Thomas Eagleton - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Thomas Francis Eagleton (September 4, 1929 March 4, 2007) was a United States Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

from Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, serving from 1968–1987. He is best remembered for briefly being the Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

vice presidential

Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...

nominee under George McGovern

George McGovern

George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....

in 1972

United States presidential election, 1972

The United States presidential election of 1972 was the 47th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on November 7, 1972. The Democratic Party's nomination was eventually won by Senator George McGovern, who ran an anti-war campaign against incumbent Republican President Richard...

. After his public service he became adjunct professor of public affairs

Public administration

Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....

at Washington University

Washington University in St. Louis

Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...

Early life and political career

Eagleton was the son of another St. Louis

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

politician, Mark D. Eagleton (who had run for mayor), and Zitta Swanson.

He graduated from St. Louis Country Day School

Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School

Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School or "MICDS" is a secular, co-educational, private school for about 1,200 students in grades Junior Kindergarten through 12, separated into three different sections: JK-4th grade , 5th-8th grade , and 9th-12th grade . Its 100 acre campus is located...

, served in the U.S. Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

for two years, and graduated from Amherst College

Amherst College

Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...

in 1950, where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon

Delta Kappa Epsilon

Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...

fraternity (Sigma Chapter). He then attended Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...

.

Eagleton married Barbara Ann Smith of St. Louis on January 26, 1956. A son, Terence, was born in 1959, and a daughter, Christin, was born 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.) He was elected Missouri Attorney General

Attorney General

In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...

in 1960, at the age of 31 (the youngest in the state's history). He was elected Missouri Lieutenant Governor in 1964, and won a U.S. Senate seat in 1968 unseating incumbent Edward V. Long

Edward V. Long

Edward Vaughn Long was a United States Senator from Missouri and a member of the Democratic Party. He served in the United States Senate from 1960 until 1968....

in the Democratic primary and narrowly defeating Congressman Thomas B. Curtis

Thomas B. Curtis

Thomas Bradford Curtis was a U.S. Representative from Missouri.Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Curtis attended the public schools of Webster Groves, Missouri. He attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, earning an A.B. in 1932. He was admitted to the bar in 1934 and commenced the...

in the general election.

Between 1960 and 1966, Eagleton checked himself into the hospital three times for physical and nervous exhaustion, receiving electroconvulsive therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy , formerly known as electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Its mode of action is unknown...

twice. He is also known to have suffered from depression

Clinical depression

Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...

.

The hospitalizations, which were not widely publicized, had little effect on his political aspirations, although the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...

was to note, in 1972, immediately after his 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

Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...

"Amnesty, abortion, and acid"

On April 25, 1972, George McGovern won the Massachusetts primary, and conservative journalist Robert Novak

Robert Novak

Robert David Sanders "Bob" Novak was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving for the U.S. Army in the Korean War, he became a reporter for the Associated Press and then for...

phoned Democratic politicians around the country. On April 27, 1972 Novak reported in a column his conversation with an unnamed Democratic senator about McGovern. Novak quoted the senator as saying "The people don't know McGovern is for amnesty, abortion

Abortion in the United States

Abortion in the United States has been legal in every state since the United States Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, on January 22, 1973...

and legalization of pot. Once middle America — Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

middle America, in particular — finds this out, he’s dead." Because of the column McGovern became known as the candidate of "amnesty, abortion and acid."

On July 15, 2007, several months after Eagleton's death, Novak stated on Meet the Press
Meet the Press
Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...

that the unnamed senator was Eagleton. Novak was accused in 1972 of manufacturing the quote, but stated that to rebut the criticism, he took Eagleton to lunch after the campaign and asked whether he could identify him as the source; the senator refused. "Oh, he had to run for re-election", said Novak, "the McGovernites would kill him if they knew he had said that." Political analyst Bob Shrum

Bob Shrum

Robert M. "Bob" Shrum is an American political consultant, who has worked on numerous Democratic campaigns.-Education:Shrum was born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania and raised in Los Angeles. He is a graduate of Loyola High School of Los Angeles and Georgetown University...

says that Eagleton would never have been selected as McGovern's running mate if it had been known at the time that Eagleton was the source of the quote. "Boy, do I wish he would have let you publish his name. Then he never would have been picked as vice president," said Shrum. "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."

Selection as vice presidential candidate

In 1972, Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

appeared unbeatable. When McGovern won the Democratic nomination for President, virtually all of the high-profile Democrats, including Ted Kennedy

Ted Kennedy

Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...

, Walter Mondale

Walter Mondale

Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States , under President Jimmy Carter, and as a United States Senator for Minnesota...

, Hubert Humphrey

Hubert Humphrey

Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...

, Edmund Muskie

Edmund Muskie

Edmund Sixtus "Ed" Muskie was an American politician from Rumford, Maine. He served as Governor of Maine from 1955 to 1959, as a member of the United States Senate from 1959 to 1980, and as Secretary of State under Jimmy Carter from 1980 to 1981...

and Birch Bayh

Birch Bayh

Birch Evans Bayh II is a former United States Senator from Indiana, having served from 1963 to 1981. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in the 1976 election, but lost to Jimmy Carter. He is the father of former Indiana Governor and former U.S. Senator Evan Bayh.-Life...

turned down offers to run on the ticket. McGovern had been convinced that Kennedy would join the ticket. Kennedy ended up refusing. McGovern campaign manager Gary Hart

Gary Hart

Gary Hart is an American politician, lawyer, author, professor and commentator. He served as a Democratic Senator representing Colorado , and ran in the U.S...

suggested Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

Mayor Kevin White. McGovern called White, and received "an emphatic yes", but the leader of the Massachusetts delegation, Ken Galbraith, said the Massachusetts delegation would walk-out if the announcement was made to the Convention that McGovern had chosen White as his VP, as White had backed Muskie during the Massachusetts primary.

McGovern then asked Senator Gaylord Nelson

Gaylord Nelson

Gaylord Anton Nelson was an American politician from Wisconsin who served as a United States Senator and governor. A Democrat, he was the principal founder of Earth Day.-Public service and leadership:...

to be his running mate. Nelson declined but suggested Tom Eagleton, whom McGovern ultimately chose, with only a minimal background check. Eagleton made no mention of his earlier hospitalizations, and in fact decided with his wife to keep them secret from McGovern while he was flying to his first meeting with the Presidential nominee.

Eagleton had promised to bring his medical records for McGovern's review, but he did not. He initially concealed the fact that he was on Thorazine

Chlorpromazine

Chlorpromazine is a typical antipsychotic...

, a powerful anti-psychotic, and when he did disclose his use of the medication he noted that it couldn't be discovered by the press because it was issued under his wife's name. McGovern spoke to two of Eagleton's doctors, both of whom expressed grave concerns about Eagleton's mental health. Ultimately, a portion of Eagleton's medical records was leaked to McGovern, at which point McGovern saw a reference to "manic depression

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...

" and "suicidal

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

tendencies."

McGovern had failed to act quickly when he learned of the mental health problems (though not their severe extent) because his own daughter was seriously depressed and he wondered what effect dumping Eagleton because of his depression would have on her. Ultimately, Eagleton threatened that if McGovern tried to force him off the ticket, he would fight the move. Eagleton conditioned his resignation on McGovern's releasing a statement, written by Eagleton, that Eagleton's health was fine and that McGovern had no issues with Eagleton's mental status.

Replacement on the ticket

McGovern said he would back Eagleton "1000 percent

1000 percent

1000 percent is a catchphrase in common use in the U.S. in the mid 20th century meaning extreme action or highly enthusiastic support. For example, novelist Truman Capote wrote, "Prison is where she belongs. And my husband agrees one thousand percent." Playwright Loring Mandel wrote, "Those coal...

". Subsequently, McGovern consulted confidentially with preeminent psychiatrists, including Eagleton's own doctors, who advised him that a recurrence of Eagleton's depression was possible and could endanger the country should Eagleton become president. On August 1, Eagleton withdrew at McGovern's request and, after a new search by McGovern, was replaced by Kennedy in-law Sargent Shriver

Sargent Shriver

Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr., known as Sargent Shriver, R. Sargent Shriver, or, from childhood, Sarge, was an American statesman and activist. As the husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he was part of the Kennedy family, serving in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations...

.

A Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

magazine poll taken at the time found that 77 percent 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.

McGovern's handling of the controversy was an opening 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.

Re-election to Senate

Missouri returned Eagleton to the Senate in 1974; he won 60% of the popular vote against Thomas B. Curtis

Thomas B. Curtis

, who had been his opponent in 1968. In 1980

United States Senate elections, 1980

The 1980 U.S. Senate elections coincided with Ronald Reagan's election to the Presidency. Reagan's large margin of victory over incumbent Jimmy Carter pulled in many Democratic voters and gave a huge boost to Republican senate candidates....

, he was re-elected again by a closer-than-expected margin over St. Louis County Executive Gene McNary

Gene McNary

Gene McNary is an American politician. Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Executive Director of the Missouri Gaming Commission, and County Executive of St. Louis County...

.

During the 1980 election, Eagleton's niece Elizabeth Eagleton Weigand and lawyer Stephen Poludniak were arrested for blackmail

Blackmail

In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...

after they threatened to spread false accusations that Eagleton was bisexual

Bisexuality

Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...

. Eagleton told reporters that the extorted money was to be turned over to the Church of Scientology

Church of Scientology

The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...

. Poludniak and Weigand appealed the conviction all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

, arguing that they could not have gotten a fair trial because of "the massive publicity surrounding this case, coupled with the pre-existing sentiment in favor of Sen. Eagleton". The Court turned down the appeal.

Eagleton did not seek a fourth term in 1986

United States Senate elections, 1986

The U.S. Senate election, 1986 was an election for the United States Senate in the middle of Ronald Reagan's second presidential term. As in most midterm elections, the opposition Democratic Party held the usual advantage...

Senate career

In the Senate, Eagleton was active in matters dealing with foreign relations

Foreign relations of the United States

The United States has formal diplomatic relations with most nations. The United States federal statutes relating to foreign relations can be found in Title 22 of the United States Code.-Pacific:-Americas:-Caribbean:...

, intelligence

Intelligence (information gathering)

Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...

, defense

Military of the United States

The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...

, education

Education in the United States

Education in the United States is mainly provided by the public sector, with control and funding coming from three levels: federal, state, and local. Child education is compulsory.Public education is universally available...

, health care

Health care in the United States

Health care in the United States is provided by many separate legal entities. Health care facilities are largely owned and operated by the private sector...

, and the environment

Natural environment

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....

. He was instrumental to the Senate's passage of the Clean Air Act

Clean Air Act

A Clean Air Act is one of a number of pieces of legislation relating to the reduction of airborne contaminants, smog and air pollution in general. The use by governments to enforce clean air standards has contributed to an improvement in human health and longer life spans...

and the Clean Water Act

Clean Water Act

The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Commonly abbreviated as the CWA, the act established the goals of eliminating releases of high amounts of toxic substances into water, eliminating additional water pollution by 1985, and ensuring that...

, and sponsored the amendment that halted the bombing in Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

and effectively ended American involvement in the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

.

Eagleton was one of the authors of The Hatch-Eagleton Amendment, introduced in the Senate on January 26, 1983 with Sen. Orrin Hatch

Orrin Hatch

Orrin Grant Hatch is the senior United States Senator for Utah and is a member of the Republican Party. Hatch served as the chairman or ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1993 to 2005...

(R), which stated that "A right to abortion is not secured by this Constitution".

Post-Senate career

In 1987, Eagleton returned to Missouri as an attorney, political commentator, and professor at Washington University in St. Louis

Washington University in St. Louis

, where until his death he was professor of public affairs. 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 Berger on the Vietnam War. Eagleton selected research assistants from among his students. In 2005 and 2006, he co-taught a seminar on the US presidency

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

and the Constitution

United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...

with Joel Goldstein at Saint Louis University School of Law

Saint Louis University School of Law

Saint Louis University School of Law , also known as SLU LAW, is a private American law school located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the professional graduate schools of Saint Louis University. Opened in 1843, it is the first law school west of the Mississippi River. The school has been ABA...

. He was also a partner in the St. Louis law firm of Thompson Coburn

Thompson Coburn

Thompson Coburn LLP is an "AmLaw 200" U.S. law firm. In 2010, the firm ranked second in the nation in "Midlevel Associates Survey" conducted by The American Lawyer.-Practice areas:...

and was a chief negotiator for a coalition of local business interests that lured the Los Angeles Rams

St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...

football team to St. Louis. He was the author of three books on politics and the 8th Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Arkansas* Western District of Arkansas...

Federal Courthouse in St. Louis, dedicated on September 11, 2000, is named after him.

He has been honored with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame in the University City Loop.

In January 2001, he joined other Missouri Democrats to oppose the nomination of former Missouri governor John Ashcroft

John Ashcroft

John David Ashcroft is a United States politician who served as the 79th United States Attorney General, from 2001 until 2005, appointed by President George W. Bush. Ashcroft previously served as the 50th Governor of Missouri and a U.S...

for United States Attorney General

United States Attorney General

The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...

. Eagleton was quoted in the official Judiciary Committee

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary is a standing committee of the United States Senate, of the United States Congress. The Judiciary Committee, with 18 members, is charged with conducting hearings prior to the Senate votes on confirmation of federal judges nominated by the...

record: "John Danforth

John Danforth

John Claggett "Jack" Danforth is a former United States Ambassador to the United Nations and former Republican United States Senator from Missouri. He is an ordained Episcopal priest. Danforth is married to Sally D. Danforth and has five adult children.-Education and early career:Danforth was born...

would have been my first choice. John Ashcroft would have been my last choice."

Eagleton also strongly supported Democratic Senate candidate Claire McCaskill

Claire McCaskill

Claire Conner McCaskill is the senior United States Senator from Missouri and a member of the Democratic Party. She defeated Republican incumbent Jim Talent in the 2006 U.S. Senate election, by a margin of 49.6% to 47.3%. She is the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri in her own...

in 2006

United States general elections, 2006

The 2006 United States midterm elections were held on Tuesday, November 7, 2006. All United States House of Representatives seats and one third of the United States Senate seats were contested in this election, as well as 36 state governorships, many state legislatures, four territorial...

; McCaskill won, defeating incumbent Jim Talent

Jim Talent

James Matthes "Jim" Talent is an American politician and former senator from Missouri. He is a Republican and resided in the St. Louis area while serving in elected office. He identifies with the conservative wing of the Republican party, being particularly outspoken on judicial appointments,...

.

Eagleton led a group, "Catholics for Amendment 2

Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 (2006)

Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 is a state constitutional amendment initiative that concerns stem cell research and human cloning in Missouri...

", composed of prominent Catholics, that challenged church leaders' opposition to embryonic stem cell research

Stem cell controversy

The stem cell controversy is the ethical debate primarily concerning the creation, treatment, and destruction of human embryos incident to research involving embryonic stem cells. Not all stem cell research involves the creation, use, or destruction of human embryos...

and to the proposed state constitutional amendment (#2) that would have protected such research in Missouri. The group e-mailed a letter to fellow Catholics explaining reasons for supporting Amendment 2. 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."

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

Dakota Wesleyan University

Dakota Wesleyan University is a four-year university located in Mitchell, South Dakota, founded in 1885, that is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The student body averages slightly less than 800 students...

.

On July 23, 1996, Eagleton delivered a warm introductory speech for George McGovern

George McGovern

George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....

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, Missouri. At that time, McGovern spoke favorably about Eagleton and reminisced about their short-lived presidential ticket in 1972.

Death

Eagleton died in St. Louis on March 4, 2007, of heart

Heart

The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...

and respiratory complications. Eagleton donated his body to medical science at Washington University. He wrote a farewell letter to his family and friends months before he died, citing that his dying wishes were for people to "go forth in love and peace — be kind to dogs — and vote Democratic".
After he died the federal couthouse,the Thomas F. Eagleton Building, St. Louis, MO., was built in honor of him.

External links

Time magazine — July 24, 1972 cover article
Time magazine — August 7, 1972 cover article on withdrawal
History Channel on Eagleton's withdrawal speech

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