It was more of a reflection of the ignorance that still surrounded behavioral illnesses in 1972. Compared with Trump, Eagleton was a well-liked, compassionate human being who was fully functional.
When he was asked if there was anything in his background that could cause problems for McGovern's campaign, Eagleton said there was not. He did not mention he'd been hospitalized three times for depression and that he was treated twice with electroshock therapy. Sadly, that was very short-sighted, although his bad move is likely attributable to the heavy stigma attached to mental illness back then.
Per the New York Times Obituary, 3/5/2007 (can't link to article, using phone r/n):
"...But rumors began circulating among politicians and journalists. Mr. Eagleton held a news conference on July 25 in Custer, S.D., where he had just briefed the vacationing Mr. McGovern over breakfast. Mr. Eagleton told reporters that he had been treated for “nervous exhaustion.” But in response to questions, he acknowledged that the treatment had included psychiatric counseling and electric shocks.
That day Mr. McGovern said, “I think Tom Eagleton is fully qualified in mind, body and spirit to be the vice president of the United States and, if necessary, to take on the presidency on a moment’s notice.” As objections to Mr. Eagleton mounted, Mr. McGovern insisted that he was “1,000 percent for Tom Eagleton.”
But the pressure from party leaders, campaign contributors and members of Mr. McGovern’s own staff was unrelenting. On July 31, the candidates met again, this time in Washington, and Mr. McGovern forced Mr. Eagleton to withdraw. He stepped down after 18 days as the nominee, saying he had done so for the sake of “party unity.”
Mr. Eagleton campaigned hard for the ticket of Mr. McGovern and his replacement, R. Sargent Shriver, but they failed to carry Missouri or any other state except Massachusetts as President Richard M. Nixon swept to a resounding re-election victory.
<snip>
Mr. McGovern said last April that he had come to regret his removal of Mr. Eagleton. “If had it to do over again, I’d have kept him,” Mr. McGovern said. “I didn’t know anything about mental illness. Nobody did.”
He said that in recent years he and Mr. Eagleton had been on good terms, and that he regarded Mr. Eagleton as one of the 10 or 12 best senators with whom he had served.
Returning to Congress after he was dropped from the ticket, Mr. Eagleton took a leading role in legislation to halt the United States’ bombing of Cambodia in 1973. When, in 1984, he announced that he would not seek a fourth term two years later, he called the Cambodia legislation his top achievement in the Senate.
He was also a leading sponsor of the War Powers Act, which was intended to limit the president’s ability to make war without Congressional approval. In the end, however, he voted against the bill in 1973, contending it had been watered down too much.
A chain smoker, Mr. Eagleton fought tobacco subsidies. He was a leading advocate of the 1974 Turkish Arms embargo. In 1982, as the Senate debated ousting Sen. Harrison A. Williams of New Jersey, who had been convicted of bribery and conspiracy in the Abscam influence-peddling scandal, Mr. Eagleton said, “We should not perpetrate our own disgrace by asking him to remain.”
<snip>
When he announced his retirement in 1984, he said he had served “a full and complete career,” adding, “Public offices should not be held in perpetuity.” But he also complained that runaway campaign spending had put “the stench of money” around the Capitol.
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