Sargent Shriver

**Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr.** (November 9, 1915 – January 18, 2011) was an American politician who was the first director of the Peace Corps from 1961 until 1966, then he was the first director of the OEO from 1964 until 1968, and was the 21st ambassador to France from 1968 until 1970.

He was also a Vice President nominee with presidential nominee George McGovern in 1972, they lost to Richard Nixon and to Spiro Agnew. He was also an activist.

## Early life

Shriver was born in Westminster, Maryland on November 9, 1915 and was educated at Yale University and at Yale Law School. He had served in the army during World War II from 1941 through 1945 and was awarded a Purple Heart for his wounds during the war.

## Career

Shriver founded many social programs and organizations, including Head Start, VISTA, Job Corps, Community Action, Upward Bound, Foster Grandparents, Legal Services, the National Clearinghouse for Legal Services (now the Shriver Center), Indian and Migrant Opportunities and Neighborhood Health Services, in addition to directing the Peace Corps. He was active in Special Olympics, founded by his wife Eunice.

Shriver was awarded the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award in 1967. It was named after a 1963 encyclical letter by Pope John XXIII that calls upon all people of good will to secure peace among all nations. _Pacem in terris_ is Latin for 'Peace on Earth'.

Shriver served as U.S. Ambassador to France from 1968 to 1970, becoming a quasi-celebrity among the French for bringing what _Time_ magazine called "a rare and welcome panache" to the normally sedate world of international diplomacy.

## Personal life

In 1953 Shriver married Eunice Kennedy (the sister of John F. Kennedy) and together they had 5 children; Robert Sargent Shriver III, Maria Shriver (the wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger), Timothy Peter Shriver, Mark Kennedy Shriver, and Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver. Shriver's wife of 56 years Eunice Kennedy Shriver died on August 11, 2009 from a stroke, two weeks later his brother-in-law Ted Kennedy died on August 25, 2009 from brain cancer.

### Health and death

In 2003 Shriver was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and has began to loose his memory and could not even name his own wife because of the disease. His daughter Maria Shriver wrote a children's book based on the disease.

On January 18, 2011 Sargent Shriver died in Bethesda, Maryland from Alzheimer's disease, he was 95 years old. He is buried next to his wife at the St. Francis Xavier Cemetery.

## Other websites

- "American Idealist: The Story of Sargent Shriver" , PBS
- Ancestor David Shriver
- FBI file on Sargent Shriver
- Life With Sargent Shriver  - slideshow by _Life_
- Sargent Shriver
- Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
- The Shriver Center
- Video: Sargent Shriver delivering a speech about the Peace Corps in 1965

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **name**: Sargent Shriver
- **image**: Sargent_Shriver_1961.jpg
- **image size**: 250px
- **caption**: Shriver in 1961
- **order**: 21st United States Ambassador to France
- **term start2**: April 22, 1968
- **term end2**: March 25, 1970
- **predecessor2**: Charles E. Bohlen
- **successor2**: Arthur K. Watson
- **nominator2**: Lyndon B. Johnson
- **order4**: 1st Peace Corps, Director of the Peace Corps
- **term start4**: March 22, 1961
- **term end4**: February 28, 1966
- **president4**: John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
- **predecessor4**: Office Created
- **successor4**: Jack Vaughn
- **order3**: 1st Office of Economic Opportunity, Director of the OEO
- **term start3**: October 17, 1964
- **term end3**: March 22, 1968
- **president3**: Lyndon B. Johnson
- **predecessor3**: Office Created
- **successor3**: Bertrand Harding
- **birthname**: Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr.
- **birth place**: Westminster, Maryland, U.S.
- **death place**: Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
- **nationality**: American
- **spouse**: Eunice Kennedy Shriver <small>(m. 1953–2009, her death)</small>
- **children**: Bobby Shriver, Robert Sargent Shriver III
Maria Shriver, Maria Owings Shriver
Timothy Perry Shriver
Mark Shriver, Mark Kennedy Shriver
Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver
- **parents**: Robert Sargent Shriver, Sr. and Hilda Shriver
- **relations**: Arnold Schwarzenegger (son-in-law)
- **party**: Democratic Party (United States), Democratic
- **profession**: Attorney
- **signature**: Sargent Shriver Signature.svg
- **alma mater**: Yale University
Yale Law School
- **allegiance**: United States of America
- **branch**: United States Navy
- **serviceyears**: 1941–1945
- **rank**: Lieutenant
- **battles**: World War II
- **awards**: World War II Victory Medal, Purple Heart, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal