SuperJerk 0 Report post Posted March 4, 2007 Ex-1972 vice presidential running mate Eagleton dies Story Highlights • A cause of Thomas Eagleton's death was not disclosed • The former Missouri senator stepped down as '72 Dem VP running mate • He resigned after it was revealed he was hospitalized for depression • He served in Senate for Missouri from 1968 to 1987 ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- Former U.S. Sen. Thomas Eagleton, who resigned as a vice presidential running mate in 1972 after it was revealed he had been hospitalized for depression, died Sunday, said a spokeswoman for Sen. Claire McCaskill. The cause of death was not disclosed. McCaskill spokeswoman Adrianne Marsh said the family was expected to issue a statement later Sunday. "Today Missouri has a hole in its heart," McCaskill said in a statement. "Tom Eagleton managed to be a statesman, an intellectual and a man of the people all at the same time." Eagleton, 77, had suffered from a variety of illnesses and ailments in recent years. He served in the Senate representing Missouri from December 1968 through January 1987. He was George McGovern's vice presidential nominee in 1972, but dropped out after it was revealed that he had been hospitalized for psychiatric treatment and had twice undergone electroshock therapy for depression. Eagleton was born in St. Louis in 1929, the son of noted civil trial attorney Mark Eagleton, who once ran unsuccessfully for mayor and encouraged his son's interest in politics. Thomas Eagleton was elected circuit attorney at age 26 in 1956, the youngest man ever elected to the position. He was elected Missouri attorney general in 1960 and lieutenant governor in 1964 before winning election to the U.S. Senate. http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/04/eag...t.ap/index.html Eagleton was dropped from the ticket after McGovern famously said he backed Eagleton "1000 percent." He was replaced by Sargent Shriver (former ambassador, Peace Corps director, Kennedy-in-law and father of Maria Shriver). I remember Eagleton more for his newspaper column than anything else, as I wasn't very old when he was my senator. He stayed Eagleton was outspoken in political affairs all the way until last year, when he got involved in the stem cell campaign. In 2001, upon John Ashcroft's nomination as U.S. Attorney General, Eagleton was quoted as saying, "John Danforth would have been my first choice. John Ashcroft would have been my last choice." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Oedipus Rex Report post Posted March 4, 2007 I'm 1000% saddened by the news. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snuffbox 0 Report post Posted March 4, 2007 Eagleton was lampooned for basically the same ailments suffered by Warren Harding (minus the shock therapy remedies) before he reached the top office. His biggest problem was just not admitting his past to McGovern in the first place. Not that that would have helped the ticket anyway, nor would Shriver being there from the beginning done much. McGovern needed Teddy K on the ticket but he stayed out (joining the establishment in letting McGovern's candidacy die a grisly death) thinking he would have a legitimate chance for President in '76 without risking defeat in '72. McGovern, with or without Eagleton or his shock therapy 'scandal', never stood a chance without real Party backing or standing in the face of a country that was so easilly convinced that a War Hero was a dopesmoking, pacifist hippie. Anyway, RIP and all that jazz Tom Eagleton. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darth Vader 0 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 Does this even qualify for the triangle of death? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snuffbox 0 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 No way. He was just a US Senator and one of the more notable failed VP candidates in American history. Now if he'd been on tv all day for absolutely nothing like current celebrities then it would have 'counted' Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boon 0 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 No way. He was just a US Senator and one of the more notable failed VP candidates in American history. Now if he'd been on tv all day for absolutely nothing like current celebrities then it would have 'counted' Wow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snuffbox 0 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 Triangle of death is three notable people dying in a short period of time or am I missing something here? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toshiaki Koala 0 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 When I first saw the thread title, I thought it said "Thomas Edison dead." My heart skipped a beat, let me tell you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
