The Peace Corps was created in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy to provide trained volunteers to help developing nations with poverty, illiteracy, and disease. It aimed to foster mutual understanding while providing technical assistance for sustainable self-sufficiency. Over 163,000 American volunteers have served in over 135 nations for around 2 years each. Though questioned, the Peace Corps has proved resilient and fulfilled its mission.

1. Peace Corps
Created in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, the Peace Corps has been an enduring U.S. federal
government program to provide trained volunteers to help developing nations alleviate poverty,
illiteracy, and disease.
The Peace Corps' inception was both a product of the Cold War struggle and a reaction to the
growing spirit of humanitarian activism evident throughout the Western world by the beginning of
the 1960s, a spirit that had manifested itself in volunteer humanitarian programs already
implemented in Canada, Australia, Britain, France, and Japan. The proposal to create a similar U.S.
program had first been placed on the national political agenda by Democratic candidates during
the 1950s, notably by Adlai E. Stevenson in his failed presidential campaigns of 1952 and 1956.
During the course of the 1960 campaign, Kennedy, the Democratic Party's new candidate, adopted
the proposal and it became one of Kennedy's signature campaign issues, largely due to its appeal
to young liberals.
Once in office, Kennedy continued to challenge Americans to contribute to national and
international public service, calling in his inaugural address of 20 January 1961 for Americans to
form a "grand and global alliance" to fight tyranny, poverty, and disease. On 1 March 1961, he
temporarily established the Peace Corps by Executive Order 10924 under the auspices of the
Department of State and appointed his brother-in-law, R. Sargent Shriver Jr., to act as the Corps'
first director at a token salary of one dollar per year. In September 1961, shortly after Congress
formally endorsed the Peace Corps by making it a permanent program, the first volunteers left to
teach English in Ghana, the first black African nation to achieve independence (in 1957) and whose
government had since become an outspoken advocate of anticolonialism. Contingents of
volunteers soon followed to Tanzania and India. By the turn of the century, the Peace Corps had
sent over 163,000 American volunteers to over 135 nations.
Since its inception the primary missions of the Peace Corps have remained unchanged. The aim of
the Peace Corps was not direct intervention to cure poverty per se; rather, it was to provide
technical assistance to developing nations to make progress toward sustainable self-sufficiency.
The Peace Corps' objectives reflect a mix of altruistic idealism and enlightened national self-
interest. As President Kennedy explained the idealistic sentiment, "To those people in the huts and
villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts
to help them help themselves." In tandem with this offer of technical assistance, the Corps also
aims to foster better mutual understanding. Ideally a reciprocal process, a large part of the
objective was to promote the American way of life so as to negate the appeal of communism to
third world countries.
In order to retain the support of young liberals, from whose ranks most new recruits have
traditionally been drawn, Shriver had striven to preserve the Corps' integrity by shielding it
from bureaucratic politics. By the beginning of the 1970s, however, amidst rampant protest
and cynicism about American foreign policy exacerbated by the Vietnam War, the Corps'
bureaucratic independence came under political attack. In 1971 President Richard Nixon combined
the Peace Corps with several other federal volunteer programs under a new agency
called ACTION. In 1979, however, President Jimmy Carter reversed this by reestablishing the Peace
Corps' autonomy, and in 1981 Congress passed legislation to make it an independent federal
agency for the first time. With the end of the Cold War, Peace Corps volunteers were dispatched
to former Soviet bloc countries struggling with new independence, such as Hungary, Poland,
Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, and in 1995, in a move to supplement the primary mission of the
Peace Corps, a Crisis Corps was established to mount short-term humanitarian relief efforts.

2. Typically serving for a period of two years, Peace Corps volunteers are invited by host nations to
assist in a variety of roles of the host nation's choice. Most Peace Corps volunteers have
contributed in the field of education (particularly teaching English), but the work ranges across
community development, agriculture, health care, and public works. Prior to their service,
volunteers receive intensive, specialized training, and once on location they are actively
encouraged to assist where possible but refrain from involvement in the host nation's domestic
politics.
Throughout its existence, the Peace Corps has weathered charges of cultural imperialism and
persistent questioning of its self-proclaimed altruism. Critics have often suggested that it was in
fact a front for the Central Intelligence Agency. Nevertheless, since its inception the Peace Corps
has proved remarkably resilient to the political tides of Washington and has arguably even enjoyed
qualified success in fulfilling its mission.

3. Great Society
Health:
Medicare
The Social Security Act of 1965 authorized Medicare and provided federal funding for many of the
medical costs of older Americans.
Medicaid
In 1966 welfare recipients of all ages received medical care through the Medicaid program.
Medicaid was created on July 30, 1965 under Title XIX of the Social Security Act of 1965.
Education:
The most important educational component of the Great Society was the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965
The Higher Education Facilities Act of 1963, authorized several times more college aid within a
five-year period than had been appropriated under the Land Grant College in a century, and
provided better college libraries.
The Bilingual Education Act of 1968 offered federal aid to local school districts in assisting them to
address the needs of children with limited English-speaking ability until it expired in 2002.
Civil rights:
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbade job discrimination and the segregation of public
accommodations.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 suspended use of literacy or other voter-qualification tests that had
sometimes served to keep African-Americans off voting lists and provided for federal court
lawsuits to stop discriminatory poll taxes.
The Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965 abolished the national-origin quotas in
immigration law.
The Civil Rights Act of 1968 banned housing discrimination and extended constitutional
protections to Native Americans on reservations.
The War on Poverty:
Began with a $1 billion appropriation in 1964 and spent another $2 billion in the following two
years. It spawned dozens of programs
Neighborhood Youth Corps
Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA),
Model Cities Program
Upward Bound
Food Stamp Act of 1964
Community Action Program
Environment
Clear Air, Water Quality and Clean Water Restoration Acts and Amendments
Wilderness Act of 1964
Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966
National Trails System Act of 1968
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968
Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965
Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965

4. Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act of 1965
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966
Aircraft Noise Abatement Act of 1968
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
Labor:
Amendments made to the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act in 1964 extended the prevailing wage provisions
to cover fringe benefits, while several increases were made to the federal minimum wage. In
addition, a comprehensive minimum rate hike was signed into law that extended the coverage of
the Fair Labor Standards Act to about 9.1 million additional workers.
Consumer protection
The Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965 required packages to carry warning labels.
The Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 set standards through creation of the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration.
The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act requires products identify manufacturer, address, clearly mark
quantity and servings.
Child Safety Act of 1966 prohibited any chemical so dangerous that no warning can make it safe.
The Radiation Safety Act of 1968 provided standards and recalls for defective electronic products.
Transportation
The Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 which provided $375 million for large-scale urban
public or private rail projects.
High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965 which resulted in the creation of high-speed rail
between New York and Washington.
The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966.
Arts and cultural institutions
National endowments for arts and humanities
Public broadcasting
Cultural centers