Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr. was born on November 9, 1915 and served as the first Director of the Peace Corps during the 1960s. In 1961, Shriver participated in an eight nation tour with the goal of creating more Peace Corps programs throughout Africa and Asia. His leadership expanded the influence of the Peace Corps and set the foundation for the legacy of service the organization provides to the world.

At the Peace Corps’s 25th Anniversary commemoration, Shriver told the audience, “Care for those who are sick. Serve your families. Serve your neighbors. Serve your cities. Serve the poor. Join others who serve. Serve, serve, serve! That’s the challenge. For in the end, it will be servants who save us all.”[1]

More than 50 years after the creation of the Peace Corps, we remember Sargent Shriver and the lasting vision and mission he created for the Peace Corps.

[1] “Service”, Sargent Shriver Peace Institute, http://www.sargentshriver.org/sarges-legacy/politics-of-service (retrieved November 6, 2014).

Photograph, Sargent Shriver, Ma Khin Khin Hla, and U Soe Tin in Burma, United States Information Service. R. Sargent Shriver Personal Papers. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.