The Peters quote about Margery Michelmore comes from Rice, p. 244. The Wiggins quote on the domino theory comes from Redmon, p. 120. All the Timothy Adams quotes come from Redmon, pp. 121–24. Michelmore’s quotes come from “Incident ‘Blown Up,’ Corps Member Says,” New York Times, October 21, 1961. The recipient of the postcard was identified in “She Had No Idea,” Time, October 27, 1961. President Kennedy’s note to Margery is quoted in Rice, p. 244.
The Eisenhower quotes come from Leo Egan, “Eisenhower, at Rally Here, Derides Kennedy Policies,” New York Times, October 25, 1961. Sandburg’s quotes come from Russell Baker, “Sandburg Is Critical of Eisenhower on the Peace Corps,” New York Times, October 26, 1961. John Updike’s quotes are in “The Talk of the Town,” New Yorker, October 28, 1961. The musical Hot Spot is discussed in John Keating, “‘Hot Spot’ On Spot,” New York Times, April 14, 1963; Howard Taubman, “The Theater: ‘Hot Spot;’ Musical at Majestic Stars Judy Holliday, New York Times, April 20, 1963; and “Torpid Trio,” New Yorker, April 27, 1963.
Aubrey Brown’s refusal to eat at the university is described by Redmon, p. 128. Kennedy’s admonition to Harris Wofford about postcards comes from Wofford, p. 284. The Ashabranner postcard story comes from Ashabranner, p. 91. The Wiggins quote about the postcard as a vaccination comes from Redmon, p. 128.
Chapter 4. The Battle of Britain
All the Peace Corps country evaluation reports can be found in the National Archives in twenty-six boxes filed under the rubric of Peace Corps Country Program Evaluations 1961–1967.
There are histories of the evaluation division in Rice, pp. 110–12; Redmon, pp. 199–218; and Stossel, pp. 255–58. Haddad’s quote about the Peace Corps correcting itself before the press starts screaming comes from Redmon, p. 199. The Shriver quote about Time magazine comes from Rice, p. 110.
Peters’s quotes about Shriver as a lightweight and a great man come from a Peters interview on May 12, 2008. Klein’s description of Peters comes from his unpublished 2001 manuscript, p. 23.
The Peters quote about the squandering of idealism in Pakistan comes from his memoir, p. 121. Gelman’s descriptions of the woeful Somalia program come from his December 1962 evaluation. The description of the Philippines program is based on an interview with Maureen Carroll on July 17, 2008.
The story of the attempt to get rid of Peters and the evaluation efforts is told in full by Redmon, pp. 205–7. The Time cover story, “It Is Almost As Good As Its Intentions,” was published in the July 5, 1963 edition. Sargent Shriver’s marginal notes are on the copy of the December 12—17, 1962, Dominican Republic Evaluation in the National Archives. Rice, p. 110, and Stossel, p. 255, title their sections on Peters, “The Conscience of the Peace Corps.”
The Peters quotes about Wiggins’s attitude toward evaluation come from a July 27, 2008, telephone interview. The Cook quote about the Battle of Britain comes from Redmon, p. 214.
Peters’s views on community development come from his memoirs, p. 123. The views of David Hapgood and Meridan Bennett on the community development program in Peru come from their book, Agents of Change (Boston: Little, Brown, 1968), pp. 129–30. The story of the project in Blanquita, Colombia, is on pp. 133–35.
Peters’s views on Shriver and expansion and on the attitude of the evaluators toward the numbers game come from the July 28, 2008, telephone interview. Kevin Delany’s portrait of the Volunteers moving their livestock across Nepal comes from his June 26—July 19, 1963, Evaluation Report of Nepal, pp. 35–37. My portrait of Volunteer Judy Erdmann comes from the Overseas Evaluation of Cameroon, Distributed January 13, 1966, pp. c–e.
The information about the Ethiopia program comes from Stanley Meisler and Richard Lipez, Overseas Evaluation, Ethiopia, Distributed May 24, 1965. The expansion of the India program is discussed in the evaluation report of Lipez and Meisler, India, May 20, 1966. Brent Ashabranner’s views on the expansion of India can be found in his memoir, pp. 219–23. The results of the expansion can be found in Allen Bradford, David Hapgood, and J. Richard Starkey, India Evaluation, July 28, 1967. The letter to the Volunteer magazine is quoted in Ashabranner, pp. 223–24. Ashabranner discusses Micronesia on pp. 217–19 and describes Pritchard’s drive to expand on p. 217.
Tom Quimby’s comments on evaluation come from Redmon, pp. 209–10. The India staff’s reply to the 1967 evaluation is included with the evaluation report in the National Archives.
O’Brien outlined his ideas about evaluation to me in an interview on July 31, 2008.
Chapter 5. Friday, November 22, 1963
The story about Nancy Norton and her roommate in Peru is based on Norton’s narrative, “Tu Presidente Esta Muerte!” in the Peace Corps Reader (Washington, D.C.: Peace Corps Office of Public Affairs, 1968), pp. 94–95. Peggy Anderson’s story is based on e-mail messages from her on September 22–23, 2008. Donna Shalala’s encounter comes from Schwarz, p. 45. Richard Lipez’s account comes from his e-mail messages on August 29 and August 30, 2008. Maureen Carroll wrote of her reaction to the assassination for a round-up of returned Volunteer reactions that appeared under the title “I Was in the Chorus That Answered Him” in Peace Corps Volunteer, December 1963. Jack Vaughn’s recall of November 22 is quoted in Redmon, p. 393.
Shriver’s reaction is described in Redmon, p. 391, and in Stossel, pp. 297–300. Stossel discusses Shriver’s relations with Johnson, pp. 301–22. Bobby Kennedy’s angry remark to Shriver about the date for the Johnson speech comes from Stossel, p. 316.
The story of Johnson’s badgering of the reluctant Shriver to accept the job of czar of the war on poverty is based on Stossel, pp. 345–54; Michael Beschloss, Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes, 1963–1964 (New York: Touchstone, 1998), pp. 202–5, 208–13; a September 18, 2008, e-mail message from William Josephson that included a copy of his July 12, 2003, letter to Scott Stossel; and the four recorded phone conversations of Johnson and Shriver on February 1, 1964, from Citations 1804, 1807, 1809, and 1815 on WH6402.01 and WH6402.02 on the Web site of the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, http://millercenter.org/academic/presidentialrecordings.
Shriver’s attempt to run both the Peace Corps and the War on Poverty, and his decision to resign from the Peace Corps, is covered by Stossel, pp. 447–50.
Chapter 6. U.S. Troops Invade the Dominican Republic
For background on the U.S. intervention, I have depended on Abraham F. Lowenthal, The Dominican Intervention (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995), and Tad Szulc, Dominican Diary (New York: Dell, 1966). Szulc describes the Peace Corps nurses on p. 75. The Francisco Caamaño quotes come from Josef Evans, “The Only Americans Welcome,” draft 2 of the unpublished manuscript of the play, p. 40.
Frank Mankiewicz’s views on community development were expressed in “A Revolutionary Force,” his article in The Peace Corps Reader, pp. 46–59. Dean Rusk is quoted in Rice, p. 258. Mankiewicz’s quote about the Peace Corps not being an instrument against U.S. policy comes from an interview on October 2, 2008. Shriver’s resistance to an Algeria program is described in Rice, pp. 266–67. The Peace Corps emphasis on Latin America was covered in Hedrick Smith, “Peace Corps Aims at Latin Nations,” New York Times, December 3, 1962.
For the story of Charles Kamen, I have depended on the First Annual Peace Corps Report, p. 55; an AP article, “Peace Corps Youth Attacked in House,” New York Times, August 8, 1961; a UPI article, “Draft Appeal Slated,” New York Times, September 7, 1961; a UPI article, “Kamen Is Rejected,” New York Times, September 26, 1961; a Daniel Rapoport e-mail on June 23, 2008; a Maureen Carroll interview on July 17, 2008; and a Charles Peters phone interview on August 6, 2008.
The Johnson speech justifying the invasion is covered in “Text of Johnson’s Address on U.S. Moves in the Conflict in the Dominican Republic,” New York Times, May 3, 1965.
Kirby Jones’s story is based on his unp
ublished manuscript, Journal Written by Kirby Jones, Peace Corps Volunteer in Dominican Republic, 1963–65. Pages 512–609: April 24-July 26, 1965. Period Covering the Dominican Revolution; an interview on October 1, 2008; an e-mail message from Jones on October 31, 2008; and Schwarz, pp. 77, 79–81.
Bob Satin’s adventures were recounted by him on YouTube, October 3, 2007 (www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJEbAOW1bRQ) and in two phone interviews on September 22, 2008, and November 10, 2008. The critique is based on the Jones diary, p. 565, and a phone interview with Roberta (B. J.) Warren on November 1, 2008.
The Alice Meehan quote is cited in “Peace Corps Dilemma,” an editorial in the Washington Post, May 26, 1965, and in Schwarz, p. 74. The Joan Temple quotes come from Lee Winfrey, “Peace Corps Still Safe in Santo Domingo,” a Chicago Daily News dispatch in the Washington Post, May 16 1965. The Volunteer quote about “pupils scared to work with us” comes from Dan Kurzman, “Warriors’ Arrival Ends Peace Corps Welcome,” Washington Post, May 15, 1965. The Warren quote about being accused of being communist comes from Martin Arnold, “Peace Corps Plea Frees Marines,” New York Times, May 7, 1965. The Richmond News Leader complaint and the Herald Tribune reporter’s remark about the war corps can be found in the Fourth Annual Peace Corps Report (Washington: Peace Corps Office of Public Affairs, 1965), p. 70.
The report of the May 6 White House meeting was reproduced as Document 5 in Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Vol. XXXII, pp. 133–36. Bill Moyers’s quote to Mankiewicz about going down to the Dominican Republic was recalled by Mankiewicz in his oral history interview on April 18, 1969, LBJ Library, p. 44.
The account of the dispatch of Mankiewicz to Santo Domingo, including his quotes, is based on the April 18, 1969, oral history, pp. 41–45, augmented by my October 2, 2008, interview with him.
The story of the Volunteer letter to President Johnson comes mainly from the Kirby Jones diary. The letter is reproduced at the end of the diary. Jones’s reporting of Mankiewicz’s argument against publishing the letter is set down on pp. 580–81 of the diary. Lynda Edwards’s reaction is from Schwarz, p. 82.
The Bundy memorandum is reprinted in Foreign Relations, 1964–1968, Vol. XXXII as Document 137, pp. 329–30. The story of Operation 1500 is told in Jack Rosenblum’s evaluation of the Dominican Republic program, dated June 3, 1966, and in Kevin Lowther and C. Payne Lucas, Keeping Kennedy’s Promise: The Peace Corps: Unmet Hope of the New Frontier (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1978), pp. 31–33. The Warren quote comes from a phone interview on November 1, 2008.
Johnson’s holdup of sending the Volunteers to India is described in Lowther and Lucas, pp. 33–34, and in the evaluation of the India program by Richard Lipez and Stanley Meisler, dated May 20, 1966. Johnson’s quote about the Volunteers being “the first ones to jump us” comes from his recorded phone conversation with Bill Moyers at the LBJ ranch on November 9, 1965, and Citation No. 9144 and Tape WH6511.04 on the Web site of the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, http://millercenter.org/academic/presidentialrecordings.
Chapter 7. Johnny Hood
Background to the U.S.–Panamanian dispute can be found in Tad Szulc, “Reports on Difficulties in Panama Reached the U.S. 48 Hours Late,” New York Times, January 14, 1964. Bill Moyers’s recommendation of Jack Vaughn is in an undated memo in the National Security Files, LBJ Library. Vaughn describes his meeting with Johnson in Senegal both in “How I Became Director of the Peace Corps,” a chapter from his unpublished memoir “Kill the Gringo,” and in his Oral History interview, LBJ Library, December 4, 1968. Vaughn’s reception in Panama is described by Richard Eder, “Panama Irked by U.S. Proposal to Survey for Canal in Colombia,” New York Times, April 18, 1964.
Johnson’s instructions to Vaughn for the Dominican Republic report was made in a recorded telephone conversation on May 3, 1965, Citation No. 7551 and Tape WH6505.03 on the Web site of the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, http://millercenter.org/academic/presidentialrecordings. The account of the task force meeting comes mainly from a telephone interview of Vaughn, April 16, 2008. Johnson’s comment about the news media comes from a handwritten note by Jack Valenti, dated May 8, 1965, in the National Security Files of Jack Valenti, Box 13, LBJ Library.
Vaughn’s comment about “communist elements” came in a recorded telephone conversation with Johnson, Citation No. 7368, Tape WH6504.06 on the Miller Center Web site. His run-in with Robert Kennedy at an interagency meeting was described by Vaughn in an April 16, 2008, telephone interview.
The account of the Vaughn-Kennedy clash at the State Department briefing is based on the April 16, 2008, Vaughn telephone interview; the Frank Mankiewicz oral history interview on May 1, 1969, LBJ Library; and the Frank Mankiewicz oral history interview on June 26, 1969, John F. Kennedy (JFK) Library.
Shriver’s comment on Johnson’s refusal to let Moyers return to the Peace Corps comes from the Shriver oral history interview on August 20, 1980, LBJ Library. Johnson’s final selection of Vaughn as successor to Shriver is related in both Vaughn’s chapter from “Kill the Gringo” and in Redmon, p. 403. The Tom Mann–LBJ phone conversation cited by Vaughn can be found as Citation No. 9511 and Tape WH6601.09 on the Miller Center Web site. The Peters quote on Moyers comes from Redmon, pp. 402–3.
Brent Ashabranner’s comparison of Shriver and Vaughn and his quote by Vaughn come from his book, p. 229.
Chapter 8. The Specter of Vietnam
The Peace Corps cable to Saigon can be found in Box 42 of National Security File—Agency File, LBJ Library. Ross Pritchard’s comments came in a telephone interview on May 5, 2008. Vaughn’s comments on the Vietnam trip and on President Johnson’s pressure to send the Peace Corps there came in a telephone interview on April16, 2008. Johnson’s quotes at Vaughn’s swearing-in ceremony come from “Excerpts from the President’s Remarks on Vietnam,” New York Times, March 2, 1966.
Gerald Berreman’s case against the Peace Corps is described and discussed in Ashabranner, pp. 273–74. The Marlyn Dalsimer quote comes from Schwarz, p. 127.
The Paul Theroux story was detailed in John Coyne’s essay “Living on the Edge: Paul Theroux” on www.peacecorpsworldwide.org/pc-writers and in Coyne’s analysis of the life and work of Theroux on the independent forum for returned Peace Corps Volunteers, www.peacecorpsonline.org, dated August 15, 2007. The Kirby Jones–Jack Vaughn conflict over a Vietnam protest letter was described by Jones in an October 1, 2008, interview and in Schwarz, pp. 104–5.
For the Bruce Murray case, I have depended on Schwarz, pp. 103–11; Ashabranner, pp. 276–80; John Osborn, “Dissent: Peace Corps On the Line,” The Volunteer, March–April 1970; “The Bruce Murray Case,” The Volunteer, March–April 1970; an AP article, “Peace Corps Aide Ousted Over War,” New York Times, June 30, 1967; John H. Fenton, “A Former Envoy Testifies in Peace Corps Case,” New York Times, September 17, 1969; and Fenton, “War Foe Recalls Peace Corps Move,” New York Times, September 21, 1969. Murray’s recollections are from Schwarz, p. 107. The Peace Corps spokesman quote about Vietnam being a local issue in Chile comes from “Peace Corps Aide Ousted Over War; Volunteer in Chile Wrote Letter Scoring Bombing,” New York Times, June 30, 1967.
The antiwar protest in El Salvador was described in a phone interview by Mark Schneider, December 16, 2008. The quotations from Secretary William Rogers’s cable, Director Joseph Blatchford’s letter, Richard Wilson’s column, and Congressman William Scherle’s statement come from the Osborn article in the Volunteer. The Blatchford report to Congress is cited in Ashabranner, pp. 295–98.
The seizure of a floor of the Peace Corps building is described in Peter Osnos, “Protesters Vacate Peace Corps Office,” Washington Post, May 10, 1970; Schwarz, pp. 124–37; and Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, All You Need Is Love: The Peace Corps and the Spirit of the 1960s (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998), pp. 228–29. The CRV statement excerpts
come from Schwarz, p. 124. Blatchford’s recollections come from an interview on January 26, 2009. Thomas Roeser’s recollections of the phone calls from H. R. Haldeman were reported in the John Coyne blog, April 16, 2007, at www.peacecorpsworldwide.org/babbles. Haldeman’s notes can be found in White House Special Files, Haldeman, Box 41, Nixon Library, National Archives. The Ehrlichman-Blatchford phone conversation was quoted in Hoffman, p. 229.
Michael Schmicker’s comment about the War Corps in Thailand comes from his privately published memoir, p. 32. Schmicker recounts his Air America escapade and his confrontation with Kevin Delany on pp. 177–93. James Jouppi’s description of fraternization with GIs is on p. 618 of his privately printed memoir, War of Hearts and Minds.
Schmicker describes the protest meeting with the ambassador on pp. 153–58. The confrontation between Delany and Vice President Spiro Agnew’s aide was described in a phone interview with Delany on December 31, 2008.
Chapter 9. The Wrath of Richard Nixon
Patrick J. Buchanan’s quotes about the Peace Corps come from his memo to Richard Nixon, February 20, 1970, Box 33, Ehrlichman files, White House Special Files, Nixon Library, National Archives. Clark Mollenhoff’s quotes come from his memo to Nixon, March 6, 1970, Box 33, Ehrlichman files. The Buchanan quote about changing the Peace Corps to a more altruistic outfit comes from his memo to Nixon, March 7, 1970, Box 33, Ehrlichman files.
The Wall Street Journal article that upset Nixon was David C. Anderson, “After Peace Corps, Some Turn Radical,” March 18, 1970. Nixon’s directive calling for a quiet phasing out of the Peace Corps and VISTA came in the form of a memo from John R. Brown III to Ehrlichman and Henry Kissinger, cited in From the President: Richard Nixon’s Secret Files, Bruce Oudes, ed. (New York: Harper Perennial Library, 1990), pp. 109–10. The memo from Lamar Alexander to Bryce Harlow is dated March 26, 1970, and can be found in Box 12, White House Central Files, Nixon Library, National Archives.
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