Shriver Jr., R. Sargent

Description

Autograph ID: 7156
Condition: Very good, 2 mail folds.
Description: “(1915-2011) Diplomat, politician and activist, husband of JFK/RFK sister Eunice Kennedy. He was the driving force behind the creation of the Peace Corps and founded the Job Corps, Head Start, and other programs as "architect" of the 1960s “War on Poverty”. He was the Democratic Party nominee for vice president in the 1972 election. After graduation from Yale Law School, he volunteered for the US Navy and served in the South Pacific. After discharge, he was an assistant editor for Newsweek and met Eunice Kennedy, marrying her in 1953. He worked on the 1960 presidential campaign of brother-in-law John F. Kennedy, and helped establish the Peace Corps after Kennedy's victory. After JFK’s assassination, he served in the Johnson administration and helped establish several anti-poverty programs as Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity 1964-68 and was Ambassador to France 1968-70. In 1972, after Democratic VP nominee Tom Eagleton was dropped from the ticket, Shriver was chosen as his replacement. The McGovern-Shriver ticket lost in a landslide defeat to the Nixon-Agnew ticket. Shriver briefly sought the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination but dropped out after the 1st set of primaries. After leaving office, he resumed practicing law, becoming a partner with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. He also was president of the Special Olympics and briefly a part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles. Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2003, he died in 2011.

TLS on 11 X 8 ½ law firm letterhead, Washington, March 26 1982, to a Washington admirer, thanking him for his “thoughtful and gracious” letter, appreciates his “generous comments”. With envelope.”
Type: Letter