Everything about Sargent Shriver totally explained
Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr. (born
November 9 1915 in
Westminster, Maryland) is an
American Democratic politician and
activist. Known as "Sargent," Shriver is best-known as part of the
Kennedy family, the driving force behind the creation of the
Peace Corps, and the Democratic Party's 1972
vice presidential candidate.
Early life and career
Shriver was born in
Westminster, Maryland to Robert and Hilda Shriver. The Shriver family is a descendant of
David Shriver, who signed the Maryland Constitution and Bill of Rights at
Maryland's Constitutional Convention of 1776. He spent his high school years at the
Canterbury School, the prestigious school in
New Milford, Connecticut. After graduating from the
Canterbury School, which he attended on a full scholarship, Shriver spent the summer in Germany as part of the
Experiment in International Living, returning in the fall of 1934 to begin college at
Yale University. He received his
bachelor's degree in 1938 from Yale University, where he was a member of the
Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and
Scroll and Key Society. He was Chairman of the
Yale Daily News. Shriver went on to attend
Yale Law School, where he earned the
LL.B. in 1941.
An early opponent of American involvement in
World War II, Shriver was a founding member of
America First, an organization that tried to keep America out of the war. Still, Shriver volunteered for the
U.S. Navy, claiming he'd a duty to serve his country even if he disagreed with its policies. He spent five years in active duty and became a full lieutenant. Shriver ultimately came to believe in the justness of American involvement in the war and retracted his early opposition.
Shriver's involvement with the Kennedy family began when family patriarch
Joseph Kennedy, Sr. hired him to manage the
Merchandise Mart, part of Kennedy's vast business empire, in
Chicago,
Illinois.
After a seven-year courtship, Shriver married
Eunice Kennedy, a sister of then-Senator
John F. Kennedy, on
May 23,
1953 at
St. Patrick's Cathedral in
New York City. They have five children:
Robert Sargent Shriver III (born
April 28 1954),
Maria Owings Shriver (
November 6 1955),
Timothy Perry Shriver (
August 29 1959),
Mark Kennedy Shriver (
February 17 1964), and
Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver (
July 20 1965). Maria married
Republican Governor of California and actor
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Shriver was admitted to the District of Columbia, Illinois, New York, and the U.S. Supreme Court bar.
Shriver is a devout
Catholic who attends daily mass and carries a
rosary with well-worn wooden beads.
Political career
John F. Kennedy
When
John F. Kennedy ran for president, Shriver worked as a political and organization coordinator in the Wisconsin and West Virginia primaries.
Lyndon B. Johnson
After Kennedy's assasination, Shriver served as Special Assistant to President Johnson. He later served as the first Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity under him.
Political activism
Shriver's ebullient personality and creative energy made him one of the most effective leaders of President
John F. Kennedy's
New Frontier and
Lyndon Johnson's
Great Society in the 1960s.
He founded numerous social programs and organizations, including
Head Start,
VISTA,
Job Corps, Community Action,
Upward Bound, Foster Grandparents,
Special Olympics, the National Center on Poverty Law, Legal Services, Indian and Migrant Opportunities and Neighborhood Health Services, and directed the
Peace Corps. Shriver also ran the
War on Poverty during Johnson's tenure as president. He was such an effective leader, that
Job Corps and
Adams and Associates dedicated a Center to his name in 1999. The Job Corps Center (
Shriver Job Corps) is located in
Devens, Massachusetts.
Ambassador to France
Shriver served as
U.S. ambassador to France from 1968 to 1970, becoming a quasi-celebrity among the French for bringing what
Time magazine called "a rare and welcome panache" to the normally staid world of international diplomacy.
Vice Presidential candidate
In 1970, Shriver flirted with the possibility of running for Governor of
Illinois or, more seriously,
Maryland. He later admitted that his nascent campaign in Maryland was badly managed, and he soon decided to leave politics to practice law.
Shriver returned to the elective political world in 1972, when
George McGovern chose him as his
Vice Presidential running mate after McGovern's first pick —
Thomas Eagleton — turned out to have had a history of mental health problems. The McGovern-Shriver ticket was badly beaten by the
Republican candidates
Richard Nixon and
Spiro Agnew.
Shriver sought the Democratic nomination for President in 1976. After a series of disappointing primary performances, he dropped out of the race.
In 1976 Shriver ran a short-lived campaign for President, but soon returned to his private endeavors.
He remains to date the most recent
pro-life supporter to have been in a Democratic Party presidential ticket.
Life after politics
He was named
of counsel of
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson law firm in the
Washington, D.C. branch, where he specialized in international law and foreign affairs.
In 1981, Shriver was appointed to the Rockefeller University Council, an organization devoted exclusively to research and graduate education in the biomedical and related sciences.
In 1984, he was elected President of
Special Olympics by the Board of Directors; as President, he directed the operation and international development of sports programs around the world. Six years later, in 1990, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Special Olympics.
Shriver suffers from
Alzheimer's disease for several years. His daughter,
Maria, has published a children's book,
What's Happening to Grandpa?, to help explain Alzheimer's to children. The book also gives kids suggestions on how to help and to show love to an elderly person with the disease. In July 2007, Shriver's son-in-law, California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger, speaking out in favor of
stem-cell research, announced that Shriver's Alzheimer's disease had advanced to the point that he no longer recognizes many of those close to him.
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Legacy
In 1993, Shriver received the Franklin D. Roosevelt Freedom From Want Award. On
August 8,
1994, Shriver received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor, from President
Bill Clinton.
An elementary school located in
Aspen Hill, Maryland is named after Shriver, called Sargent Shriver Elementary School.
In January 2008, a
documentary film about Shriver aired on
PBS, titled
American Idealist: The Story of Sargent Shriver.
(External Link)
Electoral history
United States presidential election, 1972
1976 Democratic presidential primaries
Jimmy Carter - 6,235,609 (39.27%)
Jerry Brown - 2,449,374 (15.43%)
George Wallace - 1,955,388 (12.31%)
Mo Udall - 1,611,754 (10.15%)
Henry M. Jackson - 1,134,375 (7.14%)
Frank Church - 830,818 (5.23%)
Robert Byrd - 340,309 (2.14%)
Sargent Shriver - 304,399 (1.92%)
Unpledged - 283,437 (1.79%)
Ellen McCormack - 238,027 (1.50%)
Fred R. Harris - 234,568 (1.48%)
Milton Shapp - 88,254 (0.56%)
Birch Bayh - 86,438 (0.54%)
Hubert Humphrey - 61,992 (0.39%)
Ted Kennedy - 19,805 (0.13%)
Lloyd Bentsen - 4,046 (0.03%)
Terry Sanford - 404 (0.00%) Further Information
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