Our Quote of the Week
celebrates the 58th anniversary of the creation of the Peace Corps.
On March 1, 1961, President Kennedy signed the executive order to create
the Peace Corps. Three weeks later, on March 22, he would name Sargent Shriver as its first Director.
Taken from Sargent Shriver’s Address to the Foreign Policy Association, the Quote of the Week stresses the importance of people crossing physical and social boundaries to find common ground, as Peace Corps Volunteers were, and still are, trained to do. Sargent Shriver believed deeply that this idea could change the world, and he presented it as a cornerstone of foreign policy and peacebuilding.
Fifty-eight years have
passed since President Kennedy and Sargent Shriver created the Peace Corps, but
the idea of finding common ground with our brothers and sisters around the
world can and should still be at the heart of our relationships with other
countries. Our customs, religions, and cultures may vary, but we all have the
same desires for security and dignity. By finding creative ways to address
these common desires, our potential for fostering deeper ties with other
communities is unlimited.