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WASHINGTON (AFP) – Sargent Shriver, the founder of the Peace Corps and a former vice presidential candidate, has died in suburban Washington surrounded by his children and grandchildren. He was 95.

On learning the news, President Barack Obama called him "one of the brightest lights of the greatest generation."

"Over the course of his long and distinguished career, Sarge came to embody the idea of public service," he said.

"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."

Shriver was a key player in the administration of his brother-in-law, president John F. Kennedy, and a longtime activist in the Democratic Party.

The father of television journalist Maria Shriver and husband of the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he was an early champion of the Peace Corps, which was established in 1961.