Eugene McCarthy, the man who toppled LBJ, dies at 89

The former US Senator Eugene McCarthy, who shifted the Vietnam War debate by toppling a sitting president during the 1960s, has died at the age of 89.

McCarthy sealed his place in the history books when he challenged President Lyndon B Johnson for the 1968 Democratic nomination, during fierce debate over the Vietnam War. The challenge led to Johnson's withdrawal from the race and forced the party to take seriously McCarthy's anti-conflict message.

McCarthy died in his sleep at the retirement home in the US capital's Georgetown neighbourhood where he had lived for the past few years.

The former Minnesota Senator and college professor, who ran for president a total of five times, was in some ways an atypical politician - a man with a witty, erudite speaking style who wrote poetry in his spare time and was the author of several books.

When McCarthy challenged for the presidency in 1992, he explained his decision to leave the seclusion of his home in rural Virginia by quoting Plutarch, the ancient Greek historian: "They are wrong who think that politics is like an ocean voyage or military campaign, something to be done with some particular end in view."

Speaking yesterday, his son, Michael, said: "He was thoughtful, he was principled, he was compassionate and he had a good sense of humour."