WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vernon Jordan, who grew up in the segregated South to become an influential leader in the American civil rights movement, Washington politics and Wall Street, has died at age 85, his daughter said on Tuesday.

Jordan, who in 1980 was badly wounded by a white supremacist sniper in Indiana, died on Monday night peacefully and surrounded by loved ones, daughter Vickee Jordan said in a statement.

His role as a Washington insider took him all the way to the White House, where he was a close friend, golfing buddy and adviser to President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. Jordan never held a formal government job, but no one knew better than Jordan how favors, access and requests worked in Washington.

In a statement, Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton, called him a wonderful friend, adding, Vernon Jordan brought his big brain and strong heart to everything and everybody he touched. Clinton mentioned Jordans instrumental role in desegregating the University of Georgia in 1961, his career in law and business, and his work with civil rights groups.

Jordan grew up in a housing project in Atlanta before his family bought a home and he was the only Black person in his class at DePauw University in rural Greencastle, Indiana.

After graduating, Jordan earned a law degree from Howard University and returned to Atlanta to work for a civil rights attorney. Among his cases was one that integrated the University of Georgia at a time of racial segregation in Southern states. Jordan helped escort his two young Black clients past jeering protesters on their first day of class.