40 years ago this year, George McGovern , the Democratic nominee for president, made history by picking Missouri's Tom Eagleton as his vice-presidential running mate.
It was history only because of what happened 18 days later, when Eagleton withdrew from the ticket because of his previously undisclosed battle with mental illness, that had included electroshock therapy.
In the second part of Tuesday's Up to Date, Steve Kraske talks with Joshua M. Glasser about his new book, The Eighteen-Day Running Mate: McGovern, Eagleton, and a Campaign in Crisis. With input from McGovern himself and many other Washington insiders, Glasser discusses why Eagleton hid his past and who the anonymous tipster who outed him might have been.
Also, we’ll hear how the lessons of that race are applicable to this year’s presidential election.
Joshua M. Glasser is a researcher for Bloomberg Television in New York. He graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College, Eagleton’s alma mater. He lives in the Bronx, NY. The Eighteen-Day Running Mate is available now from Yale University Press.
