Column: Peace Corps, now under threat, showed America’s benevolence

Column: Peace Corps, now under threat, showed America’s benevolence

On a cold October night in 1960, 10,000 University of Michigan students awaited presidential candidate John Kennedy. He arrived at 2 a.m. In an impromptu speech, he asked for volunteers to work in developing countries. He had in mind the Cold War rivalry with communism in newly independent countries emerging from colonialism. More than 1,000 students volunteered. Stirred by this enthusiastic reaction, two weeks later Kennedy proposed a “Peace Co…