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I thought the Vietnam war was an utter, unmitigated disaster, so it was very hard for me to say anything good about it.

George McGovern

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George McGovern
Age: 90 †
Born: 1922
Born: July 19
Died: 2012
Died: October 21
Autobiographer
Diplomat
Historian
Peace Activist
Politician
University Teacher
Avon
South Dakota
George Stanley McGovern
George S. McGovern
Anything
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Unmitigated
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Vietnam
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More quotes by George McGovern

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It doesn t require any particular bravery to stand on the floor of the Senate and urge our boys in Vietnam to fight harder and if this war mushrooms into a major conflict and a hundred thousand young Americans are killed it won t be U.S. Senators who die. It will be American soldiers who are too young to qualify for the Senate.
George McGovern
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A conscientious man would be cautious how he dealt in blood.
George McGovern
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Every program that ever helped working people, from rural electrification to Medicare, was enacted by liberals over the opposition of conservatives. When people tell me they don't like liberals, I ask, Do you like Social Security? If so, then shut up!
George McGovern
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I've come to realize that protecting freedom of choice in our everyday lives is essential to maintaining a healthy civil society.
George McGovern
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There is a strong tendency in the United States to rally round the flag and their troops, no matter how mistaken the war.
George McGovern
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It's nice not to have to worry about constituents, now, I simply do what I want.
George McGovern
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I didn't know a damned thing about mental illness and neither did anyone around me.
George McGovern
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Ever since I was a young man, I wanted to run for the presidency in the worst possible way - and I did.
George McGovern
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My father was a clergyman and always said: 'Hate the sin but love the sinner.'
George McGovern
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For a generation and more, the government has sought to meet our needs by multiplying its bureaucracy. Washington has taken too much in taxes from Main Street, and Main Street has received too little in return. It is not necessary to centralize power in order to solve our problems.
George McGovern
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I didn't used to care about living a long time. Not that I wasn't enjoying life, but I never sat around asking how I'd get to be 100, you know. But now I want to live long enough to see every school child in the world getting a good, nutritious lunch every day.
George McGovern
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Everyone is exposed to economic risks of some kind.
George McGovern
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When you start one of these programs, school lunch programs, in a country that heretofore had nothing of that kind, immediately school enrollment jumps dramatically. Girls and boys get to the classroom with the promise of a good meal once a day.
George McGovern
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I'm what a normal, healthy, ideal American should be like.
George McGovern
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Every once in a while, I run into somebody who tells me that she met her husband in my campaign or a husband who says, I met my wife. I have to tell you, I caused a few divorces too.
George McGovern
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If you're Iran's minister of defense, I think you'd try to develop at least one nuclear weapon to save yourself from what happened to Iraq.
George McGovern
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I did frequently refer to my war record in World War II, but not in any flamboyant way.
George McGovern
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We are at a crossroads over how the federal government in Washington and state legislatures and city councils across the land allocate their financial resources. Which fork we take will say a lot about Americans and our values.
George McGovern
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Pay attention to the hungry, both in this country and around the world. Pay attention to the poor. Pay attention to our responsibilities for world peace. We are our brother's keeper.
George McGovern
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Above all, being a Democrat means having compassion for others. ... It means standing up for people who have been kept down.
George McGovern