What secrets did maria shriver reveal about eunice and the kennedy family on oprah?
If not for Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Arnold Schwarzenegger might never have become governor of California. Shriver, who died Tuesday at age 88, pushed her celebrity son-in-law into public service roles, none greater than his successful bid for governor in 2003. As Schwarzenegger tells it, he was only going to run in the recall election if his wife – Shriver’s daughter, Maria – signed off on the idea. After growing up in a political family, Maria Shriver saw Schwarzenegger as an escape from that life. She broke into tears when he raised the idea of running for governor. “But the bottom line was her mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver,” Schwarzenegger recalled during a May speech in San Jose. “She’s an unbelievable mother-in-law. She was always very supportive of whatever I did. “And so she told Maria, she said, ‘Look, I know from my brothers, when they have something in their gut you can never go and stop them. You can’t. You’ve got to be with it. You’ve got to be part of the team.’ And she ta
Here is a portion of the interview transcript. To read more navigate to Oprah.com by visiting the link below. Oprah: I remember being at the compound once, early on in our friendship. As an outsider, I thought, “God, I’m actually here on the lawn with all the Kennedy cousins.” But the games never ended. I’ll never forget being in the house and someone saying, “Where is she? Oprah, we’re starting another game!” And I ran into a closet and closed the door because I’d already done three games—enough! It was all very intense. Maria: It still is! It’s competitive when you walk in the door. It’s competitive at the table. It’s competitive on the playing field. It’s competitive in a boat. Even my mother is very competitive at everything—from checkers to Ping-Pong to sailing to politics. When I was a girl, she’d tell my father, “Tackle her as hard as you tackle the boys! Knock her down!” She’d tell him to serve the tennis ball at me as hard as he co
