George McGovern And The 1972 Nebraska Democratic Primary
Nebraska had been crucial to the outcome of the two previous contested Democratic presidential nominations in 1960 and 1968. John F. Kennedy had won the 1960 primary and Robert F. Kennedy triumphed in 1968. That history convinced most of the serious candidates for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination to make Nebraska a high priority. That’s why Nebraska mattered again in 1972.
Between 1970 and the May 9, 1972 election day, Nebraska received multiple campaign appearances from all of the leading Democratic candidates and some of the heavy underdogs. McGovern was making what looked like a quixotic bid for the presidency when he made his first foray into Nebraska in September 1970. Other more well known Democrats who campaigned in Nebraska included the front runner Maine Senator Edmund Muskie, former Vice President and Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey, and Washington Senator Henry Jackson. Other longshot contenders who spent time in Nebraska were Indiana Senator Birch Bayh and Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty.
By the end of April 1972, an unpredictable and chaotic campaign had narrowed the field down to McGovern and Humphrey. The intense process had forced all of the other serious presidential hopefuls to drop out of the race. The central issue before the Nebraska primary was the Vietnam War. Both of the two finalists had similar positions on the issue and promised a quick withdrawal of U.S. armed forces from Vietnam. However, the Nebraska primary would largely be focused on more trivial issues.
The issues for the Nebraska primary were framed by a disingenuous attack from Jackson and a column by two influential Republican pundits in Washington. While he was campaigning in Omaha on April 11, 1972, Jackson falsely claimed that McGovern supported the legalization of marijuana. He also attacked McGovern for favoring amnesty for those who avoided the draft. The charge on the amnesty issue was accurate but he omitted to mention that many previous presidents had done the same thing after the conclusion of wars.
Editorial columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak made the dishonest allegation that McGovern was the candidate of amnesty, legalized marijuana and abortion. Subsequently, some of McGovern’s opponents labeled him the candidate of acid, amnesty and abortion. That allegation gained traction and began to erode support for the South Dakotan.
McGovern entered Nebraska as the favorite but his campaign team accurately perceived that their candidate had to aggressively rebut the false allegations. Former Nebraska Governor Frank Morrison had endorsed McGovern in 1971 and he agreed to campaign with him since he was a popular figure with Nebraska Democrats. Morrison would act as McGovern’s validator and public defender.
The South Dakotan wrote in his memoir that Frank and his wife Maxine were the “two of the most effective people in the country campaigning on my behalf.” At the rallies, Morrison would warm up the crowd and introduce his friend. “How many of you think Frank Morrison would be out here advocating the election of a dangerous left winger for President?” he liked to ask.
A rally was held before a capacity crowd at a large Catholic high school auditorium in Omaha in which Morrison was going to rebut the smears against McGovern. After that, he would introduce the candidate to address what they saw as the actual issues like the Vietnam War, tax reform, the farm recession, the economy and defense reform. Morrison took to the microphone and in his deep, loud voice, he passionately proclaimed: “We have in our state tonight one of the finest young men in America. He is a great patriot, a highly decorated war hero who loves his country and wants to serve us as president. But he has been subjected to a vicious campaign of smears and innuendo.”
“They say that George McGovern is for the legalization of marijuana, but I say,” Morrison began. Suddenly the youthful audience broke out into a loud applause that took the former governor by surprise. He then completed his initial statement: “I tell you that George McGovern does not advocate the legalization of marijuana.” The crowd suddenly became quiet and there was no cheering.
Morrison next said: “They say George McGovern is for abortion on demand, but I tell you.” He was again interrupted by loud applause from the crowd. Once again, Morrison was flummoxed by the audience’s reaction and went on to say: “But I say to you that George McGovern is against tampering with our state laws on abortion.” Again the crowd became quiet.
At this point, Morrison said that McGovern was not a radical and handed the floor over to the candidate for his remarks. After the rally, Morrison said to McGovern: “George, maybe I’m too old to understand this new generation. I’ll get the oldsters for you , and you take care of the young ones as you think best. We’re going to have a hard time beating Hubert in Nebraska.”
On election day, McGovern defeated Humphrey 41 percent to 35 percent in the popular vote. The final figures for the other candidates were: Wallace 12.5 percent, Muskie 3.5 percent, Jackson 2.7 percent and Yorty 1.8 percent. The popular vote was non-binding and merely a beauty contest. In the all important delegate count, McGovern earned 15 delegates to Humphrey’s 7 delegates. It was a clear cut victory for the South Dakota senator.
McGovern campaign manager (and future U.S. Senator) Gary Hart was very optimistic after the results in Nebraska. He later wrote that the win in Nebraska was very important to McGovern’s quest for the nomination since it was one of the states the campaign had originally targeted in 1970, they told the press that they thought they could carry Nebraska, and it was a farm state where McGovern would be expected to do well. After an upset loss in Ohio, the McGovern campaign had to prevent a Humphrey victory streak that could have made the former vice president the front runner.
However, Hart was mistaken in his belief that Nebraska proved that the strategy of portraying McGovern as an extremist could be thwarted by open campaigning. Political Scientist Bruce Miroff wrote in 2007 that Hart’s conclusion was “premature” and that the Nebraska campaign demonstrated that there was a “receptive audience for the construction of George McGovern the radical.”
McGovern’s win in Nebraska was the high water mark of his campaign. A Harris poll conducted in May found that McGovern was at the peak of his popularity in the polls. This influential poll found that McGovern was within 5 points of Nixon — Nixon 40%, McGovern 35% and Wallace 17%. McGovern had already made several mistakes during his campaign. For example, his stands on amnesty and defense cuts were not popular. The reality was that McGovern’s luck had run out in Nebraska on May 9. Up until this point, McGovern got every lucky break but afterwards, he got every bad break.
Sources consulted:
Glasser, Joshua. The Eighteen Day Running Mate: McGovern, Eagleton and a Campaign in Crisis. New Haven Connecticut: Yale University Press 2012.
Hart, Gary, Right from the Start. New York: The New York Times Book Company 1973.
McGovern, George. Grassroots: The Autobiography of George McGovern. New York: Random House 1977.
Miroff, Bruce. The Liberals’ Moment. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Press 2007.
White, Theodore. The Making of the President 1972. New York: Harper Perennial 1973.
This an excerpt from an article that will be published by Nebraska History Magazine in its Spring 2027 issue. It’s a sequel to our work on Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 Nebraska primary.
You can find a link to entire article here: