Editing Thomas Eagleton

{{Short description|American politician (1929–2007)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image               = Thomas Eagleton (D-MO) (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 1967
| jr/sr               = United States Senator
| state               = [[Missouri]]
| term_start          = December 28, 1968
| term_end            = January 3, 1987
| predecessor         = [[Edward V. Long]]
| successor           = [[Kit Bond]]
| office1             = 38th [[Lieutenant Governor of Missouri]]
| governor1           = [[Warren E. Hearnes]]
| term_start1         = January 11, 1965
| term_end1           = December 27, 1968
| predecessor1        = [[Hilary A. Bush]]
| successor1          = [[William S. Morris]]
| office2             = 35th [[Attorney General of Missouri]]
| governor2           = [[John M. Dalton]]
| term_start2         = January 9, 1961
| term_end2           = January 11, 1965
| predecessor2        = John M. Dalton
| successor2          = [[Norman H. Anderson (politician)|Norman H. Anderson]]
| birth_name          = Thomas Francis Eagleton
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1929|9|4}}
| birth_place         = [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]], US
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2007|3|4|1929|9|4}}
| death_place         = St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse              = {{Marriage|Barbara Ann Smith|1956}}
| children            = 2
| education           = [[Amherst College]] ([[B. A.|BA]])<br />[[Harvard University]] ([[LLB]])
| allegiance          = {{flag|United States|1912}}
| branch              = {{flag|United States Navy|23px}}
| serviceyears        = 1947–1949
| battles             = 
| rank                = 
| signature           = Thomas F. Eagleton signature.png
| relations           = [[Dominic West]] (cousin)
}}

'''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 Party (United States)|Democratic]] vice presidential nominee under [[George McGovern]] in [[1972 United States presidential election|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==
[[File:Thomas F. Eagleton.jpg|thumb|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/call-me-tom-james-n-giglio/1101041346?ean=9780826219404|title=Call Me Tom: The Life of Thomas F. Eagleton|first=Barnes &|last=Noble|website=Barnes & Noble|access-date=January 3, 2018}}</ref>

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.<ref name=Papers>{{cite web|title=C0674 Eagleton, Thomas F. (1929–2007), Papers, 1944–1987|url=http://shs.umsystem.edu/manuscripts/invent/0674.pdf|publisher=The State Historical Society of Missouri|access-date=January 4, 2014|archive-date=January 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104204423/http://shs.umsystem.edu/manuscripts/invent/0674.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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.)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/episode-355/episode/95741/summary.html?q=eagleton&tag=search_results;title;4|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120914135741/http://www.tv.com/episode-355/episode/95741/summary.html?q=eagleton&tag=search_results;title;4|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 14, 2012|title=What's My Line?: EPISODE #355|last=TV.com|website=TV.com|access-date=January 3, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkLVdIGInd8 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/TkLVdIGInd8| archive-date=December 12, 2021 |url-status=live|title=What's My Line? – Mamie Van Doren; Melvyn Douglas [panel] (Mar 24, 1957)|last=What's My Line?|date=January 8, 2014|access-date=January 3, 2018|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> 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 United States Senate election in Missouri|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.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Clymer|first1=Adam|title=Thomas F. Eagleton, 77, a Running Mate for 18 Days, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/washington/05eagleton.html|work=The New York Times|date=March 5, 2007}}</ref><ref name="stlpd">{{cite web|url=https://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/special/pd125.nsf/0/6C7926B9C0966F6486256E04006BEC5F?OpenDocument|title=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|website=Stltoday.com|access-date=January 3, 2018|archive-date=January 18, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118214345/http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/special/pd125.nsf/0/6C7926B9C0966F6486256E04006BEC5F?OpenDocument|url-status=dead}}</ref> He later received a diagnosis of [[bipolar II]] from [[Frederick K. Goodwin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/us/politics/eagleton-pick-in-1972-colors-todays-vice-president-hunt.html?mcubz=1|title=Hasty and Ruinous 1972 Pick Colors Today's Hunt for a No. 2|last=Altman|first=Lawrence K.|date=July 23, 2012|access-date=June 24, 2017|work=The New York Times}}</ref>

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."<ref name="stlpd"/>

==1972 vice-presidential candidacy==
{{Main|1972 United States presidential election}}

==="Amnesty, abortion, and acid"===
On April 25, 1972, as George McGovern won the Massachusetts [[Democratic Party presidential primaries, 1972|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.<ref name=PCOLKansascitystar>{{cite news| newspaper=Kansas City Star | title = With another disclosure, Novak bedevils the dead | first1= Steve | last1= Kraske | date=July 28, 2007 | url= http://www.kansascity.com/news/columnists/steve_kraske/story/209499.html | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071018194343/http://www.kansascity.com/news/columnists/steve_kraske/story/209499.html |archive-date=October 18, 2007}}</ref><ref name=PCOLColumbiatribune>{{cite news | url=http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2007/aug/20070819Feat004.asp | work=Columbia Tribune | title=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 | first1=Terry | last1=Ganey | date=August 19, 2007 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607015253/http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2007/aug/20070819Feat004.asp | archive-date=June 7, 2013 }}</ref> Novak quoted the senator as saying: <blockquote>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.<ref name="PCOLKansascitystar" /> </blockquote>Because of the column McGovern became known as the candidate of "amnesty, abortion, and acid",<ref>{{cite news| url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dAQuAAAAIBAJ&pg=6956,894523&dq=amnesty+abortion+and+acid&hl=en |title= Coalition Breaking |first1= Victor |last1= Riesel |newspaper=Rome News-Tribune |location= Rome, Georgia| date=July 6, 1972}}</ref><ref name="PCOLMeetthepress">{{citation| url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna19694666 |work=[[Meet the Press]] |date=July 15, 2007 |title=Interview with Robert Novak | publisher=NBC News}}</ref> even though he only supported the [[Decriminalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States|decriminalization of marijuana]] and maintained that legalized abortion fell under the purview of [[states' rights]].<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna19694666 "Interview with Robert Novak"], ''Meet the Press'', NBC News, July 15, 2007. Retrieved January 21, 2011</ref><ref>Ganey, Terry (August 19, 2007), [https://web.archive.org/web/20130607015253/http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2007/aug/20070819Feat004.asp "A slice of history"], Columbia Tribune, archived from the original on June 7, 2013.</ref><ref>Boller, Paul F., ''Presidential Campaigns: From George Washington to George W. Bush'', Oxford University Press, 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=fq8pY-vThDUC&pg=PA339 pp. 339]</ref>

On July 15, 2007, several months after Eagleton's death, Novak said on ''[[Meet the Press]]'' that the unnamed senator was Eagleton.<ref name=PCOLMeetthepress/> 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.<ref name= PCOLKansascitystar/> "Oh, he had to run for reelection", Novak said. "The McGovernites would kill him if they knew he had said that."<ref name=PCOLMeetthepress/> 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.<ref name=PCOLMeetthepress/> "Boy, do I wish he would have let you publish his name. Then he never would have been picked as vice president," said Shrum.<ref name=PCOLMeetthepress/> "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."<ref name=PCOLMeetthepress/>

===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.<ref name="McGovern, George S. 1977, pp. 190">McGovern, George S., ''Grassroots: The Autobiography of George McGovern'', New York: Random House, 1977, pp. 190–191</ref><ref>Theodore White, ''The Making of the President, 1972'', (1973), pp. 256–258</ref> 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 National Convention|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.<ref>McGovern, George S., ''Grassroots: The Autobiography of George McGovern'', New York: Random House, 1977, pp. 214–215</ref><ref>McGovern, George S., ''Terry: My Daughter's Life-and-Death Struggle with Alcoholism'', New York: Random House, 1996, pp. 97</ref><ref>Marano, Richard Michael, ''Vote Your Conscience: The Last Campaign of George McGovern'', Praeger Publishers, 2003, pp. 7</ref><ref>''The Washington Post'', "George McGovern & the Coldest Plunge", [[Paul Hendrickson]], September 28, 1983</ref><ref>''The New York Times'', "'Trashing' Candidates" (op-ed), George McGovern, May 11, 1983</ref> 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]].<ref>Theodore White, ''The Making of the President, 1972'', (1973), pp. 260</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/26/MN9NVQGO2.DTL | work=The San Francisco Chronicle | first=Joe | last=Garofoli | title=Obama bounces back – speech seemed to help | date=March 26, 2008}}</ref>

McGovern's failure to vet Eagleton<ref name="McGovern, George S. 1977, pp. 190"/> 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==
[[File:ThomasEagleton.jpg|thumb|Eagleton in 1977|x170px]]

Eagleton was reelected to the Senate in [[United States Senate election in Missouri, 1974|1974]] with 60% of the vote against [[Thomas B. Curtis]], who had been his opponent in 1968. In [[United States Senate election in Missouri, 1980|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.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/10/20/eagletons-reelection-bid-interrupted-by-trial-of-niece-on-extortion-charge/8d691a49-0559-4072-9b10-951ca26e2745/ |first=Edward |last=Kohn |title=Eagleton's Reelection Bid Interrupted By Trial of Niece on Extortion Charge|date=October 20, 1980|newspaper=[[Washington Post]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/15/us/around-the-nation-convictions-upheld-in-eagleton-extortion.html |title=Around the Nation; Convictions Upheld In Eagleton Extortion |date=August 15, 1981 |work=New York Times }}</ref> Eagleton told reporters that the extorted money was to be turned over to the [[Church of Scientology]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Alice |last=Noble |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1980/10/23/A-niece-of-Sen-Thomas-F-Eagleton-D-Mo-testified/5601341121600/ |date=October 23, 1980 |title=A niece of Sen. Thomas F. Eagleton, D-Mo., testified... |publisher=UPI }}</ref> 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 [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] declined her appeal in 1982.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/02/22/The-Supreme-Court-today-refused-to-enter-the-highly/7007383202000/ | title=The Supreme Court today refused to enter the highly... - UPI Archives }}</ref>

Eagleton did not seek a fourth term in [[1986 United States Senate election in Missouri|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 (United States)|Clean Air Act]] and the [[Clean Water Act]], and sponsored [[Cooper–Church Amendment|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 of the United States|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.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.humanlifeaction.org/issues/human-life-amendment/ | title=Human Life Amendment }}</ref>

==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.<ref name="Post-Dispatch obit"/><ref name="WUSTL obit">{{cite web|url=https://source.wustl.edu/2007/03/thomas-f-eagleton-former-us-senator-and-wustl-professor-of-public-affairs-dies-at-77/|title=Thomas F. Eagleton, former U.S. senator and WUSTL professor of public affairs, dies at 77|work=The Record|publisher=Washington University in St. Louis|date=March 8, 2007|access-date=December 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070318195945/http://record.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/8981.html|archive-date=March 18, 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name="WUSTL obit"/>

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.<ref>{{citation| url=http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/73819-1 |title=''Video regarding My Daughter's Struggle with Alcoholism'' |publisher= C-SPAN Video Library |location= St. Louis, Missouri | date=July 23, 1996}}</ref>

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.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070208180818/http://www.mcgoverncenter.com/council.htm Council of Elders], McGovern Center for Leadership and Public Service, Dakota Wesleyan University</ref>

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 [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Judiciary Committee]] record: "[[John Danforth]] (Ashcroft's predecessor, alongside whom Eagleton served) would have been my first choice. John Ashcroft would have been my last choice."<ref>{{citation | url=http://judiciary.senate.gov/oldsite/te011601hw.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070329093223/http://judiciary.senate.gov/oldsite/te011601hw.htm | archive-date=March 29, 2007 | date=January 19, 2001 | title= Testimony For The Judiciary Committee Hearing On The Nomination of John Ashcroft | publisher= US Senate | first=Harriett |last=Woods}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Post-Dispatch obit">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070307074253/http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/AD9D8F788E573862862572940064A176?OpenDocument|archive-date=March 7, 2007|title=Senator and statesman, Thomas Eagleton dies at 77|url=https://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/AD9D8F788E573862862572940064A176?OpenDocument|last=Mannies|first=Jo|work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|date=March 4, 2007|access-date=December 25, 2019}}</ref><ref name="WUSTL obit"/> Eagleton authored three books on politics. He strongly supported Democratic Senate nominee [[Claire McCaskill]] in [[2006 United States Senate election in Missouri|2006]]; McCaskill defeated incumbent [[Jim Talent]].

Eagleton led a group, Catholics for [[Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 (2006)|Amendment 2]], composed of prominent Catholics who challenged church leaders' [[stem cell controversy|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.<ref name=stemcell>{{cite news| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061106174015/http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/05/stemcells.catholics.ap/index.html |url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/05/stemcells.catholics.ap/index.html |title=Catholic group fights church leaders on stem cell research |publisher= CNN | archive-date=November 6, 2006 | date=November 5, 2006}}</ref> 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."<ref name=stemcell/>

Eagleton died in St. Louis on March 4, 2007, of heart and respiratory complications. He donated his body to medical science at Washington University.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://source.wustl.edu/2007/03/thomas-f-eagleton-former-us-senator-and-wustl-professor-of-public-affairs-dies-at-77/|title=Thomas F. Eagleton, former U.S. senator and WUSTL professor of public affairs, dies at 77|website=Record.wustl.edu|date=March 7, 2007 |access-date=October 10, 2023}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna17559686 |title=Final wish: Be kind to dogs, vote Democratic | publisher=NBC News | agency= Associated Press | date= March 10, 2007 | access-date=November 27, 2012}}</ref>

==Honors and awards==
Eagleton threw out the [[ceremonial first pitch]] to end the pregame ceremonies of Game 5 of the [[1985 World Series]].

The [[United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit|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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/?view=achievement|title=St. Louis Walk of Fame Inductees|last=St. Louis Walk of Fame|publisher=stlouiswalkoffame.org|access-date=April 25, 2013|archive-date=October 31, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031162946/http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/?view=achievement|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Eagleton was a Roman Catholic.<ref name="murphy">{{cite journal |last1= Murphy |first1=James J. |date=2007 |title=Eagleton in Missouri: The Record in Local and State Office |url=https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/lj/vol52/iss1/13 |journal=Saint Louis University Law Journal |volume=52 |issue=1 |page=41}}</ref> He strongly opposed abortion despite his reputation as a liberal.<ref name="ncbnews_1">{{cite news |date=March 4, 2007 |title=Ex-Sen. Thomas Eagleton, D-Mo., dies at 77 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna17453791 |website=NBCNews.com}}</ref> 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.<ref name="murphy"/>

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.<ref name="mccaskill">{{cite journal |last1= McCaskill|first1=Claire |date=2007 |title=Tribute to Former Senator Tom Eagleton |url=https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/lj/vol52/iss1/11 |journal=Saint Louis University Law Journal |volume=52 |issue=1 |page=33}}</ref> Because of his religion and youth, Eagleton was often compared to [[John F. Kennedy]]; in 1972, the ''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".<ref name="latimes_1">{{cite news |date=March 5, 2007 |title=Thomas Eagleton, 77; vice presidential candidate left race over health reports |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-mar-05-me-eagleton5-story.html |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |last1=Thurber |first1=Jon}}</ref> 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".<ref name="mccaskill"/>

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.<ref name="ncbnews_1"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Bormann, Ernest G. "The Eagleton affair: A fantasy theme analysis". ''Quarterly Journal of Speech'' 59.2 (1973): 143–159.
* Dickerson, John. "[http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/whistlestop/2015/06/george_mcgovern_and_tom_eagleton_shock_therapy_and_the_bungled_selection.html One of the Great Train Wrecks of All Time]". ''Slate'' online magazine podcast 6/10/15
* Giglio, James N. ''Call Me Tom: The Life of Thomas F. Eagleton'' (University of Missouri Press; 2011) 328 pages
* Giglio, James N. "The Eagleton Affair: Thomas Eagleton, George McGovern, and the 1972 Vice Presidential Nomination", ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'', (2009) 39#4 pp. 647–676
* Glasser, Joshua M. ''Eighteen-Day Running Mate: McGovern, Eagleton, and a Campaign in Crisis'' (Yale University Press, 2012). Comprehensive scholarly history
* [[Paul Hendrickson|Hendrickson, Paul]]. "George McGovern & the Coldest Plunge", ''The Washington Post'', September 28, 1983
* Strout, Lawrence N. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230030906_Politics_and_Mental_Illness_The_Campaigns_of_Thomas_Eagleton_and_Lawton_Chiles "Politics and mental illness: The campaigns of Thomas Eagleton and Lawton Chiles"]. ''Journal of American Culture'' 18.3 (1995): 67–73. {{doi|10.1111/j.1542-734X.1995.00067.x}}.
* Trent, Judith S., and Jimmie D. Trent. "The rhetoric of the challenger: George Stanley McGovern". ''Communication Studies'' 25#1 (1974): 11–18. {{doi|10.1080/10510977409367763}}.
* White, Theodore. ''The Making of the President, 1972'' (1973)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071001015132/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19720724,00.html ''Time'' magazine]—July 24, 1972, cover article
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060703074804/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19720807,00.html ''Time'' magazine]—August 7, 1972, cover on withdrawal
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071119115901/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,879139,00.html "McGovern's First Crisis: The Eagleton Affair" ''Time'' August 7, 1972, cover story]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080912143101/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,906201,00.html "George McGovern Finally Finds a Veep" ''Time'' August 14, 1972, cover story]

==External links==
{{CongBio|E000004}}
* {{Whmc stl photodb|keywords=Eagleton|title=Thomas Eagleton}}
* {{C-SPAN|3305}}

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