Peace Corps: what you can do; President Kennedy enlisted youthful idealism in a global volunteer effort, a mission that President Bush is reviving.

• Author: Price, Sean
• Position: Times past

IT WAS NEARLY 2 A.M. ON OCT. 14, 1960, AND SEN. JOHN F. Kennedy desperately wanted some sleep. After a grueling day of campaigning for President, he planned to spend a quiet night at the University of Michigan. To his surprise, though, a crowd of 10,000 cheering students greeted his motorcade.

The exhausted Kennedy gave a brief, unprepared speech, asking who among the students would volunteer part of their lives to serve overseas for the United States.

How many of you who are going to be doctors are willing to spend your days in Ghana? ... I think Americans are willing to contribute, but the effort must be far greater than we have ever made in the past.

His notion was a hit with the students. Kennedy famously restated the idea in his inaugural address, on Jan. 20, 1961: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country." The day after he became President, Kennedy ordered a task force to take the first steps in creating the Peace Corps, which has since sent more than 165,000 volunteers to help in 135 countries.

In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, President George W. Bush has renewed the call to harness the idealism and energy of youth in the interest of world peace. In his State of the Union address, Bush outlined plans to double the size of the Peace Corps to 15,000 active members, and to combine it with other volunteer agencies under a new umbrella, the USA Freedom Corps.

ENLISTING FOR PEACE

Though Kennedy did not invent the Peace Corps--the idea had been kicking around in Congress--as President he became its champion. He created it by executive order on March 1, 1961, stating that the corps was a way to assist other countries with America's skilled manpower in "the great common cause of world development."

Kennedy chose his brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver, for the daunting task of building the Peace Corps from scratch. Shriver saw right away that life in the corps would be tough:

I would imagine that no Americans in modern times will have been asked to do harder work. It's going to be work carried on in the underdeveloped part of the world, under difficult living conditions, different diet, different culture, different language, sometimes in remote places. I would suggest that anybody who anticipates a joy ride get off the train right now.

Yet thousands of hopeful volunteers--mostly college students who met the 18-or-older age requirement--were eager to apply for two-year assignments. Still, others felt sure...