Not only a member of the most famous political family in American History, Maria Shriver, has dazzled Americans as a Peabody and Emmy Award winning journalist, a New York Times best selling author, wife and mother of four, and now first lady of California alongside the renowned actor turned Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. “Be honest with yourself. Really think about what you’re interested in. What you enjoy, what captures your imagination and get’s your brain going. It’s within you to carve out your own future, create your own destiny.” These words come from Maria Shriver in her book Ten Things I Wish I’d Known- Before I Went Out into the Real World. Taking her own advice and wanting to make a difference in people’s lives, Shriver strayed from family traditions and chose to reach out to the world with her ideas by initially pursuing her career in television journalism.

She became well-respected not only for her hard work, creativity and the immense energy she displayed on her climb up the ladder, but also for the fact that she never used the family name and their preeminence to jump ahead without first paying her dues. She acknowledges the importance of not depriving yourself of the strength and wisdom that can be gained from having gone through it and come out on the other side.

Born November 6th, 1955 in Chicago Illinois, the daughter of Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy, sister to President John F. Kennedy, Shriver was born a true blue-blood of American politics. The immigrant Irish family, whose history is intertwined with our nations, built a fortune and ascended to the top of the political arena, creating a presence of youth and allurement that captivated the American public. Even the Shriver side of the family was extremely familiar with politics, as Maria's own father, ran for the office of vice president with George McGovern in 1972. He also made an indelible mark on the history of the United States as the architect of a national infrastructure to help eradicate poverty. In addition, he was the main organizer and first director of the Peace Corps., as well as, former U.S. Ambassador to France.
Maria’s mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, among many achievements is widely recognized for the work she does with Special Olympics. She had seen people turn away from her retarded sister, Rosemary, all her life. After she married Sargent Shriver she created a camp for mentally handicapped people to learn to swim, play tennis, and shoot bows and arrows. In time, she developed the idea to start the Special Olympics program. It took 5 long years to put together the Special Olympics. Obviously, these magnificent accomplishments, tenacity and role modeling through both parents impacted Maria and her approach to her own personal goals and ideas.
Maria became passionate about pursuing a career in television news in 1972 while still in high school. She was helping out on her father’s campaign for vice president and had the rare opportunity to travel on the campaign plane. Maria found herself stuck in the back of the airplane with the press. It was at this time she discovered how the news people put their fingerprints on history before it became history. “By the time Campaign ’72 was over, I new what I wanted to do with my life” states Shriver in her book.
After graduating from Georgetown University, she began her career as a news writer for KYW-TV in Philadelphia, PA. Within a year, Shriver had moved to WJZ-TV in Baltimore, MD, and then became a national reporter for the syndicated television show “P.M. Magazine”. In 1981, she became a producer for the syndicated series, “Portrait of a Legend”. National news organizations soon took notice and Shriver was hired as a reporter at CBS News and subsequently joined NBC News in 1986. Her hard work eventually paid off and she was appointed a substitute anchor for both “Today “and “NBC Nightly News” before joining the award winning show “Dateline NBC.” Through the years, Shriver has prevailed as a member of the press, a self-motivated television correspondent, and a Peabody and Emmy Award winning journalist.
Born into the upper echelons of America's leading Democrats, it would seem that Shriver and her Republican governor husband could not have been a more unlikely match. This power couple, however, have successfully demonstrated the strengths of a by-partisan relationship. The two first met at a charity tennis tournament in 1977 when Maria was only 21 years old. Schwarzenegger, newly arrived from Austria, had made his mark in the world of body building and set his sights on making it big in Hollywood…and did he ever. After a nine year courtship Shriver married the action movie hero in 1986 and the two now have four children, aged between five and thirteen. Despite the intensities of her own career, Maria has maintained her focus as an involved, hands-on parent. The couple have spent much of their time traveling between homes in Los Angeles and Sun Valley, Idaho and now have added Sacramento as one of their homesteads.
Shriver’s most recent book What’s Heaven? is geared for children. Shriver says “Death eventually touches all families and this book is for people of all faiths who must talk about this difficult topic with their children”.
Shriver recently took an unpaid leave of absence from her job as an NBC journalist and news anchor to join her husband on the campaign trail - making several key appearances at rallies. She helped immensely in carrying the female and democratic vote in the recent race for California Governor and now her immediate goals as first lady of California will include raising the awareness of issues affecting families and children. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to offer her contribution and shared commitment to a better, more enriching California.