Executive Order 10924

In October 1960, during a campaign stop at the University of Michigan, presidential candidate John F. Kennedy proposed the establishment of a government agency that would send volunteers to live and work in poor countries around the globe. After winning one of the closest elections in American history, Kennedy issued EO 10924 in March 1961, establishing the Peace Corps. Its first director was Sargent Shriver, Kennedy's brother-in-law.

In September 1961, Congress formally approved the establishment of the Peace Corps. The principal mission of the new agency was to provide development assistance to interested countries, but there was also a public relations element to the Peace Corps. At the time, the U.S. was engaged in the Cold War with the Soviet Union, and both nations sought to enhance their influence with the new nations of Africa and Asia that had recently declared their independence from colonial rule.

In 1961, 5000 applicants responded to JFK's call for international service, and those in the first class of Peace Corps volunteers were assigned to six countries. In the four decades since its founding, over 165,000 volunteers have served in the Peace Corps, working in 135 different nations. Included among the list of former volunteers are Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, Bob Vila, former host of the PBS series "This Old House," and political commentator Chris Matthews.