PEACE CORPS IN THE 21 ST CENTURY: A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

6important as it guarantees the organization freedom from the whims of politics.After a battle to keep the organization alive during the Nixon administration,Jimmy Carter’s election brought new hope for the Peace Corps. It was widely knownthat Carter’s mother was a former volunteer, and he made a concerted effort to appointformer Peace Corps volunteers as aides, staffers, and cabinet members. Fritz Fischernotes that “Hundreds of AID staffers were returned volunteers, and the director of theImmigration and Naturalization Service had served in the Philippines as a volunteer.” 14This administration was known for its push for human rights. President Carterunderstood that foreign relationships, especially in Latin America, needed to bedeveloped. He viewed the “third world” as “sophisticated and complex.” 15Fritz Fischercharacterizes President Carter as being “just like a volunteer” because “he attempted toarticulate a fresh approach toward the third world but could not choose betweencontradictory goals of respecting the cultures of others and pushing others to change.” 16The Carter administration was viewed by the next administration as indecisive, but Carterframed developing countries as allied nations in need of “partnership,” rather than “help”from United States.To reestablish its independent status, President Carter signed Executive Order12137 in 1979, disconnecting the Peace Corps from ACTION and granting fullautonomy. 17Carter justified his Executive Order by insisting that “The spirit of thePeace Corps springs from the deepest wells in our culture, from the reasoned andstrongly-felt impulses of our people to share with their neighbors their caring and theirlabor.” 18With this legislation, Carter temporarily ensured that Peace Corps would nothave to fear confusion with other organizations or feel legislative pressure. Carter