Thomas Eagleton

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Thomas Eagleton
Official portrait, 1967
United States Senator
from Missouri
In office
December 28, 1968 – January 3, 1987
Preceded byEdward V. Long
Succeeded byKit Bond
38th Lieutenant Governor of Missouri
In office
January 11, 1965 – December 27, 1968
GovernorWarren E. Hearnes
Preceded byHilary A. Bush
Succeeded byWilliam S. Morris
35th Attorney General of Missouri
In office
January 9, 1961 – January 11, 1965
GovernorJohn M. Dalton
Preceded byJohn M. Dalton
Succeeded byNorman H. Anderson
Personal details
Born
Thomas Francis Eagleton

(1929-09-04)September 4, 1929
St. Louis, Missouri, US
DiedMarch 4, 2007(2007-03-04) (aged 77)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Barbara Ann Smith
​
(m. 1956)​
Children2
EducationAmherst College (BA)
Harvard University (LLB)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Navy
Years of service1947–1949

Thomas Francis Eagleton (September 4, 1929 – March 4, 2007) was an American lawyer who served as a United States senator from Missouri from 1968 to 1987. He was briefly the Democratic vice presidential nominee under George McGovern in 1972. He suffered from bouts of depression throughout his life, resulting in several hospitalizations, which were kept secret from the public. When they were revealed, it humiliated the McGovern campaign, and Eagleton was forced to quit the race. He later became adjunct professor of public affairs at Washington University in St. Louis.

Early life and political career

Eagleton as Lieutenant Governor in 1965

Eagleton was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Zitta Louise (Swanson) and Mark David Eagleton, a politician who had run for mayor. His paternal grandparents were Irish immigrants, and his mother had Swedish, Irish, French, and Austrian ancestry.[1]

Eagleton graduated from St. Louis Country Day School, served in the U.S. Navy for two years, and graduated in 1950 from Amherst College, where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Sigma Chapter). He then attended Harvard Law School. After graduating in 1953, Eagleton practiced law at his father's firm and later became associated with Anheuser-Busch's legal department.[2]

Eagleton married Barbara Ann Smith of St. Louis on January 26, 1956. A son, Terence, was born in 1959, and a daughter, Christin, in 1963. He was elected circuit attorney of the City of St. Louis in 1956. During his tenure, he appeared on the TV show What's My Line? (episode #355) as "District Attorney of St. Louis". (He stumped the panel.)[3][4] He was elected Missouri Attorney General in 1960 at age 31 (the youngest in the state's history). He was elected the 38th lieutenant governor of Missouri in 1964, and won a U.S. Senate seat in 1968, unseating incumbent Edward V. Long in the Democratic primary and narrowly defeating Congressman Thomas B. Curtis in the general election.

Eagleton suffered from depression; he checked himself into hospital three times between 1960 and 1966 for physical and nervous exhaustion, receiving electroconvulsive therapy (shock therapy) twice.[5][6] He later received a diagnosis of bipolar II from Frederick K. Goodwin.[7]

The hospitalizations, which were not widely publicized, had little effect on his political aspirations. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted in 1972, immediately after Eagleton's vice-presidential nomination: "He had been troubled with gastric disturbances, which led to occasional hospitalizations. The stomach troubles have contributed to rumors that he had a drinking problem."[6]

1972 vice-presidential candidacy

Main article: 1972 United States presidential election

"Amnesty, abortion, and acid"

On April 25, 1972, as George McGovern won the Massachusetts Democratic primary, conservative journalist Robert Novak phoned Democratic politicians around the country. On April 27, 1972, Novak reported in a column his conversation with an unnamed Democratic senator about McGovern.[8][9] Novak quoted the senator as saying:

The people don't know McGovern is for amnesty for draft dodgers, abortion, and legalization of pot. Once middle America—Catholic middle America, in particular—finds this out, he's dead.[8]

Because of the column McGovern became known as the candidate of "amnesty, abortion, and acid",[10][11] even though he only supported the decriminalization of marijuana and maintained that legalized abortion fell under the purview of states' rights.[12][13][14]

On July 15, 2007, several months after Eagleton's death, Novak said on Meet the Press that the unnamed senator was Eagleton.[11] Novak was accused in 1972 of manufacturing the quote, but said that to rebut the criticism, he took Eagleton to lunch after the campaign and asked whether he could identify him as the source; Eagleton refused.[8] "Oh, he had to run for reelection", Novak said. "The McGovernites would kill him if they knew he had said that."[11] Political analyst Bob Shrum says that Eagleton never would have been selected as McGovern's running mate if it had been known at the time that Eagleton was the source of the quote.[11] "Boy, do I wish he would have let you publish his name. Then he never would have been picked as vice president," said Shrum.[11] "Because the two things, the two things that happened to George McGovern—two of the things that happened to him—were the label you put on him, number one, and number two, the Eagleton disaster. We had a messy convention, but he could have, I think in the end, carried eight or 10 states, remained politically viable. And Eagleton was one of the great train wrecks of all time."[11]

Selection as vice-presidential nominee

After a large number of prominent Democrats declined to be McGovern's running mate, Senator Gaylord Nelson (who was among those who declined) suggested Eagleton. McGovern chose Eagleton after only a minimal background check, as was customary for vice-presidential selections at the time.[15][16] Eagleton did not mention his hospitalizations, and in fact decided with his wife to keep them secret from McGovern while he was flying to his first meeting with McGovern.

Replacement on the ticket

On July 25, 1972, just over two weeks after the 1972 Democratic Convention, Eagleton said that news reports that he had received electroshock therapy for clinical depression during the 1960s were true. McGovern initially said he would back Eagleton "1,000 percent". McGovern consulted confidentially with preeminent psychiatrists, including Eagleton's doctors, who advised him that a recurrence of Eagleton's depression was possible and could endanger the country should Eagleton become acting president.[17][18][19][20][21] On August 1, nineteen days after being nominated, Eagleton withdrew at McGovern's request, and after a new search by McGovern, was replaced by Sargent Shriver, former U.S. Ambassador to France, and former (founding) director of the Peace Corps and the Office of Economic Opportunity.[22]

A Time poll taken at the time found that 77% of the respondents said "Eagleton's medical record would not affect their vote." Nonetheless, the press made frequent references to his "shock therapy", and McGovern feared that this would detract from his campaign platform.[23]

McGovern's failure to vet Eagleton[15] and his subsequent handling of the controversy gave occasion for the Republican campaign to raise serious questions about his judgment. In the general election, the Democratic ticket won only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

Continued Senate career

Eagleton in 1977

Eagleton was reelected to the Senate in 1974 with 60% of the vote against Thomas B. Curtis, who had been his opponent in 1968. In 1980, he was reelected by a closer-than-expected margin over St. Louis County Executive Gene McNary.

During the 1980 election, Eagleton's niece Elizabeth Eagleton Weigand and lawyer Stephen Poludniak were arrested for blackmail after they threatened to spread false accusations that Eagleton was bisexual.[24][25] Eagleton told reporters that the extorted money was to be turned over to the Church of Scientology.[26] Weigand appealed her conviction, arguing that her trial should have been moved out of St. Louis because of extensive publicity that might have prejudiced jurors. The U.S. Supreme Court declined her appeal in 1982.[27]

Eagleton did not seek a fourth term in 1986. Former Republican Governor Kit Bond succeeded him in the Senate.

Senate career

In the Senate, Eagleton was active in matters dealing with foreign relations, intelligence, defense, education, health care, and the environment. He was instrumental to the Senate's passage of the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, and sponsored the amendment that halted the bombing in Cambodia and effectively ended American involvement in the Vietnam War.

Notably, Eagleton was one of only three senators to oppose the nomination of Gerald Ford as vice president in 1973. The other two senators were William Hathaway of Maine and Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin.

Eagleton was involved in the unsuccessful attempt to pass the Human Life Amendment, a series of proposals to amend the United States Constitution with the effect of overturning the Supreme Court 1973 decision Roe v. Wade, which ruled that abortion bans were unconstitutional. The version of the Human Life Amendment in which Eagleton was most involved, the Hatch-Eagleton Human Life Federalism Amendment, was the only one to receive a formal vote in the Senate.[28]

Post-Senate career

In January 1987, Eagleton returned to Missouri as an attorney, political commentator, and professor at Washington University in St. Louis, where until his death he was professor of public affairs.[29][30] Throughout his Washington University career, Eagleton taught courses in economics with former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors Murray Weidenbaum and with history professor Henry W. Berger on the Vietnam War.[30]

On July 23, 1996, Eagleton delivered a warm introductory speech for McGovern during a promotional tour for McGovern's book Terry: My Daughter's Life-and-Death Struggle with Alcoholism at The Library, Ltd., in St. Louis. At that time, McGovern spoke favorably about Eagleton and reminisced about their short-lived presidential ticket.[31]

During the 2000s, Eagleton served on the Council of Elders for the George and Eleanor McGovern Center for Leadership and Public Service at Dakota Wesleyan University.[32]

In January 2001, he joined other Missouri Democrats to oppose the nomination of former governor and senator John Ashcroft for United States Attorney General. Eagleton was quoted in the official Judiciary Committee record: "John Danforth would have been my first choice. John Ashcroft would have been my last choice."[33]

In 2005 and 2006, he co-taught a seminar on the U.S. presidency and the Constitution with Joel Goldstein at Saint Louis University School of Law. He was also a partner in the St. Louis law firm Thompson Coburn and a chief negotiator for a coalition of local business interests that lured the Los Angeles Rams football team to St. Louis.[29][30] Eagleton authored three books on politics. He strongly supported Democratic Senate nominee Claire McCaskill in 2006; McCaskill defeated incumbent Jim Talent.

Eagleton led a group, Catholics for Amendment 2, composed of prominent Catholics who challenged church leaders' opposition to embryonic stem cell research and supported a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have protected such research in Missouri. The group emailed a letter to fellow Catholics explaining reasons for supporting Amendment 2.[34] The amendment ensures that any federally approved stem cell research and treatments would be available in Missouri. "[T]he letter from Catholics for Amendment 2 said the group felt a moral obligation to respond to what it called misinformation, scare tactics and distortions being spread by opponents of the initiative, including the church."[34]

Eagleton died in St. Louis on March 4, 2007, of heart and respiratory complications. He donated his body to medical science at Washington University.[35] He wrote a farewell letter to his family and friends months before he died, saying that his dying wishes were for people to "go forth in love and peace—be kind to dogs—and vote Democratic".[36]

Honors and awards

Eagleton threw out the ceremonial first pitch to end the pregame ceremonies of Game 5 of the 1985 World Series.

The 8th Circuit federal courthouse in St. Louis is named after Eagleton. Dedicated on September 11, 2000, it is named the Thomas F. Eagleton United States Courthouse.

Eagleton has been honored with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.[37]

Personal life

Eagleton was a Roman Catholic.[38] He strongly opposed abortion despite his reputation as a liberal.[39] His religion was one of the defining factors of his political career, as religion was an important political issue in Missouri. Eagleton's Catholicism increased his appeal to the working class of St. Louis and offset the "elitist stigma" of his private school education. At the same time, Missouri's suburbs were staunchly anti-Catholic, which proved a challenge during the 1960 election.[38]

Eagleton believed the Catholic Church was "a vital part of American life, conscience[,] and thought". He described himself as "a Pope John XXIII and an Archbishop John L. May Catholic", and considered these two figures his religious mentors.[40] Because of his religion and youth, Eagleton was often compared to John F. Kennedy; in 1972, St. Louis Post Dispatch wrote: "With his good looks, style, youth, liberal views and Catholic religion, Eagleton is the closest thing to a Kennedy Missouri has to offer".[41] In his 2006 farewell letter, Eagleton wrote: "In the era of a Christian right, we seem to have merged God’s power into political power".[40]

Eagleton married Barbara Ann Smith Eagleton in 1956, and the couple had two children together, a son and a daughter. Eagleton was survived by his wife and their children.[39]

References

  1. ^ Noble, Barnes &. "Call Me Tom: The Life of Thomas F. Eagleton". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  2. ^ "C0674 Eagleton, Thomas F. (1929–2007), Papers, 1944–1987" (PDF). The State Historical Society of Missouri. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 4, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
  3. ^ TV.com. "What's My Line?: EPISODE #355". TV.com. Archived from the original on September 14, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  4. ^ What's My Line? (January 8, 2014). "What's My Line? – Mamie Van Doren; Melvyn Douglas [panel] (Mar 24, 1957)". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  5. ^ Clymer, Adam (March 5, 2007). "Thomas F. Eagleton, 77, a Running Mate for 18 Days, Dies". The New York Times.
  6. ^ a b "St. Louis Post-Dispatch". Stltoday.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  7. ^ Altman, Lawrence K. (July 23, 2012). "Hasty and Ruinous 1972 Pick Colors Today's Hunt for a No. 2". The New York Times. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  8. ^ a b c Kraske, Steve (July 28, 2007). "With another disclosure, Novak bedevils the dead". Kansas City Star. Archived from the original on October 18, 2007.
  9. ^ Ganey, Terry (August 19, 2007). "A slice of history: Biographers of the late U.S. Sen. Thomas Eagleton of Missouri will find some vivid anecdotes when they comb through his large collection of journals, letters and transcripts housed in Columbia". Columbia Tribune. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013.
  10. ^ Riesel, Victor (July 6, 1972). "Coalition Breaking". Rome News-Tribune. Rome, Georgia.
  11. ^ a b c d e f "Interview with Robert Novak", Meet the Press, NBC News, July 15, 2007
  12. ^ "Interview with Robert Novak", Meet the Press, NBC News, July 15, 2007. Retrieved January 21, 2011
  13. ^ Ganey, Terry (August 19, 2007), "A slice of history", Columbia Tribune, archived from the original on June 7, 2013.
  14. ^ Boller, Paul F., Presidential Campaigns: From George Washington to George W. Bush, Oxford University Press, 2004, pp. 339
  15. ^ a b McGovern, George S., Grassroots: The Autobiography of George McGovern, New York: Random House, 1977, pp. 190–191
  16. ^ Theodore White, The Making of the President, 1972, (1973), pp. 256–258
  17. ^ McGovern, George S., Grassroots: The Autobiography of George McGovern, New York: Random House, 1977, pp. 214–215
  18. ^ McGovern, George S., Terry: My Daughter's Life-and-Death Struggle with Alcoholism, New York: Random House, 1996, pp. 97
  19. ^ Marano, Richard Michael, Vote Your Conscience: The Last Campaign of George McGovern, Praeger Publishers, 2003, pp. 7
  20. ^ The Washington Post, "George McGovern & the Coldest Plunge", Paul Hendrickson, September 28, 1983
  21. ^ The New York Times, "'Trashing' Candidates" (op-ed), George McGovern, May 11, 1983
  22. ^ Theodore White, The Making of the President, 1972, (1973), pp. 260
  23. ^ Garofoli, Joe (March 26, 2008). "Obama bounces back – speech seemed to help". The San Francisco Chronicle.
  24. ^ Kohn, Edward (October 20, 1980). "Eagleton's Reelection Bid Interrupted By Trial of Niece on Extortion Charge". Washington Post.
  25. ^ "Around the Nation; Convictions Upheld In Eagleton Extortion". New York Times. August 15, 1981.
  26. ^ Noble, Alice (October 23, 1980). "A niece of Sen. Thomas F. Eagleton, D-Mo., testified..." UPI.
  27. ^ "The Supreme Court today refused to enter the highly... - UPI Archives".
  28. ^ "Human Life Amendment".
  29. ^ a b Mannies, Jo (March 4, 2007). "Senator and statesman, Thomas Eagleton dies at 77". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on March 7, 2007. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  30. ^ a b c "Thomas F. Eagleton, former U.S. senator and WUSTL professor of public affairs, dies at 77". The Record. Washington University in St. Louis. March 8, 2007. Archived from the original on March 18, 2007. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  31. ^ Video regarding My Daughter's Struggle with Alcoholism, St. Louis, Missouri: C-SPAN Video Library, July 23, 1996
  32. ^ Council of Elders, McGovern Center for Leadership and Public Service, Dakota Wesleyan University
  33. ^ Woods, Harriett (January 19, 2001), Testimony For The Judiciary Committee Hearing On The Nomination of John Ashcroft, US Senate, archived from the original on March 29, 2007
  34. ^ a b "Catholic group fights church leaders on stem cell research". CNN. November 5, 2006. Archived from the original on November 6, 2006.
  35. ^ "Thomas F. Eagleton, former U.S. senator and WUSTL professor of public affairs, dies at 77". Record.wustl.edu. March 7, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  36. ^ "Final wish: Be kind to dogs, vote Democratic". NBC News. Associated Press. March 10, 2007. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
  37. ^ St. Louis Walk of Fame. "St. Louis Walk of Fame Inductees". stlouiswalkoffame.org. Archived from the original on October 31, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  38. ^ a b Murphy, James J. (2007). "Eagleton in Missouri: The Record in Local and State Office". Saint Louis University Law Journal. 52 (1): 41.
  39. ^ a b "Ex-Sen. Thomas Eagleton, D-Mo., dies at 77". NBCNews.com. March 4, 2007.
  40. ^ a b McCaskill, Claire (2007). "Tribute to Former Senator Tom Eagleton". Saint Louis University Law Journal. 52 (1): 33.
  41. ^ Thurber, Jon (March 5, 2007). "Thomas Eagleton, 77; vice presidential candidate left race over health reports". Los Angeles Times.

Further reading

Legal offices
Preceded by Attorney General of Missouri
1961–1965 		Succeeded by
Norman H. Anderson
Political offices
Preceded by Lieutenant Governor of Missouri
1965–1968 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Missouri Attorney General
1960 		Succeeded by
Norman H. Anderson
Preceded by Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor of Missouri
1964 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Missouri
(Class 3)
1968, 1974, 1980 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Response to the State of the Union address
1972
Served alongside: Carl Albert, Lloyd Bentsen, Hale Boggs, John Brademas, Frank Church, Martha Griffiths, John Melcher, Ralph Metcalfe, William Proxmire, Leonor Sullivan 		Vacant
Title next held by
Mike Mansfield
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States
Withdrew
1972 		Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by
Edward V. Long
 U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Missouri
1968–1987
Served alongside: Stuart Symington, John Danforth 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Ranking Member of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee
1981–1987 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://mdwiki.org/wiki/Thomas_Eagleton"