Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. (November 9, 1915 – January 18, 2011) was an American diplomat, politician, and activist. As the husband of

Eunice Kennedy Shriver Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver (July 10, 1921 – August 11, 2009) was an American philanthropist and a member of the Kennedy family. She was the founder of the Special Olympics, a sports organization for persons with physical and intellectual disa ...

, he was part of the

Kennedy family The Kennedy family is an American political family that has long been prominent in American politics, public service, entertainment, and business. In 1884, 35 years after the family's arrival from Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy be ...

. Shriver was the driving force behind the creation of the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

, and founded the

Job Corps Job Corps is a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers free education and vocational training to young men and women ages 16 to 24. Mission and purpose Job Corps' mission is to help young people ages 16 throug ...

, Head Start,

VISTA Vista usually refers to a distant view. Vista may also refer to: Software *Windows Vista, the line of Microsoft Windows client operating systems released in 2006 and 2007 * VistA, (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) ...

Upward Bound Upward Bound is a federally funded educational program within the United States. The program is one of a cluster of programs now referred to as TRiO, all of which owe their existence to the federal Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (the War on ...

, and other programs as the architect of the 1960s

War on Poverty The war on poverty is the unofficial name for legislation first introduced by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964. This legislation was proposed by Johnson in response to a national p ...

. He was the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

's nominee for vice president in the 1972 presidential election. Born in

Westminster, Maryland Westminster is a city in northern Maryland, United States. It is the seat of Carroll County. The city's population was 18,590 at the 2010 census. Westminster is an outlying community within the Baltimore-Towson, MD MSA, which is part of a greate ...

, Shriver attended Yale University, then

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

, graduating in 1941. An opponent of U.S. entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he helped establish the

America First Committee The America First Committee (AFC) was the foremost United States isolationist pressure group against American entry into World War II. Launched in September 1940, it surpassed 800,000 members in 450 chapters at its peak. The AFC principally supp ...

but volunteered for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

before the Japanese

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

. During the war, he served in the South Pacific, participating in the

Naval Battle of Guadalcanal The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, sometimes referred to as the Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island, the Battle of the Solomons, the Battle of Friday the 13th, or, in Japanese sources, the , took place from 12 to 15 November 1942, and was t ...

. After being discharged from the navy, he worked as an assistant editor for ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' and met Eunice Kennedy, marrying her in 1953. He worked on the 1960 presidential campaign of his brother-in-law,

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

, and helped establish the Peace Corps after Kennedy's victory. After Kennedy's assassination, Shriver served in the administration of

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

and helped establish several anti-poverty programs as director of the

Office of Economic Opportunity The Office of Economic Opportunity was the agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs created as part of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society legislative agenda. It was established in 1964 as an i ...

from October 16, 1964, to March 22, 1968. He also served as the

United States Ambassador to France The United States ambassador to France is the official representative of the president of the United States to the president of France. The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with France since the American Revolution. Relations we ...

from 1968 to 1970. In 1972, Democratic vice presidential nominee

Thomas Eagleton Thomas Francis Eagleton (September 4, 1929 – March 4, 2007) was an American lawyer serving as a United States senator from Missouri, from 1968 to 1987. He was briefly the Democratic vice presidential nominee under George McGovern in 1972. He ...

resigned from the ticket, and Shriver was chosen as his replacement. The Democratic ticket of

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 pres ...

and Shriver lost in a landslide election defeat to Republican President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

and Vice President

Spiro Agnew Spiro Theodore Agnew (November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 39th vice president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. He is the second vice president to resign the position, the other being John ...

. Shriver briefly sought the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination but dropped out of the race after the first set of primaries. After leaving office, he resumed the practice of law, becoming a partner with

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP (known as Fried Frank), is an international law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm also has offices in Washington, D.C., London, Frankfurt, and Brussels, and has more than 500 attorneys wor ...

. He also served as president of the

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...

and was briefly a part-owner of the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

. He was diagnosed with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

in 2003 and died in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

, in 2011.

Early life and education

Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. was born in

, the younger of two sons. Shriver's parents Robert Sargent Shriver Sr. and Hilda, who had also been born with the surname "Shriver", were second cousins. His elder brother was Thomas Herbert Shriver. Of partial-

German ancestry , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

, Shriver was 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 Canterbury School in

New Milford, Connecticut New Milford is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town is in western Connecticut, north of Danbury, on the banks of the Housatonic River, and it shares its border with the northeastern shore of Candlewood Lake. It is t ...

, which he attended on a full scholarship. In his freshman year at Canterbury, he befriended future President John F. Kennedy. He was on Canterbury's baseball, basketball, and football teams, became the editor of the school's newspaper, and participated in choral and debating clubs. After graduating from The Browning School in 1934, Shriver spent the summer in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

as part of The

Experiment in International Living The Experiment in International Living, or The Experiment, is a worldwide program offering homestays, language, arts, community service, ecological adventure, culinary, and regional and cultural exploration programs of international cross-cultur ...

, returning in the fall of 1934 to enter

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, where he was a brother in the

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fifteen ...

fraternity, as well as a member of Yale's

Scroll and Key The Scroll and Key Society is a secret society, founded in 1842 at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the oldest Yale secret societies and reputedly the wealthiest. The society is one of the reputed "Big Three" societies ...

society.

Military career

An early opponent of American involvement in

, Shriver was a founding member of the

, an organization started in 1940 by a group of

students, also including future President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

and future Supreme Court Justice

Potter Stewart Potter Stewart (January 23, 1915 – December 7, 1985) was an American lawyer and judge who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1958 to 1981. During his tenure, he made major contributions to, among other areas, ...

, which tried to keep the US out of the European war. Nevertheless, Shriver volunteered for the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

before the

and said he had a duty to serve his country even if he disagreed with its policies. He spent five years on active duty, mostly in the South Pacific, serving aboard the , reaching the rank of

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

(O-4). He was awarded a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

for wounds he received during the

bombardment A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire or by dropping bombs from aircraft on fortifications, combatants, or towns and buildings. Prior to World War I, the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenseless or undefended objects, ...

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

Family life

Shriver's relationship with the Kennedys began when he was working as an assistant editor at ''

'' after his discharge from the Navy. He met Eunice Kennedy at a party in New York, and shortly afterwards, family patriarch

Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. Joseph Patrick Kennedy (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the Irish-American Ke ...

asked him to look at diary entries written by his eldest son,

Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. (July 25, 1915 – August 12, 1944) was the eldest of the nine children born to Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. A US Navy lieutenant, he was killed in action during World War II while serving as a l ...

, who had died in a plane crash while he was on a military mission during

. Shriver was later hired to manage the

Merchandise Mart The Merchandise Mart (or the Merch Mart, or the Mart) is a commercial building located in downtown Chicago, Illinois. When it was opened in 1930, it was the largest building in the world, with of floor space. The Art Deco structure is locate ...

, part of Kennedy's business empire, in Chicago, Illinois. After a seven-year courtship, Shriver married Eunice Kennedy on May 23, 1953, at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. She was the third daughter of Joseph Kennedy Sr. and

Rose Kennedy Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy (July 22, 1890 – January 22, 1995) was an American philanthropist, socialite, and matriarch of the Kennedy family. She was deeply embedded in the " lace curtain" Irish American community in Boston. Her father ...

. They had five children: Robert Sargent "Bobby" Shriver III (born April 28, 1954), Maria Owings Shriver (born November 6, 1955), Timothy Perry Shriver (born August 29, 1959),

Mark Kennedy Shriver Mark Kennedy Shriver (born February 17, 1964) is an American Democratic politician who served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates for two consecutive terms, from 1995 to 2003. Since 2014, he has served as President of Save the Childre ...

(born February 17, 1964), and Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver (born July 20, 1965). The Shrivers were married for 56 years, and often worked together on projects. Shriver was admitted to practice law in the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, and New York, and at the US Supreme Court. A devout

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, Shriver attended daily

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

and always carried a

rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...

of well-worn wooden beads. He was critical of

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

and was a signatory to "A New Compact of Care: Caring about Women, Caring for the Unborn", which appeared in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' in July 1992 and stated that "To establish justice and to promote the general welfare, America does not need the abortion license. What America needs are policies that responsibly protect and advance the interest of mothers and their children, both before and after birth."

Public service and political career

1950s

In May 1954, Shriver was appointed to the

Chicago Board of Education The Chicago Board of Education serves as the board of education (school board) for the Chicago Public Schools. The board traces its origins to the Board of School Inspectors, created in 1837. The board is currently appointed solely by the mayor ...

by Chicago mayor

Martin H. Kennelly Martin Henry Kennelly (August 11, 1887 – November 29, 1961) was an American politician and businessman. He served as the 47th Mayor of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois from April 15, 1947 until April 20, 1955. Kennelly was a member of the Democra ...

. On October 26, 1955, Shriver was elected president of the Chicago Board of Education by a vote of the Board. Shriver would serve in the position of president for five years, resigning from the position on October 10, 1960. At the time he became president of the Board, he was the second-youngest individual to hold that office, being only 39. At the time,

Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles. ...

was the second-largest

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...

in the United States. Shriver also served as director of the Catholic Interracial Council, a group created to advocate for

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

in Chicago schools.

1960s

Shriver was speculated to be a potential Democratic candidate for the 1960 Illinois gubernatorial election, but did not run. When brother-in-law

ran for president, Shriver worked as a political and organization coordinator in the Wisconsin and West Virginia primaries. During Kennedy's presidential term, Shriver founded and served as the first director of the

from March 22, 1961, to February 28, 1966. Shriver has been credited with convincing a hesitant Kennedy to contact

Coretta Scott King Coretta Scott King ( Scott; April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006) was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader who was married to Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his death. As an advocate for African-American equality, she w ...

after her husband, prominent civil rights activist

Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

, was jailed for civil disobedience in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in October 1960. Kennedy's phone call to Coretta Scott King was credited with helping to strengthen

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

support for Kennedy's candidacy. After

Kennedy's assassination John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle wit ...

, Shriver continued to serve as Director of the Peace Corps and served as Special Assistant to President

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

. Under Johnson, he created the

with William B. Mullins and served as its first Director. He is known as the "architect" of the Johnson administration's "

". Hired by President Johnson to be the "salesman" for Johnson's

initiative, Shriver initially was "not interested in hearing about community action proposals." The

movement was more consistent with his goals. Thus, soon after his appointment, Shriver "moved quickly to reconsider the proposed anti-poverty initiative." Shriver founded numerous social programs and organizations, including Head Start,

, Community Action,

, Foster Grandparents, Legal Services, the National Clearinghouse for Legal Services (now the Shriver Center), Indian and Migrant Opportunities and Neighborhood Health Services, in addition to directing the Peace Corps. He was active in the

, which was founded in 1968 by his wife Eunice. Shriver was awarded the

Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award The ''Pacem in Terris'' Peace and Freedom Award is a Catholic peace award which has been given annually since 1964, in commemoration of the 1963 encyclical letter '' Pacem in terris'' (Peace on Earth) of Pope John XXIII. It is awarded "to honor ...

in 1967. It was named after a 1963

encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally from ...

letter by

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

that calls upon all people of good will to secure peace among all nations. ''

Pacem in terris ''Pacem in terris'' () was a papal encyclical issued by Pope John XXIII on 11 April 1963 on the rights and obligations of individuals and of the state, as well as the proper relations between states. It emphasized human dignity and equality a ...

'' is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for 'Peace on Earth'. Shriver served as

U.S. Ambassador to France The United States ambassador to France is the official representative of the president of the United States to the president of France. The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with France since the American Revolution. Relations we ...

from 1968 to 1970, becoming a quasi-celebrity among the French for bringing what ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine called "a rare and welcome panache" to the normally sedate world of international diplomacy.

1970s and Vice Presidential/Presidential candidacies

During the

1972 Democratic National Convention The 1972 Democratic National Convention was the presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party for the 1972 presidential election. It was held at Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, also the host city of the Rep ...

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

, Florida,

considered Shriver as a vice presidential candidate, but his campaign was unable to reach Shriver, who was at the time visiting

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. McGovern then selected

instead, who later resigned from the Democratic ticket following revelations of past mental health treatments. Shriver replaced Eagleton on the ticket. The McGovern-Shriver ticket lost to Republican incumbents

and

. Shriver unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

. In the months before the primaries began, political observers thought that Shriver would draw strength from legions of former colleagues from the Peace Corps and the War on Poverty programs, and he was even seen as an inheritor of the Kennedy legacy, but neither theory proved true. His candidacy was short-lived and he returned to private life.

Life after politics

Eunice_Kennedy_Shriver_and_Sargent_Shriver

Shriver was a partner of the

law firm in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in international law and foreign affairs, beginning in 1971. He retired as partner in 1986 and was then named of counsel to the firm. 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

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. He was an investor in the

along with his eldest son Bobby Shriver,

Eli Jacobs Eli Solomon Jacobs (born October 5, 1937) is an American financier and attorney, member of the National Commission for the Review of the National Reconnaissance Office and the former owner of the Baltimore Orioles from 1989 to 1993. Rise to succ ...

, and

Larry Lucchino Lawrence Lucchino (born September 6, 1945) is an American lawyer, best known as an executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as president of the Baltimore Orioles, president/CEO of the San Diego Padres, and president/CEO of th ...

from 1989 to 1993.

Illness and death

Shriver was diagnosed with

in 2003. In 2004, his daughter,

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

, published a children's book, ''What's Happening to Grandpa?'', to help explain Alzheimer's to children. The book gives 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 Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

, speaking in favor of

stem-cell research In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of ...

, said that Shriver's Alzheimer's disease had advanced to the point that "Today, he does not even recognize his wife." Maria Shriver discusses her father's worsening condition in a segment for the four-part 2009

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

documentary series ''The Alzheimer's Project'' called ''Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am?'', including describing a moment when she decided to stop trying to correct his various delusions. On August 11, 2009, Shriver's wife of 56 years, Eunice, died at the age of 88. He attended her wake and funeral in Centerville and

Hyannis, Massachusetts Hyannis is the largest of the seven villages in the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is the commercial and transportation hub of Cape Cod and was designated an urban area at the 1990 census. Because of this, many refer t ...

. Two weeks later, on August 29, 2009, he also attended the funeral of her brother

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

in Boston, Massachusetts. Shriver died on January 18, 2011, in

Suburban Hospital Suburban Hospital is a community-based, not-for-profit hospital serving Montgomery County, Maryland, and the surrounding area since 1943. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, Suburban is the designated trauma center for Montgomery County. Suburban Hos ...

, at age 95. Shriver's family released a statement calling him "a man of giant love, energy, enthusiasm, and commitment" who "lived to make the world a more joyful, faithful, and compassionate place." President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

also released a statement, calling Shriver "one of the brightest lights of the greatest generation". Aaron S. Williams, the director of the Peace Corps, said in a statement, "The entire Peace Corps community is deeply saddened by the passing of Sargent Shriver." He further noted that Shriver "served as our founder, friend, and guiding light for the past 50 years" and that "his legacy of idealism will live on in the work of current and future Peace Corps volunteers." He is buried alongside his wife Eunice at St. Francis Xavier Cemetery in

Centerville, Massachusetts Centerville is one of the seven villages in the Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. Located on the South Side of Barnstable, Centerville is primarily residential, and includes a small business district as well as several notable beach ...

Legacy

In 1968, he was awarded the

Laetare Medal The Laetare Medal is an annual award given by the University of Notre Dame in recognition of outstanding service to the Catholic Church and society. The award is given to an American Catholic or group of Catholics "whose genius has ennobled the a ...

by the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

, the oldest and most prestigious award for

American Catholics With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the country's second largest religious grouping, after Protestantism, and the country's largest single church or Christian denomination where Protestantism is divided in ...

. In 1993, Shriver received the

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

Freedom From Want Award. On August 8, 1994, Shriver received the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...

, the United States' highest civilian honor, from President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. In December 1993, the

University of Maryland, Baltimore County The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...

created the Shriver Center in honor of Shriver and his wife. The center serves as the university's civic engagement, and applied learning organization. The Shriver Center also is home to the Shriver Peaceworker Program and the Shriver Living Learning Community. The Job Corps dedicated a center to his name in 1998 – the "Shriver Job Corps Center" – located in

Devens, Massachusetts Devens is a regional enterprise zone and census-designated place in the towns of Ayer and Shirley (in Middlesex County) and Harvard (in Worcester County) in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is the successor to Fort Devens, a military post tha ...

. The National Clearinghouse for Legal Services (renamed the National Center on Poverty Law in 1995) was renamed the Shriver Center in 2002 and each year awards a Sargent Shriver Award for Equal Justice. Sargent Shriver Elementary School, located in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...

, is named after him. In January 2008, a documentary film about Shriver aired on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

, titled ''American Idealist: The Story of Sargent Shriver''. The Kennedy Shriver Aquatic Center in

, is named after him and

. Following his death, Daniel Larison wrote:

Shriver was an admirable, principled, and conscientious man who respected the dignity and sanctity of human life, and he also happened to be a contemporary and in-law of Kennedy. Not only did Shriver represent a "link" with JFK, but he represented a particular culture of white ethnic Catholic Democratic politics that has been gradually disappearing for the last fifty years. A pro-life Catholic, Shriver had been a founding member of the America First Committee, and more famously he was also on the 1972 antiwar ticket with George McGovern. In short, he represented much of what was good in the Democratic Party of his time.

Electoral history

1972 United States presidential election The 1972 United States presidential election was the 47th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon defeated Democratic Senator George McGovern of South Dakota. Un ...

(R) (inc.) – 47,168,710 (60.7%) and 520 electoral votes (49 states carried) *

/Sargent Shriver (D) – 29,173,222 (37.5%) and 17 electoral votes (1 state and D.C. carried) *

John Hospers John Hospers (June 9, 1918 – June 12, 2011) was an American philosopher and political activist. Hospers was interested in Objectivism, and was once a friend of the philosopher Ayn Rand, though she later broke with him. In 1972, Hospers becam ...

/ Theodora Nathan (Libertarian) – 3,674 (0.00%) and 1 electoral vote (Republican

faithless elector In the United States Electoral College, a faithless elector is an elector who does not vote for the candidates for U.S. President and U.S. Vice President for whom the elector had pledged to vote, and instead votes for another person for one or ...

) * John G. Schmitz/

Thomas J. Anderson Thomas Jefferson Anderson (November 10, 1910 – August 30, 2002) was an American conservative author, journalist, and farmer. He was the American Independent Party vice presidential nominee under John G. Schmitz in 1972 and the America ...

(AI) – 1,100,868 (1.4%) and 0 electoral votes *

Linda Jenness Linda Jenness (born 1941) was a Socialist Workers Party candidate for president of the United States in the 1972 election. She received 83,380 votes (vs. 47,169,911 for Richard Nixon), making her the 4th most voted for candidate.In Arizona, Pima ...

Andrew Pulley Cleve Andrew Pulley (born May 5, 1951), better known as Andrew Pulley, is an American former politician who ran as Socialist Workers Party (SWP) nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1972 and one of three nominees the party put forth ...

(Socialist Workers) – 83,380 (0.1%) *

Benjamin Spock Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998) was an American pediatrician and left-wing political activist whose book '' Baby and Child Care'' (1946) is one of the best-selling books of the twentieth century, selling 500,000 copie ...

Julius Hobson Julius Wilson Hobson (May 29, 1922March 23, 1977) was an activist and politician who served on the Council of the District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Board of Education. Early life Hobson was a native of Birmingham, Alabama, He wa ...

(People's) – 78,759 (0.1%) 1976 Democratic presidential primaries *

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

– 6,235,609 (39.27%) *

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...

– 2,449,374 (15.43%) *

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...

– 1,955,388 (12.31%) *

Mo Udall Morris King "Mo" Udall (June 15, 1922 – December 12, 1998) was an American attorney and Democratic politician who served as a U.S. representative from Arizona from May 2, 1961, to May 4, 1991. He was a leading contender for the 1976 Democ ...

– 1,611,754 (10.15%) *

Henry M. Jackson Henry Martin "Scoop" Jackson (May 31, 1912 – September 1, 1983) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. representative (1941–1953) and U.S. senator (1953–1983) from the state of Washington. A Cold War liberal and a ...

– 1,134,375 (7.14%) *

Frank Church Frank Forrester Church III (July 25, 1924 – April 7, 1984) was an Americans, American politician and lawyer. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Idah ...

– 830,818 (5.23%) *

Robert Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician and musician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A ...

– 340,309 (2.14%) *Sargent Shriver – 304,399 (1.92%) * Unpledged – 283,437 (1.79%) *

Ellen McCormack Ellen Cullen McCormack (September 15, 1926 – March 27, 2011) was an American politician who was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976. Early life On September 15, 1926, Eleanor Rose Cullen was born in The Bron ...

– 238,027 (1.50%) *

Fred R. Harris Fred Roy Harris (born November 13, 1930) is an American academic, author, and former politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States Senate from Oklahoma. Born in Walters, Oklahoma, Harris was elected to the Oklahoma Senate ...

– 234,568 (1.48%) *

Milton Shapp Milton Jerrold Shapp (born Milton Jerrold Shapiro; June 25, 1912 – November 24, 1994) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 40th governor of Pennsylvania from 1971 to 1979 and the first Jewish governor of Pennsylvania. H ...

– 88,254 (0.56%) *

Birch Bayh Birch Evans Bayh Jr. (; January 22, 1928 – March 14, 2019) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1963 to 1981. He was first elected to office in 1954, when he won election to the Indiana ...

– 86,438 (0.54%) *

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

– 61,992 (0.39%) *

– 19,805 (0.13%) *

Lloyd Bentsen Lloyd Millard Bentsen Jr. (February 11, 1921 – May 23, 2006) was an American politician who was a four-term United States Senator (1971–1993) from Texas and the Democratic Party nominee for vice president in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis ti ...

– 4,046 (0.03%) *

Terry Sanford James Terry Sanford (August 20, 1917April 18, 1998) was an American lawyer and politician from North Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, Sanford served as the 65th Governor of North Carolina from 1961 to 1965, was a two-time U.S. pre ...

– 404 (0.00%)

Portrayals in film

* The film ''

Too Young the Hero ''Too Young the Hero'' is a 1988 American made-for-television historical drama war film directed by Buzz Kulik and starring Rick Schroder. It premiered on CBS on March 27, 1988. The film tells the true story of a 12-year-old boy who forges his ...

'' (1988), about the life of

Calvin Graham Calvin Leon Graham (April 3, 1930 – November 6, 1992) was the youngest United States military, U.S. serviceman to serve and fight during World War II. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the United States Navy from Houston, Texa ...

, features a scene during World War II in which Graham (played by

Ricky Schroder Richard Bartlett Schroder (born April 13, 1970) is an American actor and filmmaker. As a child actor billed as Ricky Schroder he debuted in the film '' The Champ'' (1979), for which he became the youngest Golden Globe award recipient, and went o ...

) meets Shriver (played by Carl Mueller). *

Al Conti Al Conti (born 9 March 1968) is a Grammy-nominated New Age composer, arranger, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Biography Al Conti is Argentinian-born and currently resides in the United States. Since 2006, Conti has led an impressive m ...

portrays Shriver in the 1983 miniseries '' Kennedy''. * He is played by David De Beck in the 2018 film '' Chappaquiddick''.

References

External links

Sargent Shriver Peace Institute
*
FBI file on Sargent ShriverSargent Shriver National Center on Poverty LawVideo: Sargent Shriver delivering a speech about the Peace Corps in 1965
* * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shriver, Sargent 1915 births 2011 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians Ambassadors of the United States to France American humanitarians United States Navy personnel of World War II American nonprofit businesspeople American nonprofit executives American people of German descent Canterbury School (Connecticut) alumni Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential nominees Disability rights activists from the United States Illinois Democrats Illinois lawyers Kennedy family Laetare Medal recipients Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Major League Baseball owners Maryland Democrats Maryland lawyers New York (state) Democrats New York (state) lawyers Peace Corps directors People from Westminster, Maryland People from Wilmette, Illinois Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Shriver family Special Olympics United States Navy officers Candidates in the 1976 United States presidential election 1972 United States vice-presidential candidates Washington, D.C., Democrats Yale Law School alumni Catholics from Illinois People associated with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson Catholics from Maryland Presidents of the Chicago Board of Education Neurological disease deaths in Maryland Deaths from Alzheimer's disease