Former US Sen Eagleton dead at 77

CHICAGO, March 4 (Reuters) Former US Sen Thomas Eagleton of Missouri, running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Sen George McGovern in 1972, died today from heart problems at age 77, a statement by his family said.

Eagleton was elected to the US Senate in 1968, was re-elected twice and served until 1987.

The cause of death was a combination of heart, respiratory and other problems, although he had been in declining health for many years, the statement said.

Eagleton, who opposed the Vietnam War, withdrew from the Democratic presidential ticket days after being chosen when it was revealed that he had had electroshock treatments and had been hospitalized for depression.

McGovern went on to lose the general election to Richard Nixon in one of the worst presidential election defeats in history, losing 49 of the 50 states including his home state of South Dakota.

On May 15, 1973, Eagleton offered an amendment to a defense spending bill to cut off funding for bombing Cambodia, a move that played a key part in ending US involvement in the Vietnam War, his family's statement said.

After his retirement from the Senate, Eagleton practiced law, and from 1987 until 1999 he was a professor of public affairs at Washington University in St Louis.

Reuters SRS VP0332