Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver

Scott Stossel is a senior editor at Atlantic Monthly. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, and other publications. A frequent commentator on NPR, the BBC, and CNN, he lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Working for four presidents over six decades, R. Sargent Sarge Shriver founded the Peace Corps, launched the War on Poverty, created Head Start and Legal Services for the Poor, started the Special Olympics, and served as ambassador to France. Yet from the moment he married Joseph P. Kennedy s daughter Eunice in 1953, Shriver had to navigate a difficult course between independence and family loyalty that tended to obscure his incredible achievements.

Scott Stossel, through complete access to Shriver and his family, renders the story of his life in cinematic detail. Shriver s myriad historical legacies are testaments to the power of his vision and his ability to inspire others. But it is the colorful personality and indomitable spirit of the man himself traits that allowed him to survive the Depression, WWII, and the Kennedy family that will inspire readers today to expand the horizons of the possible.

Chronicles the life and career of R. Sargent Shriver, including such accomplishements as creating the Peace Corps, heading the War on Poverty, becoming ambassador to France, and founding such organizations at Head Start, Job Corps, and the Special Olympics.