# Peace Corps *Independent agency of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to partner countries; the subject of one at-issue pair in the Minnesota record concerning attribution of its origin.* The **Peace Corps** is a U.S. government program, run as an independent agency, that trains American volunteers and places them in communities in partner countries.[^1] It began with Executive Order 10924, issued by President John F. Kennedy in March 1961. Congress gave it statutory authority in the Peace Corps Act, dated September 22, 1961.[^1] The official goal recorded for the agency is to help developing countries by supplying skilled workers in education, health, entrepreneurship, women's empowerment and community development.[^1] Its documented scale has followed its funding. It had 900 volunteers in its first year and reached a peak of 15,556 in 1966. The count fell to 5,100 after budget cuts in 1989.[^1] Kennedy is credited with creating the Peace Corps as president. The first bill to create it, however, was introduced in 1957 by Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, Jr. (D-[[Minnesota]]).[^2] Humphrey also introduced S. 2000, a Peace Corps bill, on June 1, 1961. The U.S. [[Capitol Visitor Center]] keeps the artifact record for that bill.[^3] This attribution is the subject of the one at-issue pair on the agency in the Minnesota record, AI-Humphrey-049.[^3][^4] ## Who President Donald Trump nominated Josephine "Jody" Olsen on January 3, 2018, as the agency's 20th director. Olsen had served as a volunteer in Tunisia from 1966 to 1968. Before her nomination she had been country director in Togo, chief of staff, deputy director (2002–2009) and acting director (2009). She left office on January 20, 2021.[^5] Carol Spahn was acting director from January 20, 2021, to November 16, 2021. President Biden nominated her in April 2022, and the [[United States Senate]] confirmed her on December 13, 2022. She left office on January 20, 2025, together with Deputy Director David White, Jr.[^5] Trump named no director or deputy director in the first six months of his second term. Allison Greene served as chief executive officer during that period, with Cheryl Gregory Faye as her deputy. On August 12, 2025, the agency announced the resignations of Greene, Faye and acting chief of staff Julie Burns. The same announcement named acting chief financial officer Paul Shea as the new chief executive officer.[^5] AFSCME Local 3548 represents the agency's non-supervisory domestic employees, of whom about 500 are members. The Federal Labor Relations Agency certified the union on May 11, 1983. The collective bargaining agreement now in force took effect on April 21, 1995.[^6] ## What Applicants must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years old. There is no upper age limit, and most positions require at least a bachelor's degree.[^7] Volunteers receive no wages. Their transportation is paid, and they receive a stipend for "basic expenses".[^7] Anyone who has worked for the CIA is ineligible. People who worked in other intelligence services may serve ten years after that employment ended.[^7] Volunteers train in-country for about three months before swearing in, and then serve for two years. Placements fall into six sectors: Agriculture, Environment, Community Economic Development, Health, Education, and Youth in Development.[^7] The agency's programs include the following:[^8] - **Malaria control.** A malaria-control initiative began in 2011, growing out of prevention work in Peace Corps Senegal. As of the source, it involved volunteers in 24 African countries. - **Environment.** Environmental work centers on Protected-Areas Management, Environment Education or Awareness, and Forestry. - **Girls' education.** In 2015 the agency worked with USAID to carry out the Let Girls Learn initiative. The Wikipedia article lists several critics of the agency.[^9] They include former volunteer and country director Robert L. Strauss, writing in *Foreign Policy* and the *[[New York Times]]*. The list also includes a former volunteer's article on assaults on volunteers from 1992 to 2010, an ABC *20/20* report, and a *Huffington Post* article on former volunteers speaking out about rapes.[^9] A 1986 *Multinational Monitor* article, published during the Reagan administration, is also cited.[^9] It credited the Corps as "not in the business of transferring massive economic resources." It also reported charges from observers and some returned volunteers that its programs "serve to legitimize dictators".[^9] ## When In 1950, United Auto Workers president Walter Reuther proposed a voluntary agency that would send young Americans abroad on humanitarian and development work. He made the proposal in an article titled *A Proposal for a Total Peace Offensive* and continued to speak on the theme through the 1950s.[^2] After World War II, several members of Congress put forward bills for volunteer organizations in developing countries.[^2] In December 1951, Representative John F. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) told a group that young college graduates could carry technical advice to the Middle East. In 1952, Senator Brien McMahon (D-Connecticut) called for an "army" of young Americans to serve as "missionaries of democracy".[^2] Humphrey's first Peace Corps bill came in 1957. Wikipedia places it three years before Kennedy, then a presidential candidate, raised the idea.[^2] The project's dossier notes that the 1957 bill did not pass, citing the Capitol Visitor Center artifact record.[^3] The 1961 sequence in the pack runs as follows:[^1][^3] - **March 1961:** Executive Order 10924. - **June 1, 1961:** Humphrey introduces S. 2000. - **September 22, 1961:** Congress passes the Peace Corps Act. ## How The agency was created by executive order and has been modified by later orders. These include Executive Order 11041 (1962, Kennedy), Executive Order 11103 (1963, Kennedy), Executive Order 11603 (1971, Nixon) and Executive Order 12137 (1979, Carter).[^10] Federal law on the agency is codified in Title 22 of the United States Code, Chapter 34. Its regulations are in Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 3.[^10] Former volunteers face several limits on later intelligence work:[^10] - They may not be assigned to military intelligence duties for four years after their service. - They are permanently barred from military intelligence postings to any country where they served. - They may not apply to the Central Intelligence Agency for five years. Most staff appointments are limited to five years. The source gives the stated rationale for this limit as keeping staff "fresh and innovative".[^10] ## How many | Year | Volunteers | Countries | |---|---|---| | 1961 (inaugural year) | 900 | 16 | | 1966 (peak) | 15,556 | 52 | | After 1989 budget cuts | 5,100 | — | | 2011 (50th anniversary) | more than 8,500 | 77 | Growth resumed after the post-1989 decline as funding increased.[^1] As of 2015, more than 240,000 Americans had served in 142 countries.[^1] ## In the at-issue record AI-Humphrey-049 belongs to the Humphrey package, in the section *The Waverly Promise & the Boundary County Edition*, at rank 49. The pair states two facts: Humphrey introduced the first Peace Corps bill in 1957, and he introduced S. 2000 on June 1, 1961. It rests on a single artifact source on visitthecapitol.gov.[^3] The pair's source dossier (§IV.8) is an inventory of instruments commonly credited to Humphrey. It marks the Peace Corps entry, covering both the 1957 bill and S. 2000, as confirmed against the Capitol Visitor Center artifact record.[^3] The pair names as its anchor a July 2026 White House fact sheet from the Government Transparency Task Force. Its stated reason is that correcting attribution is the record-integrity function.[^4] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Hubert H. Humphrey, Jr., Democratic senator from Minnesota, introduced the first Peace Corps bill and S. 2000.[^2][^3] ### What - The record contains two bills: the 1957 bill, which the dossier notes did not pass, and S. 2000.[^3] ### When - Humphrey's first bill dates to 1957.[^2] - He introduced S. 2000 on June 1, 1961, between the March 1961 executive order and the Peace Corps Act of September 22, 1961.[^1][^3] ### Where - The S. 2000 artifact record is held by the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.[^3] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Peace Corps*, lead section (revision 1381265213, retrieved 2026-10-27) — establishment by Executive Order 10924 (March 1961) and the Peace Corps Act (September 22, 1961); official goal; volunteer counts 1961–2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Corps [^2]: Wikipedia, *Peace Corps*, "History" section, 1950–1959 (revision 1381265213, retrieved 2026-10-27) — Reuther 1950; Kennedy 1951; McMahon 1952; Humphrey's first Peace Corps bill in 1957. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Corps [^3]: U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, *S. 2000, Peace Corps bill introduced by Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, June 1, 1961* (artifact record) — introduction of S. 2000 on June 1, 1961; cited in the project dossier for Humphrey's 1957 first bill, which did not pass. https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/artifact/s-2000-peace-corps-bill-introduced-senator-hubert-h-humphrey-june-1-1961 [^4]: The White House, *The White House Government Transparency Task Force Fact Sheet* (July 2026) — anchor document named by at-issue pair AI-Humphrey-049. https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2026/07/the-white-house-government-transparency-task-force-fact-sheet/ [^5]: Wikipedia, *Peace Corps*, "Leadership" section (revision 1381265213, retrieved 2026-10-27) — directors Olsen and Spahn; second-Trump-administration chief executives; August 12, 2025 announcement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Corps [^6]: Wikipedia, *Peace Corps*, "Union representation" section (revision 1381265213, retrieved 2026-10-27) — AFSCME Local 3548; certification May 11, 1983; agreement effective April 21, 1995. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Corps [^7]: Wikipedia, *Peace Corps*, "Application and volunteer process" section (revision 1381265213, retrieved 2026-10-27) — eligibility, sectors, training, service length, stipend, intelligence-service rules. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Corps [^8]: Wikipedia, *Peace Corps*, "Initiatives" section (revision 1381265213, retrieved 2026-10-27) — malaria initiative (2011; 24 African countries), environment programs, Let Girls Learn (2015). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Corps [^9]: Wikipedia, *Peace Corps*, "Criticism and new directions" section (revision 1381265213, retrieved 2026-10-27) — listed critics; 1986 *Multinational Monitor* article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Corps [^10]: Wikipedia, *Peace Corps*, "Laws governing the Peace Corps" section (revision 1381265213, retrieved 2026-10-27) — executive orders 1961–1979; 22 U.S.C. ch. 34; 22 C.F.R. ch. 3; limits on former volunteers; five-year staff limit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Corps