The Peace Corps was launched on this day half a century ago by President John F. Kennedy, who declared its mission in his executive order:
To promote world peace and friendship through a Peace Corps, which shall make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the United States qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower.
The idea for an army of American do-gooders didn’t really begin with Kennedy, but he’s the one who gets credit for creating it (against the complaints of critics, like Richard Nixon, who initially opposed it as some left-wing haven for draft-dodgers).
To paraphrase Kennedy’s famous statement, the idea was: “Don’t ask what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for some other country.” Continue reading
