2008.01.21: January 21, 2008: Headlines: Directors - Shriver: Figures: Directors: Documentaries: Hub: Shriver lived life adjacent to power

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Shriver lived life adjacent to power

Shriver lived life adjacent to power

Sargent Shriver perplexed many people. He was never elected, but he was at the core of power. The assumption was that he had a patrician background, similar to the Kennedys. "He dressed well and talked well," Maria Shriver said. "People thought he must be from money." Actually, the film says, his parents lost almost everything in the stock-market crash, when he was 14. He went to Yale on scholarships, getting a law degree. His life changed when he married Eunice Kennedy, John's sister. "My mother had an impact," Maria Shriver said. "If you've grown up in a family that is excited about politics, you will know a lot about it." Sargent Shriver made many of the Kennedy interests his own. After leaving government - the poverty effort was cut short by the Vietnam War, he felt - he became active with the Special Olympics and with Catholic efforts for peace. "He's a man of great intellect and incredible charisma," Maria Shriver said. "He's a deeply spiritual man."

Shriver lived life adjacent to power

Shriver lived life adjacent to power
PBS documentary looks at life of an 'idealist,' 'optimist'

Mike Hughes | Lansing State Journal

CORRECTION: A key phone call from John F. Kennedy to Coretta Scott King occurred after her husband, Martin Luther King Jr., had been arrested. A story in Monday’s paper misstated the circumstances. That call is highlighted in a documentary about Sargent Shriver, which aired Monday on PBS. The story appeared on Page 4D of Monday’s Life section.

Sargent Shriver spent his key years in a swirl of energy.

"He was an idealist and an optimist," said his daughter, Maria Shriver. "He would sleep three or four hours a night, read five books a week."

And he would expand the role of the federal government in the 1960s. That's explored in the PBS documentary "American Idealist."
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These days, many people know Sargent Shriver (now 92 and suffering from Alzheimer's disease) by his family tree. He's the brother-in-law of the Kennedy brothers, the father of Maria (the former NBC reporter), the father-in-law of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In his day, however, he was both powerful and controversial. John Kennedy chose him to launch the Peace Corps; Lyndon Johnson chose him to lead the "war on poverty."

His programs often upset officials. His legal corps even sued local governments.

"It was bold to sue the government," Maria Shriver said. "But everything he did was bold."

In particular, the film points to the day Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested. Shriver insisted John Kennedy phone King's wife and pledge support. Others resisted, it says, saying this would cost support in the South; Shriver prevailed.

"I was reminded of how bold that was," Maria Shriver said. It was an early step in the coalition between blacks and Democrats.

Sargent Shriver perplexed many people. He was never elected, but he was at the core of power.

The assumption was that he had a patrician background, similar to the Kennedys.

"He dressed well and talked well," Maria Shriver said. "People thought he must be from money."

Actually, the film says, his parents lost almost everything in the stock-market crash, when he was 14. He went to Yale on scholarships, getting a law degree. His life changed when he married Eunice Kennedy, John's sister.

"My mother had an impact," Maria Shriver said. "If you've grown up in a family that is excited about politics, you will know a lot about it."

Sargent Shriver made many of the Kennedy interests his own. After leaving government - the poverty effort was cut short by the Vietnam War, he felt - he became active with the Special Olympics and with Catholic efforts for peace.

"He's a man of great intellect and incredible charisma," Maria Shriver said. "He's a deeply spiritual man."




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Headlines: January, 2008; Shriver; Sargent Shriver (Director 1961 - 1966); Figures; Peace Corps Directors; Documentary Films; Maryland





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Story Source: Hub

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