Peace Corps established
On March 1 1961 President John F.Kennedy issues Executive Order 10924 establishing the Peace Corps as a new agency within the Department of State.The same day he sent a message to Congress asking for permanent funding for the agency which would send trained American men and women to foreign nations to assist in development efforts.
The Peace Corps captured the imagination of the U.S.public and during the week after its creation thousands of letters poured into Washington from young Americans hoping to volunteer.The immediate precursor of the Peace Corpsthe Point Four Youth Corpswas proposed by Representative Henry Reuss of Wisconsin in the late 1950s.Senator Kennedy learned of the Reuss proposal during his 1960 presidential campaign and sensing growing public enthusiasm for the idea decided to add it to his platform.
In early October 1960 he sent a message to the Young Democrats that called for the establishment of a Youth Peace Corps and on October 14 he first publicly spoke of the Peace Corps idea at an early morning speech at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.The night before he had engaged Vice President Richard Nixon in the third presidential debate and was surprised to find an estimated 10000 students waiting up to hear him speak when he arrived at the university at 2 a.m.The assembled students heard the future president issue a challenge How many of them he asked would be willing to serve their country and the cause of freedom by living and working in the developing world for years at a timeThe Peace Corps proposal gained momentum in the final days of Kennedys campaign and on November 8 he was narrowly elected the 35th president of the United States.
On January 20 1961 in his famous inaugural address he promised aid to the poor of the world.To those peoples in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery he said we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves for whatever period is requirednot because the communists may be doing it not because we seek their votes but because it is right.He also appealed to Americans to ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country.After March 1 thousands of young Americans answered this call to duty by volunteering for the Peace Corps.
The agency which was headed by Kennedys brother-in-law R.Sargent Shriver eventually chose some 750 volunteers to serve in 13 nations in 1961.In August Kennedy hosted a White House ceremony to honor the first Peace Corps volunteers.
The 51 Americans who later landed in Accra Ghana for two years of service immediately made a favorable impression on their hosts when they gathered on the airport tarmac to sing the Ghanaian national anthem in Twi the local language.On September 22 1961 Kennedy signed congressional legislation creating a permanent Peace Corps that would promote world peace and friendship through three goals (1) to help the peoples of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women (2) to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served and (3) to help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.By the end of 1963 7000 volunteers were in the field serving in 44 Third World countries.In 1966 Peace Corps enrollment peaked with more than 15000 volunteers in 52 countries.Budget cuts later reduced the number of Peace Corps volunteers but today more than 7000 Peace Corps volunteers are serving in over 70 countries.
Since 1961 more than 180000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps serving in 134 nations.
