Former presidential nominee and Sen. George McGovern.

Sen. George McGovern lost the 1972 presidential bid to Richard Nixon yet inspired a new generation of voters with his candidacy and opposition to the Vietnam War. A family spokesman told the AP McGovern died Sunday at a hospice in Sioux Falls, S.D., surrounded by family and friends. He was 90.

Sen. George McGovern, who lost the 1972 presidential bid to Richard Nixon yet inspired a new generation of voters, has died. He was 90.

A family spokesman told the AP that McGovern died at 5:15 a.m. Sunday at a hospice in Sioux Falls, S.D., surrounded by family and friends.

Despite a landslide loss to Nixon, McGovern's candidacy and particularly his opposition to the Vietnam War was embraced by the left. McGovern later described the loss as one of the most disheartening points in his life, as South Dakota Public Broadcasting's Charles Michael Rays reports for our Newscast desk.

"I thought the program I spelled out there was the truth," McGovern said. "I thought it was best for America and I'll go to my grave believing America would be better off had I been elected."

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