Thomas Francis Eagleton (September 4, 1929 – March 4, 2007) was an American lawyer who served as a United States senator from Missouri from 1968 to 1987.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted in 1972, immediately after Eagleton's vice-presidential nomination: "He had been troubled with gastric disturbances, which led to occasional hospitalizations.

[8][9] Novak quoted the senator as saying: The people don't know McGovern is for amnesty for draft dodgers, abortion, and legalization of pot.

McGovern chose Eagleton after only a minimal background check, as was customary for vice-presidential selections at the time.

On July 25, 1972, just over two weeks after the 1972 Democratic Convention, Eagleton said that news reports that he had received electroshock therapy for clinical depression during the 1960s were true.

Nonetheless, the press made frequent references to his "shock therapy", and McGovern feared that this would detract from his campaign platform.

[23] McGovern's failure to vet Eagleton[15] and his subsequent handling of the controversy gave occasion for the Republican campaign to raise serious questions about his judgment.

[26] Weigand appealed her conviction, arguing that her trial should have been moved out of St. Louis because of extensive publicity that might have prejudiced jurors.

In the Senate, Eagleton was active in matters dealing with foreign relations, intelligence, defense, education, health care, and the environment.

Notably, Eagleton was one of only three senators to oppose the nomination of Gerald Ford as vice president in 1973.

Eagleton was involved in the unsuccessful attempt to pass the Human Life Amendment, a series of proposals to amend the United States Constitution with the effect of overturning the Supreme Court 1973 decision Roe v. Wade, which ruled that abortion bans were unconstitutional.

[31] During the 2000s, Eagleton served on the Council of Elders for the George and Eleanor McGovern Center for Leadership and Public Service at Dakota Wesleyan University.

[32] In January 2001, he joined other Missouri Democrats to oppose the nomination of former governor and senator John Ashcroft for United States Attorney General.

"[33] In 2005 and 2006, he co-taught a seminar on the U.S. presidency and the Constitution with Joel Goldstein at Saint Louis University School of Law.

He was also a partner in the St. Louis law firm Thompson Coburn and a chief negotiator for a coalition of local business interests that lured the Los Angeles Rams football team to St.

Eagleton led a group, Catholics for Amendment 2, composed of prominent Catholics who challenged church leaders' opposition to embryonic stem cell research and supported a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have protected such research in Missouri.

"[T]he letter from Catholics for Amendment 2 said the group felt a moral obligation to respond to what it called misinformation, scare tactics and distortions being spread by opponents of the initiative, including the church.

Eagleton's Catholicism increased his appeal to the working class of St. Louis and offset the "elitist stigma" of his private school education.

[38] Eagleton believed the Catholic Church was "a vital part of American life, conscience and thought".

[40] Because of his religion and youth, Eagleton was often compared to John F. Kennedy; in 1972, the St. Louis Post Dispatch wrote: "With his good looks, style, youth, liberal views and Catholic religion, Eagleton is the closest thing to a Kennedy Missouri has to offer".