- South Dakotan George McGovern served three terms in the Senate
- He was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1972
- He ran on an anti-war platform during the turmoil of the Vietnam War era
- McGovern lost in a landslide to incumbent Republican Richard Nixon
(CNN) -- George Stanley McGovern, a staunch liberal who served South Dakota in the U.S. Senate and House for more than two decades and who ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic Party nominee for president in 1972, died Sunday at the age of 90, his family said.
"Our wonderful father, George McGovern, passed away peacefully at the Dougherty Hospice House in Sioux Falls, SD, surrounded by our family and life-long friends," his family said in a statement.
"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. He continued giving speeches, writing and advising all the way up to and past his 90th birthday, which he celebrated this summer."
Services will be scheduled in Sioux Falls, the family said.
In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to Feeding South Dakota.
Former Sen. George McGovern, 90, died on Sunday, October 21. McGovern was the Democratic nominee for president in 1972. He ran against incumbent Richard Nixon and won only 17 electoral votes to Nixon's 520. He served in the U.S. Senate and House representing South Dakota before his loss for the top office. 
Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania died at age 82 of complications from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma on Sunday, October 14, at his home in Philadelphia, his family said. Specter served five terms as a Republican senator and switched political affiliation in 2009. 
TV and radio personality Gary Collins -- seen here in "Hour Magazine" and also known for his roles in television series including "The Sixth Sense" and "The Wackiest Ship in the Army" -- has died, according to officials in Harrison County, Mississippi. He was 74. 
Former NFL player and actor Alex Karras died on October 10, in Los Angeles, a family spokesman said. He was 77. 
Legendary singer Andy Williams, known for his smooth voice and classics such as "Moon River," died after a yearlong battle with bladder cancer at his Branson, Missouri, home, on September 25. He was 84. 
Actor John Ingle, who played patriarch Edward Quartermaine on ABC's "General Hospital," died at age 84 on September 15. 
Michael Clarke Duncan, nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the 1999 film "The Green Mile," "suffered a myocardial infarction on July 13 and never fully recovered," a written statement from Joy Fehily said. He passed away on September 3 at age 54. 
Hal David, the lyricist behind such standards as "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" and "What the World Needs Now is Love," died at 91 on September 1. 
Neil Armstrong, the American astronaut who made "one giant leap for mankind" when he became the first man to walk on the moon, died August 25. He was 82. 
Puppeteer Jerry Nelson, famous for lending his voice to Muppets on "Sesame Street," "The Muppet Show" and "Fraggle Rock," died August 23. He was 78. 
Comedian Phyllis Diller, known for her self-deprecating humor, died "peacefully in her sleep" on August 20. She was 95. 
Film director Tony Scott left notes in his car and office before plunging to his death from the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro, California, a Los Angeles County coroner official said. Scott died August 19, at age 68 in an apparent suicide. 
Actor Ron Palillo, who played class clown Arnold Horshack on the 1970s television comedy "Welcome Back, Kotter," died from a heart attack at age 63 on August 14. 
Marvin Hamlisch, a prolific American composer, died after a more than four-decade long career that spanned film, music, television and theater, on August 6. He was 68. 
At 69, actress Lupe Ontiveros, who co-starred in the hit films "Selena" and "As Good As It Gets," died of liver cancer on July 26. 
Sherman Hemsley, who played the brash George Jefferson on "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons," died July 24, at age 74. 
Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, died after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer on July 23. She was 61. 
Keyboard player Jon Lord, who fused classical and heavy metal to make Deep Purple one of the biggest rock bands in the world, died July 16 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 71. 
Oscar-winning actress Celeste Holm died at her home in New York on July 15 at the age of 95. Here Holm, center, appears in 1950's "All About Eve" with Garry Merrill, from left, Bette Davis, and Hugh Marlow. 
On July 8, film and television actor Ernest Borgnine, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of a lovelorn butcher in 1955's "Marty," died at age 95. 
Actor Andy Griffith, who played folksy Sheriff Andy Taylor in the fictional town of Mayberry, died July 3, at the age of 86. 
Nora Ephron, the screenwriter and director whose sharp, edgy romantic comedies featuring strong women took her to the top ranks of a film industry mostly dominated by men, died at 71 on June 26. 
Robin Gibb, one of three brothers who made up the group the Bee Gees behind "Saturday Night Fever" and other now-iconic sounds from the 1970s, died on May 20. He was 62. Gibb "passed away today following his long battle with cancer and intestinal surgery," a statement said. 
Donna Summer, the "Queen of Disco" whose hits included "Hot Stuff," "Bad Girls," "Love to Love You Baby" and "She Works Hard for the Money," died May 17. She was 63. 
Donald "Duck" Dunn, left, the bass player who laid the musical floor beneath soul legends like Booker T. and the MGs, Sam and Dave and Otis Redding, died at age 70 on May 13. 
George Lindsey, the actor who portrayed the country-bumpkin mechanic Goober Pyle on "The Andy Griffith Show," died May 6 after a brief illness, his family said. He was 83. 
Levon Helm, the drummer, multi-instrumentalist and singer for The Band who kept the band's heart for more than three decades, died "peacefully" April 19, according to his record label, Vanguard Records. He was 71. 
Television host Dick Clark poses for a portrait circa 1968. The longtime host of the influential "American Bandstand" died in April 18 after suffering a heart attack. He was 82. 
Earl Scruggs, whose distinctive picking style and association with Lester Flatt cemented bluegrass music's place in popular culture, died March 28 of natural causes at a Nashville hospital. He was 88. 
Doobie Brothers drummer Michael Hossack died at his home in Dubois, Wyoming, on March 11 at the age of 65 after battling cancer for some time. 
Jimmy Ellis, who belted out the dance anthem "Disco Inferno" in the 1970s for the Trammps, died on March 8 at 74 years old. Here, the Trammps are seen in 1973: From left, Earl Young, seated, Harold Wade, Jimmy Ellis, Stanley Wade and Robert Upchurch. 
Davy Jones, whose charming grin and British accent won the hearts of millions of fans on the 1960s television series "The Monkees," died on February 29, at age 66. 
The news broke on the eve of Grammy Awards, the music industry's biggest night: The woman with the pitch-perfect voice who once reigned as the queen of pop at the awards show had died. Whitney Houston was found by her bodyguard, lifeless, on February 11. She was 48. 
Actor James Farentino, whose television acting career began in the early 1960s, died on January 24. He was 73. 
Etta James, whose assertive, earthy voice lit up such hits as "The Wallflower," "Something's Got a Hold on Me" and the wedding favorite "At Last," died on January 20. She was 73. People we've lost in 2012
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Photos: People we've lost in 2012 The son of a Wesley Methodist minister, McGovern was born in Avon, South Dakota, on July 19, 1922. Six years later, his family moved an hour north to Mitchell, where McGovern graduated from Mitchell High School in 1940.
His debating skills won him a scholarship to Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, where he met fellow student Eleanor Stegeberg. Three years later, they married. All five of their children were born in Mitchell.
McGovern's political skills came to the fore in college, where he was twice elected class president and won the state oratorical contest on the topic "My Brother's Keeper," which laid out his liberal beliefs.
In 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and went on to fly 35 combat missions as a B-24 bomber pilot in Europe. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
After the war, he returned to college, graduating in 1946. McGovern attended Garrett Seminary for a year before entering Northwestern University in Chicago, where he got his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in American history and government.
He returned to Dakota Wesleyan University in 1950 as a professor of history and political science, leaving in 1955 to help the South Dakota Democratic Party and launch his political career.
In 1956, he won a seat in Congress and was re-elected two years later.
After losing a bid for the U.S. Senate in 1960, McGovern was named special assistant to the president and director of the Food for Peace Program by President John F. Kennedy.
Two years later, he was elected to the Senate and reelected in 1968 and 1974. He served on Senate committees on agriculture, nutrition, forestry and foreign relations, and the Joint Economic Committee.
In 1972, Senator McGovern was selected as the Democratic Party nominee for president on a platform that included ending the war in Vietnam at a time when the country was torn over U.S. involvement there.
"Let us resolve that never again will we send the precious young blood of this country to die trying to prop up a corrupt military dictatorship abroad," he said to applause at the Democratic convention in Miami Beach, Florida.
He called the unemployment of more than 5 million Americans "the most false and wasteful economics of all" and said his highest domestic priority would be "to ensure that every American able to work has a job to do." He called for an end to a system of economic controls "in which labor is depressed but prices and corporate profits run sky high," and he called for national health insurance and "a fair and just tax system."
But the campaign started out poorly. He selected as running mate Sen. Thomas Eagleton of Missouri after a background check that did not turn up the fact that Eagleton had been treated for mental illness, a fact that was revealed soon thereafter. Eagleton withdrew and McGovern then tapped Sargent Shriver, a brother-in-law of John F. Kennedy and U.S. ambassador to France.
The pair ended up losing in a lopsided vote for incumbent Richard Nixon, with the McGovern ticket earning only 17 electoral votes -- from Massachusetts and the District of Columbia -- to Nixon's 520.
McGovern reflected on that defeat in a September piece in The Washington Post, calling it "a significant personal setback" that left him "genuinely stunned."
"The loss is there, an old wound never fully healed. My disappointment was certainly personal, made deeper by the awareness that many thousands of young Americans, and far more Vietnamese and other Asian citizens, were going to and did lose their lives with the Nixon administration's continuation of the war," he wrote. "And I was upset that my supporters would carry the burden of the loss, too -- something that has weighed on me all these years."
But he added, "I am optimistic about the country, and I am convinced that McGovern for President 1972 helped put those ideals within sight and completion today."
He returned to the Senate, where he was re-elected in 1974. But he was beaten when he sought a fourth term in 1980, a victim of what became known as the Reagan Revolution that swept conservatives into power and their views into vogue.
Four years later, he tried again to win the Democratic presidential nomination, but dropped out and former Vice President Walter Mondale became the nominee -- only to lose to Reagan in another lopsided race.
After leaving the Senate, McGovern taught at a number of schools, including Columbia University, Northwestern University, Cornell University, American University and the University of Berlin. He served as the president of the Middle East Policy Council from 1991 to 1998. President Bill Clinton appointed him ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome and, in 2000, awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In 2001, McGovern was named the first United Nations global ambassador on hunger.
In 2008, McGovern switched his allegiance from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama. But in a 2009 commentary in the Post, he lashed out at the Obama administration its policies in Afghanistan and reflected on one of the hallmarks of his political life.
"As a U.S. senator during the 1960s, I agonized over the badly mistaken war in Vietnam," McGovern wrote. "After doing all I could to save our troops and the Vietnamese people from a senseless conflict, I finally took my case to the public in my presidential campaign in 1972. Speaking across the nation, I told audiences that the only upside of the tragedy in Vietnam was that its enormous cost in lives and dollars would keep any future administration from going down that road again.
"I was wrong."
Sen. George McGovern campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination in August 1968. Vice President Hubert Humphrey beat McGovern for the party's nomination that year and lost in the general election to Richard Nixon. 
McGovern, the Democratic presidential nominee, right, and his first running mate, Sen. Thomas Eagleton, campaign in 1972. Eagleton withdrew from the ticket after it came to light that he had received electric shock treatment for bouts of mental illness. 
People on the convention floor give the victory sign as McGovern is nominated for president at the Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida, in July 1972. 
McGovern, left, chose Sargent Shriver as his running mate to replace Eagleton in August 1972. 
McGovern speaks at an event in January 1984. 
Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, left, talks with McGovern while both testify before the Congressional Progressive Caucus on the McGovern-Polk Plan for U.S. Military Disengagement from Iraq in January 2007. 
Murtha, left, listens to McGovern testify before the Congressional Progressive Caucus forum on U.S. military involvement in Iraq in January 2007. 
McGovern attends the 40th American Film Institute Life Achievement Award ceremony honoring Shirley MacLaine in June 2012. 
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