As broadcast consultant to the Ford Foundation on television, he strove to improve news coverage by public television stations.
Still, while he had final say on rank, he strove to be objective, submerging his opinions beneath those of critics, historians, moviemakers and the public.
The humor was his style, not his substance, a kind of athletic jauntiness: He loved how great athletes could make excellence look nonchalant, and he strove for the same effect on the page.
Yet he strove to preserve a balance, insisted on his Protestant friendships.
This encouraged the kind of atmosphere he strives for on set, where he tells the actors to junk the script and discover the movie for themselves.
As he strives for consistency on the course, Woods appears to have found stability off it.
"Let us strive on," he said, "to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan".
But Mr. Smith says he strives to do the opposite on the boards where he serves, including his alma mater, Xavier University in Ohio.
The measures are President Raúl Castro's biggest maneuver yet as he strives to get capital flowing on the island, encourage private enterprise and take pressure off the economically crippled state.
A hard indoor court with home support thrown in - there will be much to Andy Murray's liking in London this week as he strives for the perfect note on which to end the year.
He strives to keep the focus on his students.
