PEACE CORPS IN THE 21 ST CENTURY: A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

70Chapter 3Framing the World: Visual Recruitment RhetoricWhat Peace Corps volunteers understand – because they have lived in the placeswhere one third of humanity tries to survive on $2-a-day or $1-a-day – is thatlaughter, late-night conversations in dimly-lit courtyards, wailing chants atweddings and funerals, and tears of loss, shared with friends who happen to befrom different cultures – these humble experiences define humanity for all of us.128In the 1960s, newspapers reported stories of the Peace Corps. Television hostsinvited volunteers to appear for interviews on national nightly news. Public serviceannouncements publicized “the toughest job you’ll ever love.” And Norman Rockwelldepicted the spirit of service through his Peace Corps paintings. Rockwell’s work aspictorial historian of American culture captured the spirit of the Peace Corps of the1960s. Leo Cecchini, a volunteer in Ethiopia in the early 1960s notes that, “[t]he PeaceCorps hit the world stage with a bang and became the thing to do. . . . It even achievedinstant status as a folklore icon through the paintings of the great Norman Rockwell. Andwho were we? Indeed, we were ‘Norman Rockwell Americans’” 129Rockwell’s mostfamous Peace Corps painting depicted the first volunteer group sent to Ethiopia. Thisimage of President Kennedy, surrounded by the new volunteers, appeared on the cover ofLook magazine in 1966. Today, this iconic image is displayed in every Peace Corpsoffice around the globe. Rockwell’s Peace Corps painting JFKs Legacy, (figure 3.1)romanticizes a forward-looking President and ready volunteers. This image captures the“new frontier” rhetoric, highlighting the elements of sacrifice and service in the 1960s.