Brody's Notes... Robert " Sargent "Shriver Jr., Kennedy & Johnson Administration Official, First Director Of The Peace Corps & Champion Of Human Rights Dies At 95

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Sargent Shriver, & former California Governor and son-in-law Arnold Schwarzenegger
Photo By Chris Carlson  The Associated Press

By Mark Singer (Washington DC) JAN 18 | A spokesman for the family of Robert Sargent Shriver Junior, in a statement, said that Mr. Shriver died peacefully Tuesday at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside of Washington D. C., "surrounded by his five children, five children in-law, and his 19 grandchildren." Shriver had suffered from the affects of Alzheimer's disease, which was first disclosed publicly by his family in 2003.

"He lived to make the world a more joyful, faithful, and compassionate place," the family's statement said. "He worked on stages both large and small but in the end, he will be best known for his love of others. No one ever came into his presence without feeling his passion and his enthusiasm for them."

Upon the announcement of his death, the White House released the following statement from President Barack Obama:

"Of his many enduring contributions, he will perhaps best be remembered as the founding director of the Peace Corps, helping make it possible for generations of Americans to serve as ambassadors of goodwill abroad," the President said. "His loss will be felt in all of the communities around the world that have been touched by Peace Corps volunteers over the past half century and all of the lives that have been made better by his efforts to address inequality and injustice here at home."

Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr. was born November 9, 1915 in Westminster, Maryland. Shriver attended Yale University in 1934. During college, Shriver was the senior editor of the Yale Daily News. Shriver later enrolled in the Yale University's Law School in 1938, receiving his law degree in 1941. Shriver went on to serve five years in active duty in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Sargent Shriver With President John F. Kennedy   Photo By UPI

In 1953, Shriver married Eunice Kennedy, sister of the then junior Massachusetts U. S. Senator, John F. Kennedy, (D). Shriver went on to spend the first years of their marriage running the Chicago School System in Chicago, Illinois. He then went to work on JFK's presidential campaign in 1960, working alongside brother-in-law Robert F. Kennedy.
During the Kennedy Administration, Shriver’s commitment to public service made him one of the most effective leaders of President Kennedy’s New Frontier programs and after JFK's assassination, President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society programs.

He inspired, directed, or founded numerous social programs and organizations, including Head Start, VISTA, Job Corps, Community Action, Upward Bound, Foster Grandparents, Special Olympics, the National Center on Poverty Law, Legal Services, and the Peace Corps, serving as the program’s first director under JFK. 

Shriver ran the "War on Poverty" during Johnson’s tenure as president and also served as the U.S. ambassador to France from 1968 to 1970.

In 1972, Shriver was nominated by the Democratic Party as a candidate for Vice President with presidential candidate Senator George McGovern in the campaign against President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew.

In early 1978, Mr Shriver began the Kennedy Institute of Ethics “Trialogue” between leaders of Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions, the first such forum for discussion since medieval Spain.

Shriver went on to become President of Special Olympics in 1984, and then was appointed the Chairman of the Board of Special Olympics in 1990. Under Shriver’s leadership, the Special Olympics greatly expanded its international sports programs for young people around the world.

On August 8, 1994, Sargent Shriver received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton, the United States’ highest civilian honor, as recognition for his lifetime of public service. 

Shriver is survived by five children: Robert Sargent Shriver III, Maria Shriver Schwarzenegger, Timothy Shriver, Mark Shriver, and Anthony Shriver. His wife, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of Special Olympics International in 1968, died in 2009.

The family spokesman said funeral arrangements are pending.