Sen. Eagleton is seriously ill, say party officials

[SaintLouisBlues]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/2A3846588660507F86257293006B0806?OpenDocument

By Jo Mannies
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

HANNIBAL, MO. - Missouri Democratic party chairman John Temporiti announced Saturday to hundreds of party activists that retired Sen. Thomas S. Eagleton is seriously ill and in a St. Louis area hospital.

Temporiti asked for prayers during the brunch at the party's annual Democratic Days weekend celebration in Hannibal, Mo.

Similar concerns were aired earlier by Secretary of State Robin Carnahan at the early morning brunch. "I want everyone to have a moment of prayer for him and remember what he meant for all of us," Carnahan said. "If he were here he'd be fired up."

Eagleton, 77, has been a major influence in the Missouri Democratic Party for 50 years. He served in the U.S. Senate 1968-87. Earlier, he served as St. Louis circuit attorney, state attorney general and lieutenant governor."




Of course, Eagleton is best known for the 1972 VP fiasco:

http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/amit/display.cfm?amit_id=2022

Lead: In the summer of 1972 Senator Thomas Eagleton became the first U.S. Vice-presidential nominee to withdraw from candidacy.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: It was going to be very difficult for George McGovern to win anyway. President Nixon popularity was soaring. The struggle for the nomination had been long and bitter and the liberal Senator from South Dakota had had little time to devote to the selection of a running mate. With the Miami convention vote locked up on July 12th, exhausted McGovern staffers began the search. Senators Kennedy, Mondale, Bayh, and Nelson were asked but most, sensing a doomed candidacy, found a reason to refuse. Even CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite was considered. At the last minute, Tom Eagleton, the little known junior Senator from Missouri, was added to the short list. In the course of a short check of his background, McGovern's aids learned Eagleton had been hospitalized for "fatigue and exhaustion" following one of his campaigns but an Eagleton staffer downplayed the treatment as not being serious. Such was not the case.

Rumors flew around the beleaguered campaign that Eagleton's illness had indeed been very serious. Less than two weeks after their nomination the two candidates met at McGovern's vacation retreat in South Dakota. McGovern backed his partner, "1000 percent," but Eagleton had to admit that he had been in the hospital three times from 1960 to 1966, twice undergoing shock treatment for depression. Newspapers and party politicians called for his resignation and a week later he did so under pressure.

Public attitudes about treatment for mental illness have changed in the past three decades, but the change came too late for Tom Eagleton."

[Dr.Phool]

1. "Only" 77 years old.

Damn. Seems like a lifetime ago.

I was 20 years old. I cast my first vote for him and McGovern.

[rasputin1952]

2. I remember those days...The GOP took great pains to make it look

like Eagleton was a candidate for an asylum...Nixon, perhaps a borderline psychotic himself, went on to win and damn the country in the process.

Eagleton was a good Sen from MO, my thoughts and prayers are w/him.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. I hope he gets better,

or, at the very least, does not suffer.

[Judi Lynn]

4. It's easy to see emotional illness still attracts a lot of hostility from ignorant citizens.

It's a damnable shame, considering how much serious emotional illness there is within the society itself. People will continue to avoid going for treatment, and most certainly attempt to avoid acknowledging it at all costs.

I saw this article overnight and decided against posting it, as I believe the ugly, idiotic reaction it brought from the truly emotionally impaired was quite enough already, back when it happened.

[Moderator]

5. Locking - please see this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2754913