1972 United States presidential election

===Vice presidential vote===
Most polls showed McGovern running well behind incumbent President [[Richard Nixon]], except when McGovern was paired with [[Massachusetts]] Senator [[Ted Kennedy]]. McGovern and his campaign brain trust lobbied Kennedy heavily to accept the bid to be McGovern's [[running mate]], but he continually refused their advances, and instead suggested [[U.S. Representative]] (and [[House Ways and Means Committee]] chairman) [[Wilbur Mills]] from [[Arkansas]] and [[Mayor of Boston|Boston Mayor]] [[Kevin White (mayor)|Kevin White]].<ref name="time">{{cite news|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,906135,00.html|title=Introducing... the McGovern Machine|date=July 24, 1972|work=Time Magazine|access-date=September 7, 2008|archive-date=August 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809165609/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,906135,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Offers were then made to [[Hubert Humphrey]], Connecticut Senator [[Abraham Ribicoff]], and Minnesota Senator [[Walter Mondale]], all of whom turned it down. Finally, the vice presidential slot was offered to Senator [[Thomas Eagleton]] from Missouri, who accepted the offer.<ref name="time" />

With hundreds of [[Delegate (American politics)|delegate]]s displeased with McGovern, the vote to ratify Eagleton's candidacy was chaotic, with at least three other candidates having their names put into nomination and votes scattered over 70 candidates.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/conventions/chicago/facts/weird.facts/votes.shtml |work=All Politics |title=All The Votes...Really |publisher=CNN |access-date=May 28, 2010 |archive-date=April 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424044429/http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/conventions/chicago/facts/weird.facts/votes.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> A grassroots attempt to displace Eagleton in favor of Texas state representative [[Frances Farenthold]] gained significant traction, though was ultimately unable to change the outcome of the vote.<ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/00291/cah-00291.html |title=A Guide to the Frances Tarlton Farenthold Papers, 1913–2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231190207/http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/00291/cah-00291.html/ |archive-date=December 31, 2016 |publisher=Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin |website=Texas Archival Resources Online}}</ref>

The vice-presidential balloting went on so long that McGovern and Eagleton were forced to begin making their acceptance speeches at around 2 am, local time.

After the convention ended, it was discovered that Eagleton had undergone psychiatric [[electroshock therapy]] for [[clinical depression|depression]] and had concealed this information from McGovern. A ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine poll taken at the time found that 77 percent of the respondents said, "Eagleton's medical record would not affect their vote." Nonetheless, the press made frequent references to his "shock therapy", and McGovern feared that this would detract from his campaign platform.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/26/MN9NVQGO2.DTL |title=Obama bounces back – speech seemed to help |publisher=SFGATE |date=March 26, 2008 |access-date=May 28, 2010 |first=Joe |last=Garofoli |archive-date=May 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525170532/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/26/MN9NVQGO2.DTL |url-status=live }}</ref> McGovern subsequently consulted confidentially with pre-eminent psychiatrists, including Eagleton's own doctors, who advised him that a recurrence of Eagleton's depression was possible and could endanger the country, should Eagleton become president.<ref>McGovern, George S., ''Grassroots: The Autobiography of George McGovern'', New York: Random House, 1977, pp. 214–215</ref><ref>McGovern, George S., ''Terry: My Daughter's Life-and-Death Struggle with Alcoholism'', New York: Random House, 1996, pp. 97</ref><ref>Marano, Richard Michael, ''Vote Your Conscience: The Last Campaign of George McGovern'', Praeger Publishers, 2003, pp. 7</ref><ref>''The Washington Post'', "George McGovern & the Coldest Plunge", [[Paul Hendrickson]], September 28, 1983</ref><ref>''The New York Times'', "'Trashing' Candidates" (op-ed), George McGovern, May 11, 1983</ref> McGovern had initially claimed that he would back Eagleton "1000 percent",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://observer.com/2016/07/im-behind-him-1000/|title='I'm Behind Him 1000%'|website=Observer.com|date=July 21, 2016}}</ref> only to ask Eagleton to withdraw three days later. This perceived lack of conviction in sticking with his running mate was disastrous for the McGovern campaign.

McGovern later approached six prominent Democrats to run for vice president: Ted Kennedy, [[Edmund Muskie]], Hubert Humphrey, [[Abraham Ribicoff]], [[Larry O'Brien]], and [[Reubin Askew]]. All six declined. [[Sargent Shriver]], brother-in-law to John, Robert, and Ted Kennedy, former [[United States Ambassador to France|Ambassador to France]], and former [[Peace Corps#Directors|Director]] of the [[Peace Corps]], later accepted.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Liebovich|first1=Louis|title=Richard Nixon, Watergate, and the Press: A Historical Retrospective|date=2003|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780275979157|page=[https://archive.org/details/richardnixonwate00lieb/page/53 53]|url=https://archive.org/details/richardnixonwate00lieb/page/53}}</ref> He was officially nominated by a special session of the [[Democratic National Committee]]. By this time, McGovern's poll ratings had plunged from 41 to 24 percent.