http://michiganradio.org en http://michiganradio.org/post/kennedy-and-peace-corps-idealism-ground <p>Its critics called it &quot;naive idealism.&quot;</p><p>In the 1950s, the United States&#39; answer to the global spread of Communism had been military strength and monetary aid to prop up nations friendly to the U.S., including dictators and other authoritarian governments.</p><p>That changed late one chilly night on the campus of the University of Michigan when Democratic candidate for president, John F. Kennedy, challenged students to help the world.</p><p>They took it seriously. They organized. They made a proposal, and Kennedy embraced it.</p><p>He called it the Peace Corps.</p><p>In &quot;Kennedy and the Peace Corps: Idealism on the Ground&quot; you&#39;ll hear from some of the students who took on Kennedy&#39;s challenge and the White House staff who helped make it reality.</p><p><strong><em>Listen to the documentary here:</em></strong></p><p>http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/michigan/local-michigan-929049.mp3 Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:20:24 +0000 Lester Graham 2567 at http://michiganradio.org Kennedy and the Peace Corps: Idealism on the Ground