
Who would have thought that coming in second in a primary election could actually seem like you won?
In 1968, Democratic Senator Eugene McCarthy finished such a close second to incumbent Lyndon Johnson that it spelled the end of the Johnson reelection candidacy.
A few days after McCarthy’s surprise second-place showing, Robert F. Kennedy joined the race, and just a couple of weeks later, Johnson dropped out.
I first met Eugene McCarthy in 1987, for this interview.