South Dakota bids farewell to former Sen. George McGovern

Source: Associated Press

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Associated Press/Nati Harnik - Members of an honor guard carry the casket of former Democratic U.S. Sen. and three-time presidential candidate George McGovern into the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science …more in Sioux Falls, S.D., for the funeral service, Friday, Oct. 26, 2012. McGovern died Sunday in his native South Dakota at age 90. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Three former Democratic presidential candidates paid personal respects Friday to former Sen. George McGovern, whose 1972 campaign for president galvanized the party's liberal wing and ushered in a new generation of political activism.

Walter Mondale, John Kerry and Gary Hart — who like McGovern all spent time in the Senate before unsuccessful runs for the White House — led a crowd of hundreds of mourners at McGovern's funeral. McGovern died Sunday after a brief stay in hospice care. He was 90.

In a sign of McGovern's stature in sparsely populated South Dakota, the service aired live on television in the state's largest city. It served as a final farewell to South Dakota's native son. A private burial for McGovern in Washington will be scheduled later.


Vice President Joe Biden spoke at a prayer service Thursday night. The dignitary list for Friday included Mondale, a former vice president who was the Democratic nominee in the 1984 presidential race that marked McGovern's last bid for public office. Kerry, a Massachusetts senator and the 2004 Democratic nominee, made the trip on short notice.



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