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Reviews
| American Idealist: The Story of Sargent Shriver, produced by Bruce Orenstein. 83 minutes. Chicago Video Project, 2006 video. $7.85, DVD.
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| The opening scene in American Idealist: The Story of Sargent Shriver is a television clip of Sargent Shriver being asked if he felt that poverty could be defeated in America. Shriver's exuberant "Yes, we can!" is used at the beginning and end of the film to highlight this luminary's belief in the indefatigable spirit of America. The 80 minutes between the repeated uses of this video clip provide examples of why Shriver was the embodiment of the promise of Kennedy's New Frontier and Johnson's Great Society. |
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American Idealist begins with a discussion of Shriver's relationship with the Kennedy family, beginning with his marriage to Eunice Kennedy. The Chicago Video Project and producer Bruce Orenstein choose to highlight Shriver's political career instead of his origins, though students in upper-level college courses likely would have found a deeper investigation of Shriver's young adulthood interesting. He was one of the leading figures in creating the America First Committee and he volunteered for the U.S. Army despite this initial anti-war stance. |
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The discussion of Shriver and the Peace Corps in American Idealist has the greatest applicability to history students at the high school and undergraduate level. Young students can learn about the international scope of Kennedy's New Frontier through the Peace Corps. The issue for every teacher who uses American Idealist is placing the debate over the size of the Corps into context. An examination of the influence of Joe Kennedy in Democratic politics as well as a review of Cold War politics until 1960 is warranted before showing this documentary. |
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The Chicago Video Project used the right combination of archival film and photos to show the aftermath of President Kennedy's assassination. This section of the documentary acts as a breaking point between applicability to younger students and a discussion of public policy that may be difficult for students below the graduate level to understand. Shriver's planning of the funeral acts as the last moment when Robert Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and the experienced idealist would be on the same page. Kennedy's resentment of Johnson, and Johnson's annoyance at losing the 1960 Democratic nomination, came to a head as the Texan took office. |
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A discussion of the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) often digresses to the individual programs supported by this federal agency. It is difficult to comprehend the vast growth of the federal government embodied in the OEO without looking at programs like Job Corps, VISTA, and Head Start. American Idealist allows viewers to hear Lyndon Johnson cajole Sargent Shriver into taking over the OEO as an extension of his work with the Peace Corps. The clips of Johnson nudging Shriver without subtlety could be used in a presidential history course as an example of Johnson's famous negotiating style. |
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It is important for teachers to show the portion of the video starting with Shriver taking over the OEO through the end to maintain continuity for students. The debates between Senator John Stennis of Mississippi and Shriver over the promotion of social welfare require some explanation. The complexities of Lyndon Johnson's pursuit of a more aggressive policy in Vietnam while trying to wage the War on Poverty need to be integrated carefully with the material on Shriver. The essential development that needs to be brought to the attention of students in high school and college survey courses is the rejection of idealism that takes place as victory in Vietnam becomes more important than Shriver's OEO. This concept may seem simple to teachers but it can be difficult for students unfamiliar with American history to appreciate fully. |
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The last quarter of American Idealist is devoted to Sargent Shriver's exit from the limelight. The most poignant portion of the film arrives with a discussion of Shriver's failed bid for the presidency in 1976. Shriver's politics are deemed out of touch by the guest historians in the documentary. His career moves toward philanthropic efforts like the presidency of the Special Olympics and campaigning for Democratic candidates in the 1980s. His battle with Alzheimer's disease challenges the ebullience of Shriver as the film fades to black. American Idealist offers a portrait of Sargent Shriver that is accessible to a wide audience. Biographies like Scott Stossel's Sarge are more exhaustive on the man's life but American Idealist is a better teaching tool. The documentary covers a wide range of topics that are developed in dozens of other films while highlighting the effect of cultural and political changes on the idealism of the 1960s embodied by Sargent Shriver. |
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| Franklin, Wisconsin |
Nicholas Katers |
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