# Please list all the major American politicians who have died in the last three months **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 23, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-list-all-the-major-american-politicians-who-have-died-in-the-last-three-months/336884 "2005-12-23T00:02:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-list-all-the-major-american-politicians-who-have-died-in-the-last-three-months/336884/1 "2005-12-23T00:02:42Z")
Help me from driving myself crazy. I was earlier today having a conversation with my Grandmother about the film Goodnight and Goodluck, and for just a moment she got Joe McCarthy mixed up with a different political figure who died sometime in the past two months. Whoever it was she was thinking of, she thought when she read of his death: “Wow, I can’t believe he was still alive. I woulda thought he had died years ago.” It also may or may not be significant that she mixed him up with Joe McCarthy (who did in fact die quite a very long time ago). That’s all I have to go on folks. An American political figure who you “woulda thought had died years ago” and who my Grandmother (perhaps randomly, perhaps significantly) mixed up with Joe McCarthy. We’re going to go crazy if we don’t figure out whose death it was that she had read about. So please list every American political figure who has died in the last, oh say, three months. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-list-all-the-major-american-politicians-who-have-died-in-the-last-three-months/336884/2 "2005-12-23T00:05:49Z")
I think it was Eugene McCarthy, a former senator. I don’t know what state. That’s all I remember from the brief para in the newspaper. ---
**Author:** ![Lambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lambo)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-list-all-the-major-american-politicians-who-have-died-in-the-last-three-months/336884/3 "2005-12-23T00:22:20Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I think it was Eugene McCarthy, a former senator. I don’t know what state. That’s all I remember from the brief para in the newspaper. Yeah, it almost certainly was [Eugene McCarthy,](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4517684.stm) Senator from Minnesota and presidential candidate (losing the nomination to Hubert Humphrey in the '68 Democratic convention). ---
**Author:** ![deevee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@deevee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deevee)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-list-all-the-major-american-politicians-who-have-died-in-the-last-three-months/336884/4 "2005-12-23T00:32:17Z")
A fine man and unfortunately forever confused with scumbag Joe. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-list-all-the-major-american-politicians-who-have-died-in-the-last-three-months/336884/5 "2005-12-23T00:32:08Z")
I’m not allowed to call my Grandmother until after Jeopardy (ten more minutes!), but I’m certain you are both right! Thanks! I even said to her that the only major figure I could think of who died recently was “The guy who tried for the Democrat Presidential nomination in '68”, but I blanked on his name! She was convinced she couldn’t have been thinking of a Democrat, but now that I’m reminded that he was named McCarthy I’m sure it had to be him. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-list-all-the-major-american-politicians-who-have-died-in-the-last-three-months/336884/6 "2005-12-23T02:53:11Z")
Joe McCarthy was a Senator from Wisconsin. Eugene McCarthy was from neighboring Minnesota. So even if Grandma was sure she wasn’t thinking of a Democrat, she could have gotten the Midwestern connection messed up. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-list-all-the-major-american-politicians-who-have-died-in-the-last-three-months/336884/7 "2005-12-23T04:06:04Z")
It might be [William Proxmire](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Proxmire) who was elected to McCarthy’s seat in the Senate. Proxmire was a well known Senate maverick. ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-list-all-the-major-american-politicians-who-have-died-in-the-last-three-months/336884/8 "2005-12-23T16:53:42Z")
Maybe grandma was confused about the politicans and reported death. Perhaps she was thinking of two famous McCarthy dummies of the time, Joe and Charlie.😃