Entering my favorite book store, a few weeks ago, whom did I see standing in front of me but George McGovern? He was in town for the Democratic National Convention and had just finished giving a talk about his new book The Essential America. Before leaving the store, he was at that moment free for conversation.

This former senator, now 82, looked natty in a well-tailored suit and seemed in vigorous physical condition. His engaging personality emerged quickly as I introduced myself and told him of my disappointment that my vote for him as president in 1972 had not proven contagious, at least outside of Massachusetts.

About Senator McGovern we were right, of course, as the famous Massachusetts bumper sticker later reminded people from less enlightened states (all 49 of them). “We Told You So” said our boast, as we rubbed it in the face of those who had chosen Nixon.

In doing so, they passed up a man of sterling virtue for one whose vulgarity of brain and heart continues to find expression in the release of further Oval Office tapes. While recently reading some transcripts, I felt renewed dismay. Talking to a fawning Henry Kissinger about the State Department’s policy toward Uganda, President Nixon says: “Screw State! State’s always on the side of the blacks. The hell with them.”

And admonishing Kissinger about receiving the presidents of the Ivy League schools, he uses typical profanity: “SOBs (he did not employ this euphemism) − I wouldn’t have seen them.” Sentiments like these found Nixon’s tongue a familiar launching pad.

Recalling one of the substantive issues on which he made little headway during his campaign for the presidency, I told George McGovern of my appreciation for his having alerted the nation to Watergate. Had Americans taken his warning seriously, we would have saved ourselves from a serious threat to the Constitution− though, of course, such a move would have deprived the nation of some great television.

In a season when candidates’ military service has become an issue, I expressed admiration for McGovern because of his record during World War II. At age 23, he served as pilot of a B-24 bomber that flew 35 missions over Germany in those horrific days. Fortunately he escaped the fate of one of my friends, Ned Handy, who was shot down and did austere time in Stalag 17, the notorious German prison camp.

Incidentally, during his campaign McGovern made no mention of his outstanding military record. In fact, he told Stephen Ambrose, the late historian who wrote about him years after the campaign, that he had never discussed his war experiences at any length while involved in electoral politics. A natural modesty about his accomplishments seems to fit his character.  

This encounter with the man who ran in 1972 made me think above all of the Vietnam War. One of my strongest reasons for hoping against hope for his election to the presidency was confidence that he would stop the tragically ill-conceived United States participation in it. Nixon promised the same thing, but he escalated the conflict and it dragged on for years more, accounting for a total of 40 percent of U.S. casualties.

He preserves his place on my honor roll of fine candidates−Adlai Stevenson, Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, Al Gore−all of whom were well equipped for the White House, if not perhaps for Mount Rushmore. In voting for each of them (Adlai twice), I managed to amass an inglorious streak of losses, although I am quite prepared to defend my choices, especially that of George McGovern.

George McGovern has worn remarkably well, proving himself a man of character and learning who continues to hold strongly to the solid traditions of this country. The country’s betrayal of such values causes him ongoing regret.

In an interview given to a web agency called BuzzFlash he says about the Iraq war: “It makes me furious to see people like that [Bush, Cheney, Richard Perle] beating their chests on how patriotic they are, waving the flag, glorifying God while young Americans are needlessly being sacrificed in wars that they have devised.”

I cringe at the possibility that the electorate of our nation will once again buy a mess of pottage and entitle the current administration to preside over us for the next four years. Massachusetts already knows better than to vote that way, thus losing for us the chance to see those dubiously entertaining ads that fill the television screens of living rooms in those states judged swingable.

The unexpected personal encounter with McGovern reinforced my view of our current need of leaders who bring to public life high ideals and respect for the best traditions of our country. It takes wisdom to steer a nation through the complexities of modern life and that wisdom is currently in painfully short supply.

Richard Griffin