Peace+Corps+-+Grainda



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 * The Peace Corps is an american volunteer program run by the United States Government.
 * Each participant is an american citizen who commits to working abroad in an assignment for the organization for a period of 27 months.
 * It was established by Executive Order on March 1, 1961
 * And then authorized by Congress on September 22, 1961.
 * The purpose of Peace Corps is "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 necessar, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower.'
 * Nearly 200,000 americans have joined the Peace Corps serving in 139 countries.
 * J.F.K was credited with the creation of the Peace Corps.
 * However the first initiative was Hubert H. Humphrey.
 * Humphrey introduced the first bill to create the Peace Corps in 1957.
 * President Kennedy first announced his own idea for such an organization during the 1960 presidential campaign.
 * President Kennedy in a speech at the White House on June 22, 1962 "Remarks to Student Volunteers Participating in Operation Crossroads Africa' acknowledged that Operation Crossroads for Africa was the basis for the develpment of the Peace Corps.
 * Kennedy signed an executive order on March 1, 1961.
 * Kennedy saw the Peace Corps as a means of countering the notions of the "Ugly American" and "Yankee imperialism."
 * J.F.K. appointed his brother in law to be the programs first director on March 4, 1961.
 * Richard M. Nixon (Kennedy's opponent) claimed the program would be nothing but a haven for draft dodgers.
 * Others doubted whether college-age volunteers had the necessary skills.
 * Until 1967, applicants to the Peace Corps had to pass a placement test, called the "general aptitude".
 * By 1966, more than 15,000 volunteers were working in the field.
 * In July 1971, Richard Nixon, brought the Peace Corps under the umbrella agency ACTION.
 * //Resources...//**