71. Letter From the Director of the Peace Corps (Shriver) to Secretary of State Rusk 1

Dear Mr. Secretary:

We shall certainly keep in mind your recommendations that we start from the talent available rather than from the requests sent to us from foreign countries in establishing what we will, or will not undertake as Peace Corps enterprises in the future. I want to reassure you, however, that we have not undertaken any final commitments to send people abroad unless we were morally certain that we had the people available to do the work.

I have just returned from visiting our first group of Peace Corps Volunteers who are assembled at Rutgers University for a 2-month training period. They are a most inspiring group of men. Everybody connected with CARE, which is cooperating with us in this particular enterprise, is enthusiastic about the selectees. I think you would be, too, if you had a chance to visit New Brunswick to see them. I feel confident that we can maintain the same high standards in the other programs.

You said you would be glad to talk to Senator Fulbright about the amount of money being asked for the Peace Corps and the numbers of persons we propose to involve in the Peace Corps program this year, if he asked you. May I respectfully suggest that it would be very helpful if you could find it possible in some appropriate way to take the initiative in this matter. I think it would be helpful if Senator Fulbright realized that our proposal had the support of the administration as a whole, especially the Secretary of State. Moreover, I think it would be a tragedy if, in response to the President’s call for a Peace Corps, we on the executive side responded with a program any smaller than the one we have proposed.

Sincerely yours,

Sarge
  1. Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1960–63, 800.00–PC/6–2651. No classification marking.