When the World Calls

October 1, 2010

A former Peace Corps insider chronicles the history of the agency.

Meisler (Kofi Annan: A Man of Peace in a World of War, 2006, etc.) left journalism to serve as a Peace Corps administrator during its formative years in the 1960s. He then returned to journalism overseas, but kept track of Corps politics and culture. Created during the presidency of John F. Kennedy and directed at first by Kennedy's brother-in-law Sargent Shriver, the Corps sent hurriedly trained American volunteers to nations across the globe, starting with Ghana and Tanzania. Meisler wisely alternates the focus among the political appointees running the Washington, D.C., headquarters, the country directors trying to fit in with embassy diplomats and the volunteers themselves, by now numbering more than 200,000. Although clearly fond of the organization's mission, the author takes the story beyond valentine mode to discuss manipulation of the volunteers for U.S. foreign-policy purposes, crimes committed against and by the volunteers, White House occupants tone deaf to the Corps culture and unwise budget slashers within Congress. The narrative is filled with surprises, such as Meisler's positive chapter about the directorship of Loret Miller Ruppe, appointed by President Reagan, who appeared to lack even the slightest qualification for the position, given her status as a brewery heiress and the wife of a Republican congressman. However, she became a savvy, non-ideological and even beloved director. In the final chapter, the author discusses the Corps' status during the Obama administration; Meisler approves Obama's choice as director of Aaron Williams, a former Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. In an afterword, the author grapples with the complex question, "Does the Peace Corps Do Any Good?" He answers in the affirmative, with relatively minor caveats.

A rare example of a gripping institutional history.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

December 1, 2010

Meisler (former deputy director, Office of Evaluation & Research, Peace Corps) has produced a linear history of the Peace Corps from its first stirrings in a short impromptu speech given by John F. Kennedy before the 1960 presidential election to the Corps' status in America and the world today. Meisler not only addresses the good the Corps does, but chronicles the ups and downs and challenges that the agency has faced since its inception. It becomes clear that the Corps was not always good at avoiding politicking and bureaucracy--some Presidents sought to abolish it or use it for their own global initiatives--but its people have kept its ideals alive and worked to do good around the world. Meisler sums it up best: "I do not want to suggest that all Peace Corps Volunteers are successful agents of change....[T]he Peace Corps has its share of failure. But, the best Volunteers do accomplish a kind of magic that is not caught by the statistics of an annual report." VERDICT A straightforward and informative account, not biased or politicized, about the birth and development of this agency, which is considered one of JFK's greatest legacies.--Jenny Contakos, Wolford Coll. Lib., Naples, FL

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2010
Few government programs enjoy the reputation of the Peace Corps, a political afterthought by President Kennedy that became one of the more enduring legacies of his administration. Succeeding administrations have had testy relations with the Peace Corps. Johnson railed against volunteers opposition to his invasion of the Dominican Republic, and Reagan tried to use the program to advance his agenda in Central America. Since its 1961 inception, the Peace Corps has had to manage its mission to advance peace and provide development assistance, from teaching to building wells, against political onslaughts within the U.S. and host nations even as it managed its image as symbol of American idealism rather than tool of the CIA. Meisler, a deputy director during its early years, offers informed perspective from the turbulent years of the Vietnam War, when many volunteers were conflicted about their government, to the future direction of the Peace Corps. Drawing on his experience and interviews with former volunteers, he presents the fascinating characters, locales, and political background noise from a near-universally admired programs 50-year history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)