The Atlantic: On War and Peace, George McGovern Will Die Vindicated

[Douglas Carpenter]

The former presidential candidate, who is nearing death, warned of the folly of the Vietnam and Iraq Wars. Americans came to agree with him -- but only when it was too late.


Speaking at the Democratic National Convention in 1972, George McGovern kicked off his ill-fated presidential bid by focusing on his opposition to the ruinous war in Vietnam. "I have no secret plan for peace. I have a public plan. And as one whose heart has ached for the past ten years over the agony of Vietnam, I will halt a senseless bombing of Indochina on Inaugural Day," he said. "There will be no more Asian children running ablaze from bombed-out schools. There will be no more talk of bombing the dikes or the cities of the North. And within 90 days of my inauguration, every American soldier and every American prisoner will be out of the jungle and out of their cells and then home in America where they belong. And then let us resolve that never again will we send the precious young blood of this country to die trying to prop up a corrupt military dictatorship abroad. This is also the time to turn away from excessive preoccupation overseas to the rebuilding of our own nation. America must be restored to a proper role in the world. But we can do that only through the recovery of confidence in ourselves."

The country would eventually come to see Vietnam as a mistake.

But ours is a people who are dismissive of men who lose presidential elections. We behave as though the electoral outcome discredited their ideas, even on matters where they're ultimately proved right.

Of course, it was about more than one war for McGovern. A World War II veteran, he liked to say that he'd been persuaded by Dwight Eisenhower, under whom he served, about the dangers of the military industrial complex. The Democratic Party grew comfortable with it over time.

But McGovern never did.

When America launched its war in Iraq, a lot of Democrats signed on. McGovern opposed it. "I oppose the Iraq war, just as I opposed the Vietnam War, because these two conflicts have weakened the U.S. and diminished our standing in the world and our national security," he wrote.

He was right again.


http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/10/on-war-and-peace-george-mcgovern-will-die-vindicated/263839/

[HereSince1628]

1. My first vote for president was for McGovern...

it was on an absentee ballot, the APO of my address = Vietnam.

We could have been, we SHOULD have been, a greater nation led by a greater man.

[SteveG]

3. As was mine!

It was my first year as a teacher, and only two cars in the parking lot sported McGovern stickers, mine and the school principle's

[struggle4progress]

2. Things could have been so different

[MannyGoldstein]

4. If only they had drones back then, McGovern would have

been cool with attacking Vietnam, no?

[garthranzz]

5. My first vote was for McGovern

I was in college. I met him a few years ago at the WWII Museum here in New Orleans (as I said in another post). I told him that the two votes I am proudest of was for him and for President Obama. We talked for a few minutes. I think he appreciated my comments. I certainly appreciate his service.

A good man.

[Fumesucker]

6. "Being right too soon is socially unacceptable" -Heinlein

[Douglas Carpenter]

7. kick in honor of the news of his passing