Michael Barone: Shriver, Lieberman, and JFK
[Michael Barone is senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner.]
Last Thursday was the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech, and while the anniversary did not go unmentioned, it got less attention than I had expected. I suspect that those of us who can remember that snowy day — why do we schedule our great national outdoor ceremony for a day that is as likely as any to be the coldest of the year? — are inclined to overestimate the hold that Kennedy has on Americans five decades after he took the oath of office.
Two events just before the anniversary fortify that conclusion and snap the links between us and President Kennedy. On Tuesday, Sargent Shriver died at age 95. This Kennedy in-law never attained elective office, as the three Kennedy brothers and assorted offspring did, but he achieved something as important, or more so.
As the first director of the Peace Corps and, working with his wife, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, as head of the Special Olympics, he created the cultures of two quintessentially American institutions, both with international reach....
Read entire article at National Review
Last Thursday was the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech, and while the anniversary did not go unmentioned, it got less attention than I had expected. I suspect that those of us who can remember that snowy day — why do we schedule our great national outdoor ceremony for a day that is as likely as any to be the coldest of the year? — are inclined to overestimate the hold that Kennedy has on Americans five decades after he took the oath of office.
Two events just before the anniversary fortify that conclusion and snap the links between us and President Kennedy. On Tuesday, Sargent Shriver died at age 95. This Kennedy in-law never attained elective office, as the three Kennedy brothers and assorted offspring did, but he achieved something as important, or more so.
As the first director of the Peace Corps and, working with his wife, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, as head of the Special Olympics, he created the cultures of two quintessentially American institutions, both with international reach....