Letter: George McGovern obituary

In 1984 I was a visiting professor at the University of Iowa. Iowa was the first state to vote for the Democratic nominee for presidency and I met all eight of the candidates. I had breakfast with Walter Mondale, lunch with Jesse Jackson and tea with George McGovern.

McGovern was by far the most radical of the candidates, and when I asked him how America should deal with its health problems, he said: "What we need is a national health service like you have in Britain."

Of course Mondale won the nomination and was well beaten by Ronald Reagan, but McGovern impressed as the most principled candidate.