Remembering Sargent Shriver (Sen. John Kerry)

With tenacity and vision, Sargent Shriver built the promise of the Peace Corps into an American institution, and now on the eve of its fiftieth anniversary the Peace Corps has sent almost a quarter million volunteers to aid 139 countries around the globe. He answered the call to service with the same energy and dedication again and again across the years, including in the federal Office of Equal Opportunity, which pioneered anti-poverty programs which lifted the lives of so many, from Head Start and VISTA, to the Job Corps, Upward Bound and Work Study. Sarge was a crusader for social justice and racial equality, a vice-presidential nominee who fought for peace, and a father who instilled a deep sense of duty in all of his children.

Today we give thanks for the life and contributions of this ‘American Idealist’ who brought America closer to the shared ideals which are the American DNA. His lasting legacy is not just programs but people – starting with Bobby, Maria, Tim, Mark and Anthony, who have all kept faith with his public spirit and his public values, and who represent Sarge and Eunice’s greatest legacy of all, which is family. Teresa and I are thinking of each of them and their entire family in this difficult time.