Fall 2010 - National Peace Corps Association

50th AnniversaryJFK AT THE UNIONThe unknown story of the Peace Corps speechby James TobinWell after midnight on October 14,1960, presidential candidateJohn F. Kennedy arrived at the steps ofthe Michigan Union. Legend has it thathe first proposed the idea of the PeaceCorps here. The truth is a little morecomplex, but far more interesting.Senator John F. Kennedy’smotorcade rolled into AnnArbor very early on the morningof Friday, October 14, 1960. Theelection was three and a half weeksaway. The Democratic nominee forpresident and his staff had just flowninto Willow Run Airport. A few hoursearlier, in New York, Kennedy hadfought Vice President Richard Nixon,the Republican nominee, in the third oftheir four nationally televised debates.The race was extremely close, andMichigan was up for grabs. Kennedy’sschedule called for a few hours of sleep,then a one-day whistle-stop train touracross the state.Black and White Photography: David GiltrowColor Photography: Frederick L. ShippeyThe campaign got word that studentshad been waiting outside the MichiganUnion, where Kennedy was to spend thenight, for three hours. As the cars reachedthe corner of State and South University,Kennedy’s speechwriters, TheodoreSorensen and Richard Goodwin, lookedout the window. Students, denselypacked, were milling all over the stepsand sidewalks and into the street. Somecarried signs or wore Kennedy hats.There were signs for Nixon, too. Criesarose as the cars pulled up.“He won’t just let them stand there,”Sorensen told Goodwin. “He’s going tospeak. Maybe that’ll give us a chance toget something to eat.”They hadn’t prepared a speech, butKennedy was good at extemporizing in apinch. He might have given the studentsa quick greeting and a standard pitchfor votes. No one knows why he chose,instead, to ask them a question thatwould launch the signature programof his administration and ignite theidealism of a generation.Since early in the campaign year,there had been scattered proposals fora volunteer corps of young Americanswho would go abroad to help nationsemerging from colonialism in Africa,Asia and South America. Kennedyhad asked for studies of the idea,including from Samuel Hayes, a U-Mprofessor of economics and director ofthe Center for Research on EconomicDevelopment. In early October, hisstaff had floated the idea in a pressrelease, but no sparks had been struck.And Kennedy, according to aides,had been leery of the idea, fearing thedamage Nixon might cause, in thejittery atmosphere of the Cold War, bycalling him naïve about foreign affairs.Possibly it was a remark of Nixon’sthat drew Kennedy’s mind back to theidea. In the debate the night before,Above, Top Right: Michigan students waited into the night for Kennedy to appear.Center: The 2 a.m. scene at the Student Union.28 WorldView Fall 2010 National Peace Corps Association