Especially worrying were the activities of George McGovern, a presidential aspirant and long-time opponent of the Vietnam War.29 In September he had gone to Paris and, after meeting with the North Vietnamese and the PRG negotiators, had come away with the mistaken belief that if all US troops were withdrawn from Vietnam by December 31, Hanoi would release the POWs. It was therefore his intention to re-introduce the amendment he had co-authored with Republican Senator Hatfield, cutting off funds for the war by a fixed date.
