Editing Eugene McCarthy (section)

{{Short description|American politician (1916–2005)}}
{{other people|Gene McCarthy}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image               = 1964 Portrait Eugene McCarthy.jpg
| caption             = Portrait of McCarthy, 1964
| jr/sr               = United States Senator
| state               = [[Minnesota]]
| term_start          = January 3, 1959
| term_end            = January 3, 1971
| predecessor         = [[Edward John Thye]]
| successor           = [[Hubert Humphrey]]
| state2              = [[Minnesota]]
| district2           = {{ushr|MN|4|4th}}
| term_start2         = January 3, 1949
| term_end2           = January 3, 1959
| predecessor2        = [[Edward Devitt]]
| successor2          = [[Joseph Karth]]
| birth_name          = Eugene Joseph McCarthy
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1916|3|29}}
| birth_place         = [[Watkins, Minnesota]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2005|12|10|1916|3|29}}
| death_place         = Washington, D.C., U.S.
| party               = [[Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Abigail McCarthy|Abigail Quigley]]|June 5, 1945|1969|end={{abbr|sep.|separated}}}}
| children            = 5
| profession          = {{Hlist|Academic|author|editor}}
| alma_mater          = [[College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University|Saint John's University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[University of Minnesota]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])
| allegiance          = United States
| branch              = [[United States Army]]
| battles             = [[World War II]]
| unit                = [[Military Intelligence]] Division
}}

'''Eugene Joseph McCarthy''' (March 29, 1916{{spaced ndash}}December 10, 2005) was an American politician, writer, and academic from [[Minnesota]]. He served in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1949 to 1959 and the [[United States Senate]] from 1959 to 1971. McCarthy sought the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] presidential nomination in the [[1968 United States presidential election|1968 election]], challenging incumbent [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] on an anti–[[Vietnam War]] platform, and unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination for president on four subsequent occasions.

Born in [[Watkins, Minnesota]], McCarthy became an economics professor after earning a graduate degree from the [[University of Minnesota]]. He served as a code breaker for the [[United States Department of War]] during [[World War II]]. McCarthy became a member of the [[Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party]] (the state affiliate of the Democratic Party) and in 1948 was elected to the House of Representatives, where he served until being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1958. McCarthy was a prominent supporter of [[Adlai Stevenson&nbsp;II]] for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960, and was himself a candidate for the Democratic vice-presidential nomination in 1964. He co-sponsored the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965]], though he later expressed regret about its impact and became a member of the [[Federation for American Immigration Reform]].

As the 1960s progressed, McCarthy emerged as a prominent opponent of Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War. After [[Robert F. Kennedy]] declined the request of a group of antiwar Democrats to challenge Johnson in the [[Democratic Party presidential primaries, 1968|1968 Democratic primaries]], McCarthy entered the race on an antiwar platform.<ref name=Fire>{{cite book | last1=O'Donnell |first1=Lawrence |date=2017 |title=Playing with Fire – The 1968 Elections and the Transformation of American Politics |edition=1st |publisher=[[Penguin Press]] |isbn=9780399563140}}</ref> Though he was initially given little chance of winning, the [[Tet Offensive]] galvanized opposition to the war, and McCarthy finished in a strong second place in the [[New Hampshire primary]]. After that, Kennedy entered the race, and Johnson announced that he would not seek reelection. McCarthy and Kennedy each won several primary contests.

The race was upended in June 1968 when Kennedy was [[Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy|assassinated]]. McCarthy won a plurality of both the popular vote and the delegate count in the Democratic primaries, but the rules at the time did not bind delegates to their primary results. After Kennedy's assassination, his delegates became uncommitted, with most ultimately backing [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President ]][[Hubert Humphrey]], who had not actively campaigned in the primaries. He had entered the primaries in April 1968 and was the preferred candidate of President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. This gave Humphrey the majority needed to secure the Democratic nomination at the [[1968 Democratic National Convention]].

McCarthy did not seek reelection in the [[United States Senate elections, 1970|1970 Senate election]]. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination [[Democratic Party presidential primaries, 1972|in 1972]] but fared poorly in the primaries. He ran in several more races after that but was never elected to another office. He ran as an Independent in the [[1976 United States presidential election|1976 presidential election]] and won 0.9% of the popular vote. He was a plaintiff in the landmark campaign finance case ''[[Buckley v. Valeo]]'' and supported [[Ronald Reagan]] in the [[1980 United States presidential election|1980 presidential election]].