Susannah and Sargent.

“‘I always felt that I was a character actor,’ York told the Scotsman newspaper in 2008. ‘It bothered me that people would think of me as blonde and blue-eyed and that was it.’” Actress (and mother of Superman) Susannah York, 1939-2011.

“Nearly everybody in their life needs someone to help them. I don’t care whether you’re the greatest self-made man; the fact is, someone has helped you along the way.” Politician and Peace Corps founder Sargent Shriver, 1915-2011.

“Hit them.”

Newly released papers from the 1972 election reveal more of the Nixon re-election campaign’s dirty tricks operation at work. “Nixon aides worked assiduously to plant negative stories, including one alleging [Dem VP candidate Sargent] Shriver‘s ancestors were slave-holders. An operative ‘is trying to get the story fed into certain segments of Black media and will give it to Black surrogates,’ an aide told Chuck Colson, Nixon’s chief counsel.” And, also among the new stuff, a detailed account of eventual White House whistleblower Alexander Butterfield‘s exasperation with Nixon’s dog, King Timahoe. ‘I think the miserable sessions I endured in Latin II as a high school sophomore were easier,’ he groused to Haldeman after meeting Nixon’s valet to discuss ‘doggie affairs.’” (Further excerpts.)

Sarge Sidelined?

Just in case John Kerry wasn’t feeling enough pressure about his forthcoming choice of a running mate, The Atlantic Monthly‘s Scott Stossel imagines how Sargent Shriver on the Humphrey ticket could have made all the difference in the bitterly (and closely) contested election of 1968.