[Congressman Billybob]

Originally, I was not going to write about Gene McCarthy because thousands of other articles are appearing in all media. But I have personal knowledge of this man. And much of the coverage I have seen and read this weekend falsely categorize him as a "classic liberal."

This is false. And I felt compelled to write about what I knew of him, personally, late in his career. I hope that y'all will appreciate this.

John / Billybob

[Theodore R.]

I believe that McCarthy endorsed Reagan in 1980, not 1984.

[Tribune7]

Thanks for the post.

[Herford Turley]

Good post.

[NormsRevenge]

Former U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy is photographed at the Women's National Democratic Club in Washington October 7, 2004. McCarthy, 89, whose 1968 anti-Vietnam War presidential candidacy helped drive President Lyndon Johnson from office, had suffered from Parkinson's disease, fell ill on Friday night and died from complications on the morning of December 10, 2005 in a Georgetown retirement home, said his son Michael McCarthy. Photo taken October 7, 2004. (Anna Frame/Reuters)

---

RIP Senator.

Never met him but he was one of my former Senators from Minnesota back then along with HHH.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

I worked in his California primary campaign. And always thought he was an honorable guy. I moved away from the Democratic party during Reagan's first term. But I do remember the campaing and always thought this guy has character and principle, something missing in many modern politicians.

[Ciexyz]

Interesting perspective on a man who helped change history. McCarthy's challenge to Johnson knocked the Prez out of the ring. (I played a miniscule part in that, as I supported Gene in his first campaign and even collected signatures for him. I was in high school at the time and was too young to vote. I supported McCarthy as an alternative to Johnson, who I regarded as hopeless for the country.)

[docbnj]

The article is correct. McCarthy was not a blind ideologue, as are so many modern liberals.
Although I do not agree with many of the positions that he took during his career, I recognize and salute him as a clean, honest, and intelligent man, and I am proud that I once got to shake his hand.

[skinkinthegrass]

Thanks, for the information...as usual; the MSM, sees fit, only to report whats favorable to them.
....err, their viewpoint. :)

[the final gentleman]

____________________________________________________________

"Gene was a rarity in American politics. He was honest, he was courageous, he had excellent powers of observation, topped off with a sharp wit. At the end, he could not be dismissed as merely a liberal." - Billybob
__________________________________________________________

Now really, Billybob. I remember a Gene who was honest but naive, who at the end couldn't even make it as a mush-mouthed liberal.

Maybe that makes him a better man...maybe it doesn't.

[don-o]

That just might be the best post, of many. Thank you.

[Cincinnatus]

I obviously didn't know him as well as you, but I think in a five minute conversation in 1976 I met the same man. Here is my blog entry on the subject, from The Judge Report:

Former Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy has died at the age of 89. Back in 1968, when I was a junior in High School, he ran a quixotic campaign for president, challenging Lyndon Johnson in the early primaries. At a time when the really scummy look was becoming popular, "Keep Clean with Gene" was the slogan of his student volunteers.

He is often credited with having driven Johnson from the presidency. I don't believe he ever actually won a primary, but he beat the expectations game. He was on the ballot in New Hampshire and Johnson wasn't. Johnson's 55% of the vote came on write-ins. Still, McCarthy's 45% was astonishing. In April he finished strong in Wisconsin as well.

His success proved to be his undoing. Bobby Kennedy, suddenly realizing that Johnson was vulnerable, hastily announced his own candidacy, probably four years ahead of his previous game plan.

In an amazing week or so in April of 1968, Johnson got hammered in Wisconsin, Martin Luther King was assassinated (with the accompanying riots in numerous cities), Johnson announced the beginning of the Paris Peace Talks, and oh, by the way, I've decided not to seek or accept a renomination.

The whole game changed overnight. McCarthy now had to face not only another anti-war liberal in Kennedy, but also a traditional liberal and fellow Minnesotan, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey. If enough wasn't already happening, Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed right after winning the California Primary in June.

While there was some talk of drafting 36 year old Ted Kennedy, who had given a stunning and emotional eulogy at his brother's funeral, McCarthy was really the only one left to carry the anti-war banner at the Chicago convention. The less-than-clean rioting demonstrators disrupted the affair and split the party wide open. The old pro-American wing never recovered. Their last gasp was Humphrey's nomination. The hate-America-first crowd took over for good in 1972, but their nominee was George McGovern, not McCarthy, for just as quickly as McCarthy rose, he faded away.

Eight years after his brief fame, as Spring ended in a year when Ronald Reagan still had a chance to dethrone President Ford at the Republican Convention, McCarthy gave the baccalaureate address the night before my brother Tim's graduation from RPI. At the reception afterwards, I noticed him just standing around, alone. I slipped my Reagan button into my pocket and went over to chat.

He was kind, gracious, witty, unassuming. I liked him.

Unlike many of the wackos who followed him, I think McCarthy was a sincere man, who opposed the Vietnam War for honorable reasons. There weren't too many guys like him, and way too many of the John Kerry types. It's sad that ultimately his legacy is wrapped up in his political progeny.

Rest in Peace, Senator. You never would have had my vote, but you earned my respect.

[Gay State Conservative]

Sorry,but I can't find any respect in my heart for McCarthy because he fails my "we will support any friend and oppose any foe" test.

My momma,like many of her day,taught me that you're known by the company you keep. He failed (abysmally) that test as well.

[LET LOOSE THE DOGS OF WAR]

Thank You for your post. I respect everything you comment on. Your comments clarify my befuddled brain on the subjects you post about. You have given me more insight on this man and I appreciate that - may he rest in peace.

[eddie willers]

I am so glad you wrote and posted this.

I did not know this about the man and now a wrong impression has been righted.

[fallujah-nuker]

I've wanted to read a book he wrote in 1992 titled "A Colony of the World: The United States Today: America’s Senior Statesman Warns His Countrymen" Never been able to find it.

[Palladin]

Please accept my condolences upon the loss of your friend.

McCarthy was a unique intellectual of great complexity.

Of course that idiot Eleanor Clift could not do him justice, as her pitiful brain is too small to encompass the man.

[LdSentinal]

Your "friend" said American deserved 9/11. He was putrid.

[RobbyS]

I don't think he ever "believed" in the omnicompetence of big government. In the early '60s he came to the UT_(Austin) campus and spoke to a small group. I asked him a question about the department of HEW and he made some remark about breaking it up. I was liberal at the time and annoyed, more so by the flippancy of his answer than by what he said. I was thinking of him as a president. I don't think he had the necessary ruthlessness. There was too much of the priest in him. Or something. In 1968 he seemed almost unmanned by the violence swirling around him.

[backhoe]

John, I greatly appreciate this article, and will pass it along to everyone I know.

Gene McCarthy was willing to stand up for what he believed in- and that is always honorable.

[TaxRelief]

Was he not a pacifist? Did he believe America should fight to defend itself?