McCarthy, Eugene Joseph (1916-2005), served as a United States senator from Minnesota from 1959 to 1971. He was a leading candidate for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination. As a candidate, he consolidated the widespread opposition to the Vietnam War. He attracted much student support, and won primary elections in Wisconsin and Oregon. He was narrowly defeated by President Lyndon B. Johnson in the opening primary in New Hampshire.
McCarthy’s success in the New Hampshire primary influenced Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York to enter the Democratic race. It also helped persuade Johnson not to run for reelection. McCarthy lost in three states to Kennedy, and Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey won the Democratic nomination. McCarthy was also an unsuccessful candidate for the 1972 and 1992 Democratic presidential nominations. In 1976 and 1988, he ran for the presidency as a independent candidate but received less than 1 percent of the popular vote in each election.
McCarthy was born on March 29, 1916, in Watkins, Minnesota. He earned degrees from St. John’s University and the University of Minnesota, and taught high school and college for 10 years. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1948. He served in the House from 1949 to 1959. He died on Dec. 10, 2005.
