ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI — Whenever a public official acknowledges dealing with depression, the name Thomas Eagleton invariably appears somewhere in the ensuing news account of the disclosure. The stories routinely remind readers that in August of 1972 Eagleton was dropped as the Democratic vice presidential nominee after he revealed his past hospitalizations for depression.

So predictably, the recent disclosure by former Sen. and current Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton that he suffers from depression produced another round of "Eagleton was dumped due to depression" mentions.

Whether Dayton represents Minnesota's best choice for governor is a question Minnesota's voters will decide. But Eagleton's career teaches that depression need not prevent someone from providing exemplary public service.

Sen. George McGovern chose Eagleton as his running mate after his preferred options refused to join his ticket, which was hopelessly behind in the polls. Eagleton had been in the Senate for less than four years, but he had served with such distinction that a number of his ablest colleagues — Majority Leader Mike Mansfield and Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, Walter F. Mondale and Gaylord Nelson — recommended him to McGovern.

Significant achievements for a freshman
Though a freshman senator, Eagleton had played an important role in major legislative battles. Sen. Edmund S. Muskie had tapped Eagleton as vice-chair of the committee considering the Clean Air Act of 1970 and Clean Water Act of 1972, and Eagleton had helped move that legislation along while Muskie was campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. Sen. Frank Church had asked Eagleton to work on war-powers legislation to reassert Congress' role in deciding when America goes to war, and Eagleton had emerged as a congressional leader on that important subject.

McGovern's campaign had never asked Eagleton about his health history, or anything else, before McGovern invited him to join the ticket during a brief telephone conversation. During the immediately preceding years, Eagleton had escaped depression and he believed the condition was under control; that fact and his successful Senate performance led him to conclude that he could serve in higher national office. The health history of candidates was not then thought relevant — the public never knew, for instance, of the many ailments that afflicted John F. Kennedy — and Eagleton misjudged the likelihood that his history would be revealed or the reaction disclosure would produce.

Although 1972 ended Eagleton's national ambitions, it did not prevent him from rendering effective public service. For the next 14 years he continued his constructive role in the Senate. He drafted the Eagleton Amendment to deny Richard M. Nixon funding to bomb Cambodia, and shepherded it to passage in the Senate. Nixon vetoed the measure, but ultimately accepted a compromise that forced him to stop the bombing in 45 days. Among his other legislative achievements: Eagleton played a major role in drafting legislation to create the inspector general system, to protect senior citizens, and to enhance educational opportunity.

A vocal man of principle
Yet Eagleton's most striking contribution probably came through his willingness to serve as an often lonely critic of departures from political and constitutional principle. He spoke against the war powers resolution, which he had co-authored, after the Senate-House conference modified it in ways that expanded, rather than controlled, presidential power. When some Senate Democrats sought to defend their colleague, Harrison Williams, Jr., who had been caught taking bribes in the Abscam sting operation, Eagleton urged that expulsion was warranted even though Williams' departure would cost the Democrats the seat. Revolted by the high cost of campaigns and the indignity of constant fundraising, Eagleton retired from the Senate with his popularity intact at age 57. These examples could be multiplied many times if space permitted.

The esteem in which Eagleton was held by his Senate colleagues became clear two years after he retired from Congress. He was chosen, along with former Majority Leader Howard Baker, to give the principal addresses to the Senate when it celebrated its bicentennial — an extraordinary honor for a former member.

Eagleton's retirement from the Senate did not end his public service. For the last 20 years of his life, until he died in March 2007, he embraced the role of public citizen. He served as a columnist, teacher and civic activist in his hometown of St. Louis, and as a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.

Eagleton's career demonstrated that depression need not prevent someone from rendering constructive public service. Minnesota's voters will decide whether Dayton should be their governor. But it would be folly to sideline him, or any other public servant, simply because of past depression.

Joel K. Goldstein, the Vincent C. Immel Professor of Law at Saint Louis University School of Law, taught a course on the Constitution and the Presidency with Thomas F. Eagleton.