PEACE CORPS IN THE 21 ST CENTURY: A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

4evening news with Walter Cronkite, and Huntley and Brinkley.” 6The Peace Corps wasat the height of its popularity in the 1960s. During this time, many volunteers joinedbecause of their affinity for Kennedy and the Kennedian spirit of idealism.In the 1960s, the Peace Corps budget included substantial monetary support foradvertising, leading to partnership with the Ad Council in 1961. The Ad Council createda public image through the Public Service Campaign, “The Toughest Job You’ll EverLove.” This campaign included print ads with clip and mail-in coupons to requestapplication information. By 1965, more than a thousand people a week were sendingthem in. 7The Peace Corps of the 1960s was a brand new project, and a bold mediacampaign attracted a great deal of interest in the organization. But the 1960s’ fountain ofidealism began to run out after Kennedy’s death. The 1970s saw a dramatic decline involunteer numbers.Between 1969 and 1971, the United States’ involvement in Vietnam began toaffect the Peace Corps. The governments of “Somalia, Turkey, and Bolivia expelled thePeace Corps as a convenient means of appeasing anti-American sentiment,” and Tanzaniaended its ties with the organization because of its “disdain for United States involvementin Vietnam.” 8Requests from host countries began to include a strong call for volunteerswith actual skill sets. The newly-graduated generalist volunteers of the 1960s were nolonger requested in many countries. Volunteers with useable skills were needed;however, the administration believed in the value of the youthful volunteer with a generaleducational background. According to Karen Schwartz, Peace Corps scholar, “It waswidely known in the agency that the few technically skilled volunteers whom the PeaceCorps had provided in the past were older, and could not learn the languages or adapt to