Saving Stories: First director of Peace Corps reflects on legacy, impact of international effort

March 2026 marks the 65th anniversary of the start of the Peace Corps and in this latest edition of WUKY's Saving Stories, Doug Boyd with the Nunn Center for Oral History in the UK Libraries shares audio from an interview with Sargent Shriver, the diplomat tabbed by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to lead the independent government agency that sends American volunteers to partner countries for two-year terms to work on grassroots projects in education, health, agriculture, and other sectors. Shriver told the interviewer why he thought they only had one chance to make it work.