Eugene J. McCarthy is born in Watkins. He served in Congress for over two decades, as a representative from 1949 to 1959, and as a senator from 1959 to 1971. In 1968, McCarthy challenged incumbent president Lyndon Johnson for the Democratic nomination. Running on an anti-Vietnam War platform and making a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary, he helped convince Johnson to drop out of the race. McCarthy, however, ultimately lost the Democratic Party bid to another Minnesotan: Hubert H. Humphrey.