(born 1916) Minnesota member of Congress who launched a quixotic antiwar challenge to President Lyndon Johnson in the 1968 Democratic primaries that galvanized youthful anti-Vietnam movements. While Johnson eventually chose not to seek the nomination, McCarthy was defeated by Hubert Humphrey’s nomination by a deeply divided party lacerated by the assassination of Robert Kennedy as well as Chicago convention protests.

McCarthy subsequently became better known as a commentator and poet, although his campaign buttons and bumper stickers remained liberal keepsakes for decades.