Saying “Goodbye” to The Peace Corps
Hi Kevin and thanks. I used several publicly-available Congressional Budget Justifications at this link for my data. https://files.peacecorps.gov/documents/open-government/Peace_Corps_FY2025_CBJ.pdf I also…
The Peace Corps 1966. This was the Norman Rockwell illustration for Look, June 14, 1966 issue. It was the fifth anniversary of the agency. Several of the PCVs in this painting were Ethiopia PCVs. Rockwell visited us in 1963.
John writes —
The Peace Corps was our great gift to the world back in the Sixties. President Kennedy asked not what America could for us, but what we could do for the world. We answered by giving the Third World our time, talents, and friendship. We went overseas not to war but to help others in the developing world.
For all of us, it was a challenge and an opportunity. In the first days of the agency, the Peace Corps was overwhelmed with letters, telegrams, and in-person visits to the Maiatico Building, headquarters for the new agency on Lafayette Squire across from the White House. All of us wanted to be in the Peace Corps. All of wanted to be one of Kennedy’s Kids.
We began with the first Volunteers going to Ghana and Tanzania in August of 1961. They went to these two African countries not with weapons, but with handshakes and a few words of greeting in the host country’s language they had learned in Training. By December of ’61, PCVs were also in: Chile, Colombia, St. Lucia, Nigeria, Pakistan and the Philippines. Six months later (June 1962) there were 2,940 Volunteers overseas.
By the mid Sixties the number of PCVs had grown to over 15 thousand in 47 countries. Today, however, there are fewer then 2,800 Volunteers in service.
What has happened? Is it because the developing world no longer wants what we have to give?
Or is it because our government–Democrat and Republican—no long believes, as Kennedy did, that PCVs would make a positive difference in the lives of others and their relationship with America. Are our Peace Corps Volunteer days over?
We came. We saw. We worked. We gave our time, talents, skills, knowledge, as well as, friendship, to help others. Are we now history?
In all those years from 1961 to today, we created a ‘new’ American citizen who knows first hand–and understands–what the developing world and her people are like. We used that understanding to help host country nationals, and learned how to live the rest of our own lives. We are better Americans, better citizens of the world, for once having been a Peace Corps Volunteer.
Times have changed, as well as governments, domestic and foreign. This new generation of American leaders have turned the Peace Corps into history. And certainly if Trump is elected, the Peace Corps will be over before he even moves into the White House.
. . .
To learn more about the early years of the Peace Corps, 1961-2010, I recommend Lawrence F. Lihosit (Honduras 1975-77) informative book: Peace Corps Chronology published by iUniverse (www.iuniverse.com)
Nice job, John.
These inspiring words mark the end of an era of greatness.
Many thanks to John and Mariam for keeping this illuminating blog going since 1989.
Nothing is forever but your spirits will be forever with us.
I miss the Peace Corps of old, but I know time marches on.
Mark G. Wentling, always a PCV at heart
This poignant requiem deserves a more thoughtful rebuttal than is appropriate to the comments section. The short version is that a small Peace Corps is a nimble Peace Corps adapting to a changing world. Our days are far from done.
Yes, our days are far from gone. There are still so many needs out there for Peace Corps Volunteers. Yes, the world has changed but we are still welcomed in many places. Let’s figure out a way to reinvigorate a smaller Peace Corps as we continue to recover from Covid & Trump. Let’s find a way forward together.
Also, as always, worth sharing gratitude to John and Marian for maintaining this community.
In the Sixties, Americans in foreign lands received respect and admiration, a legacy of the help we provided the world during and especially after WWII. We were the good guys. As that reservoir of good will was dissipated by decades of politicizing our foreign aid, Volunteers today are as likely to be met with suspicion and hostility as open arms. It’s less appealing to become a PCV today when attitudes towards Americans are far less favorable than they once were.
I agree.
There are currently 98 Volunteers serving in the Dominican Republic (DR), where I served in 1967-69. I attended a swearing-in ceremony in May of 2023, and I have to say the Volunteers serving in the DR today are very committed to the goals of the Peace Corps, and the Dominicans still value their presence and contributions. More than 5,000 Volunteers have served in the DR, and the connections between the Dominican people and the volunteers appears to be as strong as ever.
Well done, John, as always. One other thought: the negative impact of Vietnam. As Vietnam ground on, Volunteers were plucked from the field while i was on staff in Turkey, 1968-70. And in 1969, when President Johnson appointed Robert Komer ambassador, the newspapers, from right to left, announced that the “American butcher from Vietnam” had arrived, Komer had been head of the Phoenix program in Vietnam. There were large numbers of American troops in Turkey, and young people especially used Vietnam and Komer to rise against us. We weren’t kicked out, but quietly stopped bringing in new Volunteers and reassigned others to other countries, or let them go home. Our last Volunteers were gone when I left in the summer of 1970. In 1965, when i came as a Volunteer, we were Kennedy’s Children, but all that was gone in five years, largely due to Vietnam.
Other Volunteers from other countries might remember that traveling through Europe as an American was not easy in those days Some tried to be Canadians, The sixties’ days of “respect and admiration” in foreign lands that Karl Drobnic mentions were swallowed up and often extinguished by Vietnam.
John:
This is both inspiring and sad. I hope Kamala might breathe new life into the Peace Corps
Yes, Jamie, I’m with you. We can only hope.
John, as always I love your writing. Since 2016 I have traveled to many other countries, including Ethiopia where I served as a volunteer. I never encountered any type of anti-American words or actions in any of these countries, certainly not in Vietnam. We were always welcomed. We stayed in apartments in neighborhoods and got to know people. During the Trump years I did have many people ask what was wrong with us for electing him as president. I’m not sure why PC recruitment is down but is there some way we could boost it? Could we as RPCV be part of that solution?
I understand your current cynicism, but my heart and gut tell me that the Peace Corps will rise again from the ashes of Covid and Trump and be the force for positive change that it was when I served in Chad in the sixties and in the many countries I lived and worked in during a lifelong career in international development. Wherever I have travelled, people of all ages have shared stories of the enduring influence PC volunteers have had on their lives. PC will survive and thrive!
Ben makes a statement worth heeding: “This poignant requiem deserves a more thoughtful rebuttal than is appropriate to the comments section.
Responses here range from: “we need to keep it, but make it more nimble; it is too good a thing to ever die; The Peace Corps is already dead.”
Ben goes on to conclude that “Our days are far from done.”
This leads to three important questions:
1. What is the mechanism for creating a “thoughtful rebuttal”? It would appear that a thoughtful rebuttal would be nothing but a
one sided opportunity to propagate one parties views. Ben’s idea loses no relevance, but the words we decide use do make a difference. It seems he may be advocating for “discussions”.
2. How would such a discussions come into existence?
3. Who would listen? (This could be taken as the words of a skeptic. Far from it. It is just a question about how such
a group could influence decision makers one way or another.
Thanks John,
A heart-felt and poignant reminder of a great institution that has been allowed to atrophy over time. I worked in the original HQ building in both the Africa and Latin American regions with many great people. One even went on to Marry me and my wife. It is a fond memory.
I think both party administrations bear responsibility for the atrophy, although under Nixon it continued to grow. I believe that the Peace Corps lacks leadership at the present time. We need new and vigorous leadership and a new marketing plan. Perhaps, hopefully, the next President will take this under active advisement.
I also wonder the degree to which relaxing the five-year rule has contributed to the atrophy. The constant change of staff and the new ideas and energy they brought, I think, were instrumental in keeping the Peace Corps growing and energized. I remember when Blatchford came in and brought some of his people in, to which many of us took a dim view, were brought to reconsider our behavior by our regional director (Caleb R.-Shriver/Vaughn hire). He told us forcefully that they were just as committed as we were and to get on with working with them. We did, and it was a great learning experience.
Best,
G.
John,
We need to bring back Loret M. Ruppe who as PC Director during the 1970s–seemly a lost decade for PC, saved the Agency and at the same time restored Volunteers’ self-respect. An excellent book on this subject is by Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, Professor of American Foreign Relations at San Diego State University:
“All you Need is Love: The Peace Corps and the Spirit of the 1960s”.
John,
As an additional comment, we need to do something of a ‘White Paper’ on the Return on Investment (ROI) from those who Volunteered for Peace Corps. For instance,
1. Some 30 RPCVs went on to become U. S. Ambassadors;
2. There were 12 presidents in Africa who credit a PCV with starting them on path to the presidency;
3. One RPCV went on to became the president of two major universities, then to a Cabinet position as Secretary of Health;
4. One became a multi billionaire by being the co-founder of Netflix;
5. One became president of the Chicago Bears;
6. Several became governors or mayors at state and local levels;
7. One changed the national educational system of Colombia.
8. At least 2,500 RPCVs published books;
9. One RPCV was voted as the Most Powerful Woman on Wall Street
10. One went on to become a ten term Congressman from California.
Good points, Jeremiah. And there have been more than 80 RPCV ambassadors going all the way back to the first group of volunteers to the Philippines — which produced two!
Ben, do you have a citation for the 80 U. S. Ambassadors, please?
Don’t have to look much further than this site. The compilation below is a partial; independent research since 9/22 adds to the 66 listed here. Most recent might be Mark Toner.
https://peacecorpsworldwide.org/latest-list-of-rpcv-ambassadors-8-20-2018/
Jerry—could you pull all of that information–of what RPCVS doing– together into a short essay for our site? John
John,
Thanks, I’ll give it a go.
Best, Jerry
Jerry
I would also suggest that we look at how much the return on investment has been. Returned volunteers have added to the GDP of the US. The president of Netflix being one but also many others who were entrepreneurs and started businesses. For example, a Columbia PC volunteer started dominion beer there ln suburban Virginia.
Best
G
John, A very provocative piece. Don’t you think the rebuilding after the covid withdrawal is worth citing as the flip side of the coin? The rebuilding that has had to be done is enormous. It’s like a forest fire wiped out the vegetation and it’s slowly starting to sprout again.
I understand recruiting is down and that strikes me as the biggest issue. From what I have seen through the Northern Virginia RPCV group and the more recent RPCVs, as well as my contact with township kids in South Africa through my ngo, there is no diminution in esteem for Americans coming to work at low income and societal levels. There is amazement that we are there and bewilderment at what would bring us to them, but no disdain.
It sounds like the job is to rekindle the spirit that got all of us abroad in the first place and to realize that it wasn’t all about asking what we could do for our country but included the education and insight into the world that living abroad could provide. I like to include the selfish things that people get from doing good. It’s part of doing well by doing good.
Good points, Phil.
What I am seeing is that the Peace Corps has declining numbers of Volunteers, and overseas staffs are being cut. Also, I am not hearing words of praise for the Peace Corps work from our presidents, Democrat or Republican. It would seem the Peace Corps is history.
What I am seeing, however, are a few former PCVs like you–Ethiopia (1964-66) –with Global Camps Africa, and Liz Fleming (Malawi 1967-69) with Corps Africa have created your own version of what Kennedy asked of us back in 1960.
As I read these comments I see the dedication and committment which I was fortunate to be a part of as a
PCV in Peru 1964-66 and PC/W staff from 1966-1987. I believe it’s just beneath the surface in our country
and the right group of us and many others with a strong leader can bring it back. I for one would be willing
to volunteer to make it happen.
I think it might be good to actually hear from Generation Z. There is an opinion piece on the NPCA website. The author is a non-RPCV and non-Peace Corps, was an intern at NPCA this summer. Here is the link to her opinion piece:
https://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/opinion-a-new-generations-take-on-the-peace-corps/
Good post; well worth reading. Maybe it deserves to be posted as a stand-alone article on the peacecorpsworldwide website.
You’re right, Karl, it is a very good post. However, since it is already up on the NPCA site, I don’t think we need to ‘repost’ it on our site.
Between a bit of a Hail Mary pass and more notably what I love about this site are the posts of those early on volunteers who continue to post from that awesome soulfulness that’s akin to what they put so much into as in their service to create the Pesce Corps in the 60s and keep the … candle burning here and now. Someone mentioned Gen Z and on that note my daughter days from turning 19 continues with the same group from high school to once a week feed the homeless near Yokohama Station. Point being she has that altruistic energy and those such as her could be passed the torch to me hopes. Also as someone mentioned Kamala Harris seems to have the heart to keep the organization more than just afloat. Great piece, John, and a big arigato to you and Marian for all that wonderful energy you’re putting in the site. Very much appreciated !!!!
Ben,
Thanks for taking the lead on making this forum a place for discussion.
Do we have any information about Peace Corps problems with recruitment. I look for some, but don’t see much?
Do we have any analysis about the current recruitment issues? iFirst thing I notice is that I don’t see much public
recruitment information out there. Is it really as I perceive it?
To those of us not in an inner circle, it is very rare for Peace Corps to openly discuss their problems and their efforts to find answers.
Is that something other perceive as well?
Ben, the information you have provided is more detailed than any I’ve seen. How do you get access to your data? More important, how does a RPCV access information from PC.
This is my opinion: First, there is no one “Peace Corps”, There is constant change in staff because of the five year rule and the fact that with every new political administration in the White House, the policy makers and important staff positions have a total turn over. We ought to identify the agency with the President’s name, first. Now it is the Biden Peace Corps. During the last administration, it was the Trump Peace Corps.
Also, there is a veteran’s preference in federal hiring, there is not a legal preference for RPCVs to be hired
at Peace Corps. Although, sometimes a job description could be written that would help RPCVs be qualified. During the Trump Peace Corps, Director Jody Olsen said 70 percent of her staff were retired military.
The Biden Peace Corps web site ( and I have found this true for most current administrations,) presumes people looking for information are interested in applying. It is a marketing tool. There are contact links and telephone numbers, but I have found them to be “ring around the rosy”.
The best way to get information is to ask for a publlic document via the Freedom of Information Office. It can take months and the records may not always be easy to decipher. This is all just my opinion.
Hi Kevin and thanks. I used several publicly-available Congressional Budget Justifications at this link for my data.
https://files.peacecorps.gov/documents/open-government/Peace_Corps_FY2025_CBJ.pdf
I also benefited from a year of historical research into RPCV ambassadors, relying on the oral history collection maintained by the very under-appreciated Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training: adst.org.
Two that I thought were crazy good: Pancho Huddle and Pamela White.