60 “When ‘Ray the Fox’ ”: Ibid., 25.
61 “It is difficult to see how Illinois”: White, Making of the President, 1960, 354.
62 James Michener later called the King phone call: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 26.
63 “How many of you”: “Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy at the University of Michigan,” October 14, 1960. JFK Library, www.cs.umb.edu/jfklibrary/j101460.htm.
64 The audience was “wildly responsive”: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 20.
65 “our young men and women”: Ibid., 15.
66 “I can still vividly recall the dejection”: Sargent Shriver, interview August 10, 1997.
Chapter 12: The Talent Hunt
1 “I want you to help me put the cabinet together”: Sargent Shriver, interview August 10, 1997.
2 “Though people were sometimes ruffled”: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 146.
3 “the most outgoing member of the immediate circle”: Adam Yarmolinsky, “The Kennedy Talent Hunt,” Reporter, June 8, 1961.
4 “I had never worked at the higher levels”: Sargent Shriver, interview August 10, 1997.
5 “Bundy had been running a ‘talent hunt’ ”: Sargent Shriver address to Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, March 29, 1984, Shriver Papers, JFK Library.
6 “If you thought you were going on vacation”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 68.
7 This meant, as he told Shriver: Sargent Shriver, interview August 10, 1997.
8 “Shriver knew the kind of man”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 70.
9 “One of the things we had to keep in the forefront of our minds”: Liston, Sargent Shriver, 109.
10 “I was to go after the best people”: Adam Yarmolinsky oral history, JFK Library.
11 “the Shriver group began with the positions”: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 146.
12 “state of friendly competition”: Adam Yarmolinsky oral history, JFK Library.
13 “I had a candidate for almost every job”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 72.
14 bias against Irish Catholics: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 148.
15 “I’m tough”: Parmet, The Presidency of John F. Kennedy, 63.
16 brought in a consultant from IBM: Adam Yarmolinsky oral history, JFK Library.
17 a master of salesmanship: Liston, Sargent Shriver, 106–7.
18 “a big-game hunter”: Halberstam, The Best and the Brightest, 221.
19 After meeting with Bell: Sargent Shriver, interview August 10, 1997; Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 71–72.
20 “Oh, I don’t care about those things”: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 135.
21 “Kennedy picked Dillon not only for his government experience”: Parmet, The Presidency of John F. Kennedy, 65–66.
22 In the end, this arrangement: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 76–77.
23 By the second week in December: Ibid., 84; Sargent Shriver, interviews August 11, 1997; August 30, 1997.
24 “involved complicated negotiations”: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 150.
25 “Why are you giving me these?”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 90.
26 “With each call made”: Ibid., 70–71.
27 “Let’s do it”: Ibid., 71.
28 “nonpolitical and nonpartisan”: Sorensen, Kennedy, 283.
29 The “remarkably high quality”: Ibid., 285.
30 “[Kennedy’s] search succeeded”: Ibid., 287.
31 “One by one”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 95.
32 “Shriver was hardly Eleanor Roosevelt”: Ibid., 97.
Part 3: The Peace Corps (1961–1963)
Chapter 13: The Towering Task
1 Eunice had recovered: Leamer, The Kennedy Women, 522.
2 “received more letters from people”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 98.
3 “We were arrogant”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 266; Bill Haddad, interview January 4, 2002.
4 “the difference between a slow march and a jig”: Martin, A Hero for Our Time, 262.
5 “The 16 million young men”: Reeves, Profile of Power, 38.
6 “Man, we’s rich now”: Collier and Horowitz, The Kennedys, 260.
7 But the Shrivers had been back: Sargent Shriver, interview August 16, 1997.
8 The extent of what he did: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 32.
9 Rostow contacted his MIT colleague: Ibid., 34; Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 251.
10 Shriver assumed: Shriver, Point of the Lance, 12.
11 “The president just asked me”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 98. 196 Some ten years earlier: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 36–37.
12 Shriver took special pleasure: Sargent Shriver, interview August 16, 1997.
13 Early in 1960: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 10–11.
14 “One name soon led to another”: Ibid., 37.
15 Even if he had wanted to: Sargent Shriver, interviews August 16, 1997; March 24, 2000.
16 “My style”: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 37.
17 “Get yourself back here”: Mary Ann Orlando, interview September 26, 2001.
18 “the only point of unanimity”: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 38.
19 After the first few sessions: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 253.
20 “I needed help badly”: “Sargent Shriver Comes Back for a Day,” Peace Corps Times, December 1978/January 1979.
21 people “on the inside”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 32.
22 “We’ve got to have a vehicle”: William Josephson oral history, JFK Library.
23 “Josephson and I decided”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 32.
24 A “small, cautious Peace Corps”: Warren Wiggins and William Josephson, The Towering Task, Shriver Papers, JFK Library.
25 Now that their report was written: William Josephson, interview August 5, 2000; William Josephson oral history, JFK Library.
26 “mimeographed copies of The Towering Task”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 30.
27 “Now I’ve never met this man”: Sargent Shriver, interview August 16, 1997; Redmon, Come as You Are, 33.
28 “If you want to succeed”: Hoffman, All You Need Is Love, 43.
29 Wiggins and Josephson had written: Warren Wiggins and William Josephson, The Towering Task, Shriver Papers, JFK Library.
30 If they were to wait the six months: William Josephson memo to Sargent Shriver, February 27, 1961, Josephson Papers, JFK Library.
31 After Shriver asked him to help: William Josephson oral history, JFK Library.
32 “My theory of why the task force was so successful”: Sargent Shriver, interview August 16, 1997.
33 Probably the most fundamental disagreement: Sargent Shriver, “Two Years of the Peace Corps,” Foreign Affairs, July 1963.
34 As the report neared completion: William Josephson oral history, JFK Library.
35 “Having studied at your request”: “Report to the President on the Peace Corps,” box 85, President’s Office Files, JFK Library.
36 “This looks interesting”: Sargent Shriver, interview August 2, 1997.
37 rooting around for historical precedent: William Josephson to Sargent Shriver, February 19, 1961, Josephson Papers, JFK Library.
38 if the Peace Corps were not launched immediately: William Josephson, interview August 15, 2000.
39 The task force’s arguments: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, 627.
40 “Our own freedom”: “Statement by the President upon Signing Order Establishing the Peace Corps,” March 1, 1961, Shriver Papers, JFK Library.
Chapter 14: Shriver’s Socratic Seminar
1 “Kennedy knew that Shriver”: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 51–52.
2 “It would be a serious mistake”: Sargent Shriver to President Kennedy, n.d., box 85, Peace Corps Office Files, JFK Library.
3 “take the world by surprise”: New York Times, March 6, 1961.
4 “You guys had a good day today”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 263.
5 By March 15: Shriver, “Five Year
s with the Peace Corps,” Peace Corps Reader, 1967.
6 Since he didn’t know how to procure the money: Bill Haddad, interview January 4, 2002.
7 Through the first days of the Peace Corps’ existence: Mary Ann Orlando, interview September 26, 2001.
8 “midnight requisitioning” trips: Redmon, Come as You Are, 77.
9 “We had been prepared to wait a few days”: Ibid., 33.
10 “Shriver didn’t want anyone around”: Thomas Quimby, quoted in Rice, The Bold Experiment, 55.
11 “Shriver couldn’t wait three months for a guy”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 46–47.
12 “He was just enormously impressive”: Ibid., 83.
13 Shriver “began pounding his desk”: Ibid., 73.
14 “How much time do I have to decide?”: “Who’s Who in Peace Corps Washington,” 6, Shriver Papers, JFK Library.
15 “just come up for about three months”: Charles Peters oral history, JFK Library.
16 “Wives of staff men”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 281.
17 “In my life”: Peters, Tilting at Windmills, 121.
18 “the kind of charisma that makes men charge the barricades”: Ibid., 134.
19 “Johnson would just come in”: Sargent Shriver, interview August 24, 1997.
20 “In my Baptist church”: Hoffman, All You Need Is Love, 47–48.
21 “cajoled and begged and pleaded and connived”: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 56.
22 Moyers went directly to President Kennedy: Ibid.
23 “the government’s usual lethargic pace”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 281.
24 “It was like seeing a picture of a cake”: Sargent Shriver, interview December 26, 1997.
25 “To get an agency going”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 36.
26 “a record for a government agency”: Ibid., 46.
Chapter 15: The Battle for Independence
1 Josephson had warned him in February: Williamson Josephson to Sargent Shriver, February 19, 1961, Josephson Papers, JFK Library.
2 “beginning the Peace Corps as another ICA operation”: “Report to the President on the Peace Corps,” box 85, President’s Office Files, JFK Library.
3 “an identifiable, visible body of people”: Gerald Bush papers, quoted in Rice, The Bold Experiment, 60.
4 “wide agreement on the necessity and importance”: Bowles Papers, Yale, quoted in Rice, The Bold Experiment, 60.
5 “The old-line employees of State and AID”: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 61.
6 “There are about twenty people in Washington”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 263.
7 Eunice was at this point in the hospital: William Josephson oral history, JFK Library.
8 “the Kennedy people didn’t have the respect for Sarge”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 39.
9 “a signal to keep pushing”: William Josephson oral history, JFK Library.
10 the president’s aides remained intransigent: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 62.
11 “The Peace Corps … embodies a broader concept”: “The Peace Corps and the Reorganized Foreign Aid Program,” confidential memo, Shriver Papers, JFK Library.
12 “I don’t want to go gallivanting”: Sargent Shriver to Henry Labouisse, April 7, 1961, Shriver Papers, JFK Library.
13 he ratcheted up the pressure: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 63.
14 “the Peace Corps could not be favored”: William Josephson memo, April 26, 1961, Josephson Papers, JFK Library.
15 “We had lost”: Liston, Sargent Shriver, 123.
16 Shriver paced back and forth in his hotel room: Moyers’s notes, quoted in Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 265.
17 Talk to Lyndon!”: Liston, Sargent Shriver, 123.
18 Johnson “badgered” Kennedy: William Josephson oral history, JFK Library.
19 “All right, Lyndon”: Liston, Sargent Shriver, 124.
20 “extremely annoyed at the unusual methods”: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 66.
21 “Dungan was highly irritated”: William Josephson oral history, JFK Library.
22 “Ralph called me up”: William Josephson, interview August 15, 2000.
Chapter 16: “The Trip”
1 “shrewd, learned, utterly unafraid”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 135.
2 “He was swashbuckling”: William Josephson oral history, JFK Library.
3 “Didn’t hear a word from him”: Ibid.
4 Shriver turned “phosphorescent”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 135–36.
5 “with enough determination and imagination”: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 174.
6 “We were not supposed to fish”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 268.
7 “Am I correct, Mr. Shriver”: Redmon Come as You Are, 136.
8 “Sorry, I’ve lost my voice”: Ibid., 137–38.
9 Shriver perceived a golden opportunity: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 270.
10 over a frenetic three days: “Report on Visits to Eight Countries by Robert Sargent Shriver Jr., Peace Corps Director,” Shriver Papers, JFK Library.
11 “the hardest and most critical test”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 271.
12 “I am sure young Americans”: Ibid., 272.
13 “my reputation as a strategist in poor condition”: Galbraith, Ambassador’s Journal, 103.
14 Nu took Shriver off to the side: Liston, Sargent Shriver, 117.
15 all eight countries: “Statement of Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr.,” May 17, 1961, Shriver Papers, JFK Library.
16 “I have never been witness”: Harris Wofford to President Kennedy, May 22, 1961, Peace Corps Office Files, JFK Library.
17 Shriver’s traveling companions at times found the experience trying: Redmon, Come as You Are, 138–39.
18 Shriver returned to Washington a conquering hero: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 73.
19 “a lot of important scalps in his belt”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 144.
Chapter 17: Storming Capitol Hill
1 “empire builders”: William Josephson oral history, JFK Library.
2 “When we returned home”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 266.
3 Flying to Cape Cod one weekend: Ibid., 266–67.
4 “In wanting to have the Peace Corps have a separate identity”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 145.
5 Josephson disagreed: William Josephson, interview August 15, 2000.
6 “a renegade, uncontrollable organization”: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 78.
7 “Forget about talking to women’s clubs in Detroit”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 147.
8 “You’ve got a great asset in Shriver”: Hoffman, All You Need Is Love, 51.
9 “the greatest romance act with Congress”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 147.
10 “You know why I really voted for the Peace Corps?”: Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 267.
11 “I think I’ll just go in and ask him”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 147–48.
12 a “terrifying scheme”: Liston, Sargent Shriver, 126.
13 “made such an effort to bring his story personally”: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 81.
14 “in a sweat”: Ibid., 325.
15 “This is how to score”: Liston, Sargent Shriver, 161.
16 In June he flew to West Africa: “Meeting with Secretary of State,” memo, June 20, 1961, Shriver Papers, JFK Library.
17 he wrote to the vice president in July: Hoffman, All You Need Is Love, 52.
18 the indifference of Arkansas senator William Fulbright: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 83.
19 “cripple the Peace Corps”: New York Times, August 3, 1961.
20 “Peace Corps appropriation serious danger”: Sargent Shriver to John Kenneth Galbraith, August 2, 1961, Shriver Papers, JFK Library.
21 “good to point out to them”: Sargent Shriver memo to Lawrence F. O’Brien, August 3, 1961, Shriver Papers, JFK Library.
22 “Bill Moyers and I have been living on the Hill”: Sargent Shriver to President Kennedy, August 2, 1961, box 710, White House Office Files,
JFK Library.
23 “two hours of verbal bombs”: Washington Post, August 5, 1961.
24 Kennedy brought his presidential weight to bear: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 84.
25 “cut $15 million out of the unnecessary fat”: Sargent Shriver memo to President Kennedy, August 29, 1961, Shriver Papers, JFK Library.
26 “Ah lahk you, Saage”: Edgar May, interview February 21, 2002; Sargent Shriver, interview August 10, 1997.
27 slash its funding in half: Washington Star, September 14, 1961.
28 Shriver … continued to lobby individual congressmen: Warren Wiggins memo to President Kennedy, October 12, 1961, Shriver Papers, JFK Library.
29 This effort paid off in an unexpected way: Sargent Shriver, interview August 10, 1997.
30 Of all the bills: New York Times Magazine, December 17, 1961.
31 “erased the impression”: Ibid.
Chapter 18: Shriverizing
1 Shriver “[projected] himself”: Bradley Patterson oral history, JFK Library.
2 “an eagle-scout-on-the-make style”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 118.
3 “No organization chart”: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 94.
4 “one hundred percent Shriver”: Liston, Sargent Shriver, 151.
5 “Shriver’s mind churned out thousands”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 150.
6 “Shriver’s most serious fault”: Peters, Tilting at Windmills, 135.
7 “When you come to work at this place”: Liston, Sargent Shriver, 151.
8 “Family men abandoned family”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 202.
9 “When you join the Shriver team”: Liston, Sargent Shriver, 151.
10 Staff members learned: Edgar May, interview February 21, 2002.
11 “The secretaries were just terrified of the thing”: Redmon, Come as You Are, 153.
12 “A job on the Peace Corps staff”: Rice, The Bold Experiment, 91.
13 “Shriver’s style of management”: Ashabranner, A Moment in History, 44.
14 “there was always a winner and a loser”: Ibid., 43–44.
15 “The worst possible argument that could be made”: Gerald Bush, quoted in Rice, The Bold Experiment, 106. 249 “There will be little tolerance”: Sargent Shriver to Peace Corps staff, December 1961, President’s Office Files, JFK Library.
Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver Page 88