Nelson event reunites 1972 ticket

A Washington memorial service Wednesday for former Wisconsin Gov. and Sen. Gaylord Nelson, who died July 3, brought together many who worked with him or served with him in the Senate. Among the ex-Senators speaking were George McGovern and Tom Eagleton, who for a brief time were the Democratic presidential ticket in 1972.

This may be the first time McGovern and Eagleton have been on the same program since that campaign, when McGovern had to ask Eagleton to step down from the ticket.

Nelson, a close friend of both, played a key role in encoouraging McGovern to pick Eagleton, and then served as a buffer and go-between for his two friends when they were parting ways. He remained close to both of them up until his death.

You'll find a lot more on the subject in Nelson's biography, The Man From Clear Lake, which I can heartily recommend.

UPDATE: Someone actually wrote it:

McGovern and Eagleton joke about '72 race

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- Presidential nominee George McGovern said Wednesday it probably was a mistake to dump running mate Thomas F. Eagleton from the Democratic ticket in 1972.

Eagleton, a Missouri senator, dropped out of the race shortly after the nominating convention after disclosing he had been hospitalized three times for psychiatric treatment, and twice had undergone electroshock therapy for depression.

McGovern replaced him with Sargent Shriver, a former director of the Peace Corps, and lost the election in a landslide to Republican Richard Nixon, the incumbent president.

"Tom and I ran into a little snag back in 1972 that in the light of my much advanced wisdom today, I think was vastly exaggerated," McGovern, a former senator from South Dakota.

McGovern, who spoke at a tribute to the late Sen. Gaylord Nelson, D-Wis., noted that both Nixon and his running mate, Spiro Agnew, resigned before their terms were up.

"So Tom, our timing was off," McGovern said to laughter. "If we'd a run in '74 instead of '72, it would have been a piece of cake."

Eagleton noted that the program for the Gaylord tribute listed the two men as back-to-back speakers.

"McGovern-Eagleton," he said, repeating the phrase twice for emphasis.

It is wonderful, that after 33 years, they can finally acknowledge and joke about it.