Former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate George McGovern died on Sunday at the age of 90. He was in hospice care in Sioux Falls and was surrounded by family and friends at the time of his death.
A three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, McGovern was suffering from several medical conditions due to age, which worsened in recent months.
"We are blessed to know that our father lived a long, successful and productive life advocating for the hungry, being a progressive voice for millions and fighting for peace," the family said in a statement.
McGovern ran for president three times, the second time, he lost to President Richard Nixon in 1972 in a historic landslide. His defeat to Nixon is one of the worst electoral defeats in U.S. history.
A bomber pilot during World War II, McGovern later become a leader of the Democrat's liberal wing and was a fierce opponent of the Vietnam War. He had once famously said that the U.S. government sometimes "bowed to pressure" from a powerful Israel lobby.
"George McGovern dedicated his life to serving the country he loved. He signed up to fight in World War II, and became a decorated bomber pilot over the battlefields of Europe," President Barack Obama said in a statement. "When the people of South Dakota sent him to Washington, this hero of war became a champion for peace. And after his career in Congress, he became a leading voice in the fight against hunger. George was a statesman of great conscience and conviction, and Michelle and I share our thoughts and prayers with his family."
"George believed deeply in public service. It defined him as a Senator and as a man," vice president Joe Biden said. "And he never stopped serving for his entire life - whether it was his courage in World War II, his time in Congress, or his fight to eliminate hunger at home and abroad."
