Sargent Shriver Dead at 95: 5 Facts on the Peace Corps' First Director [VIDEOS]

R. Sargent Shriver, the first director of the Peace Corps, has died at the age of 95. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2003.

A Navy veteran, Shriver's political career spanned decades. In 1953 he married Eunice Kennedy, a sister of John F. Kennedy. They had five children, including Maria Shriver, wife of former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Surge Desk has five facts about the late Sargent Shriver.

1. He was dedicated to public service and social programs
In 1961 President Kennedy signed an executive order creating the Peace Corps and asked brother-in-law Shriver to serve as its first director. As director of the Office of Economic Opportunity in Lyndon B. Johnson's White House, Shriver also helped establish a number of "War on Poverty" programs, including Job Corps, VISTA and Head Start.

Watch Shriver explaining the role of the Peace Corps in a 1965 speech:

2. He was an ambassador
From 1968 to 1970, Shriver was the American ambassador to France. One month after Shriver's arrival in Paris, his brother-in-law Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated.

3. His wife, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founded the Special Olympics
In 1962 Eunice Kennedy Shriver began a summer sports and activities camp for people with disabilities. Six years later she launched the first Special Olympics Summer Games. Working together, the Shrivers helped shape the Special Olympics into the major international event it is today.

4. When he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, his daughter took action
Daughter Maria Shriver was inspired to take up the cause of Alzheimer's awareness and activism after her father was diagnosed with the disease. Last fall Maria Shriver organized a March on Alzheimer's in California.

Watch Maria Shriver discuss the march and the impact of Alzheimer's:

5. He was a second-choice vice-presidential nominee
In 1972 Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern wanted Thomas Eagleton to be his running mate, but Eagleton left the ticket after revelations about his mental health surfaced. McGovern asked Shriver to take Eagleton's place, but the pair lost to President Richard Nixon and his vice president, Spiro Agnew.

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