Sargeant Shriver was born in Westminster, Maryland, and graduated from Yale Law School in 1941. After serving in World War II, he became a magazine editor, then a business associate of Joseph P. Kennedy. Shriver later married Kennedy's daughter, Eunice, and became business manager for the Presidential campaign of his brother-in-law, John F. Kennedy. In 1961, Shriver became the first director of the Peace Corps, serving until 1966. Under President Johnson, Shriver was appointed director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, a post he retained from 1964 to 1968. He also served as Ambassador to France from 1968 to 1970.

Shriver was George McGovern's running mate in the 1972 Presidential campaign, after Thomas Eagleton withdrew from the ticket. McGovern and Shriver lost the election to incumbents Richard M. Nixon and Spiro Agnew.