Final Years and Death
By 2009, McGovern had moved to St. Augustine Beach, Florida. McGovern's seventh book (as author, co-author, or contributing editor) issued in decade of the 2000s, Abraham Lincoln, was published by Times Books and released at the close of 2008. Throughout 2009, McGovern embarked on a book tour, including a prominent visit to the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
He was treated for exhaustion during 2011 and then was hospitalized after a serious fall in December 2011 prior to a live C-SPAN broadcast about his 1972 presidential campaign. By January 2012, he was promoting his latest book, What It Means to Be a Democrat. He was hospitalized again in April 2012 due to fainting spells. McGovern's 90th birthday was celebrated on July 19, 2012, with a Washington event hosted by World Food Program USA and attended by many liberal Democratic politicians, along with (as the Washington Post termed it) "one respectful conservative", South Dakota's Republican Senator John Thune. On July 27, 2012, McGovern's son Steven died at age 60. McGovern's daughter Ann said, "Steve had a long struggle with alcoholism. We will all miss him deeply, but are grateful that he is now at peace." In August 2012, McGovern moved back to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to be nearer to his family. His final public appearance was on October 6, 2012, when he introduced his recorded narration for Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra.
On October 15, 2012, McGovern's family announced he had entered Dougherty Hospice House, a Sioux Falls hospice; his daughter Ann said, "He's coming to the end of his life". A family spokesperson confirmed that McGovern was unresponsive.
On the morning of October 21, 2012, McGovern died at age 90 at the Sioux Falls hospice, surrounded by family and lifelong friends. The family released this statement, "We are blessed to know that our father lived a long, successful and productive life advocating for the hungry, being a progressive voice for millions and fighting for peace. He continued giving speeches, writing and advising all the way up to and past his 90th birthday, which he celebrated this summer." In addition to his three remaining children, he was survived by ten grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. President Obama paid tribute to him as "a champion for peace" and a "statesman of great conscience and conviction".
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