American Idealist: The Story of Sargent Shriver

The film American Idealist: The Story of Sargent Shriver tells the story of a man who exemplified what it means to be a public servant. From his youth volunteering in tenement housing with his father, to his service in the military, to his role as director of the Peace Corps and the War on Poverty, Shriver consistently strived to live up to his belief that "[O]f all of our ideals none surpasses the importance of service."¹ Because of his role in American politics, international diplomacy, and nonprofit organizations, Shriver's biographer, Scott Stossel, claims that Shriver "has probably had an effect on more Americans and more people across the world than anyone who hasn't been a president or a world leader and probably even more than some of them."² A study of Shriver's life invites questions such as, "What does it mean to be an idealist?"; "What is public service and why is it important?"; and "How can public policy be used to address social problems such as poverty?" In the lessons we have developed to support classroom use of American Idealist, students discover Shriver's answers to these questions as a way to help them develop their own ideas about social responsibility.

In depicting the life of Sargent Shriver, American Idealist also tells the story of modern American history from the Depression through the Vietnam War. From viewing this film, students can see how Shriver's life was affected by critical historical moments in American history, such as the 1929 stock market crash, the civil rights movement, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the Vietnam War. By personalizing the past, American Idealist can help engage students in the study of American history. It can also teach students important lessons about the American political process. Watching Shriver navigate the public policy arena provides concrete examples of the tensions between the branches of government, local versus federal authority, as well as the intricacies of how legislation gets passed and how programs receive funding.

While American Idealist focuses on American political history, the issues raised in the film resonate with our contemporary global experience. Almost 50 years ago when working as director of the Peace Corps, Shriver remarked, "[T]he world is a real community."³ Today, with advances in travel and communication, that statement has never been more true. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, one of the fundamental questions facing governments, institutions, and citizens is how to intervene when communities are damaged by national disasters or civil unrest, and how to support people who struggle to attain basic human rights. Learning about the work of Sargent Shriver exposes ideas and strategies
that might help us address the global challenges we face today. For example, Shriver reminds us how the act of caring does not stop at national borders. He explained how Peace Corps volunteers "learned that people can cross barriers of language and culture and customs. . . . They have learned to hear the voice of the human heart in any language."⁴ And his work as director of the War on Poverty demonstrates that it is possible for governments to design programs to "help people to help themselves."⁵

As adolescents develop an increasing sense of responsibility for their own lives, they are also in the position to consider, "What impact do I want to have on others? Am I only responsible for myself? To whom might I also have a responsibility?" In telling the story of Sargent Shriver's desire to invest in the dignity of every human being, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or religion, American Idealist presents one set of answers to these questions. Thus, studying Shriver's life provides an opportunity for students to broaden their understanding of civic participation and reflect on their responsibilities to individuals in their classroom, school, neighborhood, nation, and larger world.