in South Vietnam. His censure of U.S. policy in Vietnam began in early 1965 and remained strong throughout the war. In 1972 McGovern won the Democratic Party's nomination for the presidency. Over the next several months, he vowed to immediately pull out of Vietnam if he defeated President Richard Nixon (see entry) in the general election. But Nixon soundly thrashed his challenger in the November election, winning forty-nine states.

Political beliefs shaped by religion and war

George Stanley McGovern was born on July 19, 1922, in the small farming community of...