Sargent Shriver has died at the age of 95, seven years after withdrawing from public view because of Alzheimer’s disease. He was long regarded by many political reporters as a lightweight, but in fact was an intellectual heavyweight, a serious student of Catholic theology among other things. His career in electoral politics—as George McGovern’s second running mate in 1972 and as a presidential candidate in 1976—was not successful. But he helped to create and shape the culture of not just one but two American institutions of enduring value, the Peace Corps and Special Olympics. How many others in public life have left as lasting a mark?

Michael Novak in his wonderful  2004 Weekly Standard review of Scott Stossel’s excellent biography Sarge expands on this point: