McCarthy, Eugene J. 1916–2005
McCarthy, Eugene J. 1916–2005
OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born March 29, 1916, in Watkins, MN; died of complications from Parkinson's disease, December 10, 2005, in Washington, DC. Politician, educator, and author. McCarthy was a U.S. Congressman from Minnesota whose unsuccessful 1968 campaign for the presidency resulted in incumbent President Lyndon Johnson's withdrawal from the election. Known as a private man who would establish a strong record in civil rights while serving his country, McCarthy began his career as a teacher. He graduated from St. John's University with a B.A. in 1935, where he had considered becoming a monk. This idea ended after he trained as a novitiate for nine months. Instead, he became a high school teacher, and in 1941 earned a master's degree in economics and sociology from the University of Minnesota. McCarty then returned to St. John's to teach education and economics. During World War II, he worked for the U.S. Department of War as a civilian code breaker. He then returned to teaching, this time at the College of St. Thomas in Minnesota, before his successful run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1948. McCarthy represented his fourth district for the next ten years before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1958. Becoming known for his stand against Senator Joseph McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Committee, as well as for his support of failed presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson, during the Johnson administration McCarthy became increasingly vocal in his protests of the Vietnam War. He thus found himself a champion to American anti-war activists. The campaign for president in 1968 was fraught with unexpected twists and turns. Seeing McCarthy had built huge support, President Johnson unexpectedly pulled out of the race. Next, Senator Robert F. Kennedy announced his candidacy, dividing the Democrats, who were then stunned when Kennedy was assassinated. The result was a highly contentious 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, where Vice President Hubert Humphrey won the nomination, resulting in riots in the streets. Humphrey ultimately lost to Richard M. Nixon. Critics of McCarthy's campaign felt he lost because, while the senator could often prove charming and eloquent, he was also aloof and arrogant at times; also, he failed to court minorities toward his cause, something Senator Kennedy had been better at doing. McCarthy did not run again for the U.S. Senate after his term was completed in 1970. He went back to teaching and lecturing, as well as to writing. However, he made three more unsuccessful bids for the U.S. presidency: in 1972, 1976, and 1988. He taught political science at the New School from 1973 to 1974, and became a syndicated columnist in 1977. McCarthy also was a prolific author, writing everything from nonfiction to poetry and stories for children. Among his published works are Frontiers in American Democracy (1960), The Limits of Power: America's Role in the World (1967), America Revisited: 150 Years after Tocqueville (1978), A Colony of the World: The United States Today (1992), and An American Bestiary (2000). He also penned the children's story Mr. Raccoon and His Friends (1977) and the poetry collections Ground Fog and Night (1979) and Eugene J. McCarthy: Selected Poems (1998), along with two memoirs.
OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:
BOOKS
McCarthy, Eugene J., Up 'til Now: A Memoir, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (San Diego, CA), 1987.
McCarthy, Eugene J., Season of Hope: A Christmas Memoir, Afton Historical Society Press (Afton, MN), 2001.
PERIODICALS
Los Angeles Times, December 11, 2005, pp. A1, A34.
New York Times, December 12, 2005, p. A25.
Times (London, England), December 12, 2005, p. 50.
Washington Post, December 11, 2005, pp. A1, A18.