McGovern for President with Stars

White text on a red white and blue button with blue stars and a black and white photograph of McGovern in the center.

An American historian and author, George McGovern was elected as a US Senator from South Dakota in 1962 after a previous failed bid in 1960. As one of the first politicians to speak out publicly against America's growing involvement in Vietnam, McGovern would become most known in the Senate for his outspoken opposition to the Vietnam War. McGovern's platform during his 1972 presidential campaign included a comprehensive plan to end the war in Vietnam, a substantial cut in federal defense spending, and a "demogrant" program—which sought to replace inflated welfare bureaucracies with a pledge to give every American citizen $1,000. Although McGovern captured the votes of activists and reform liberals, his opponent, Republican incumbent Richard Nixon, managed to defeat McGovern in one of the biggest landslides in American history.