R. Sargent Shriver Dies At Age 95
BETHESDA, Md. (CBS/AP) -- R. Sargent Shriver, the Kennedy in-law who was Peace Corps director in John F. Kennedy's administration and George McGovern's running-mate in 1972, has died.
Anthony Kennedy Shriver said his father died Tuesday after being hospitalzed for several days. He was 95.
Sargent Shriver married Eunice Kennedy in 1953. She died in August 2009 at age 88.
WBZ-TV's Kate Merrill reports.
Anthony Shriver says his father is "with my mom now."
The family released a state which, in part, reads, "He was a man of giant love, energy, enthusiasm, and commitment. He lived to make the world a more joyful, faithful, and compassionate place. He centered everything on his faith and his family. 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."
They say he passed away surrounded by his five children, five children-in-law, and his 19 children.
While best known for his family connections, Shriver also was notable as the Peace Corps' first director and then as the leader of President Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty."
He also had a famous son-in-law, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is married to Shriver's daughter Maria, a former NBC newswoman.
Sen. John Kerry said few Americans have touched as many lives as Shriver did.
"Sarge often said that 'freedom is a crusade,' and for him it was that and much more," said Kerry. "He was an extraordinary man and an extraordinary public servant who never lost the idealism that grand achievements were a question of willpower, not capacity."
Jessica Gresko of the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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