Jack Vaughn

Jack Hood Vaughn (August 18, 1920 – October 29, 2012) is an American who served as the second director of the United States Peace Corps, succeeding Sargent Shriver. Vaughn was appointed Peace Corps director in 1966 by President Lyndon Johnson and was the first Republican to head the agency.

Early life and education Vaughn was born in Columbus, Montana, in 1920, the son of Elijah H. Vaughn and Blair (Cox) Vaughn. Vaughn grew up in Montana where his father managed a retail store and eventually owned the Vaughn and Ragsdale stores. "I was bumming around Mexico one summer when I ran out of money," Vaughn said. Vaughn earned the Purple Heart during his service. and a master's in economics. From 1959 to 1961 Vaughn was the USAID Mission director for Senegal, Mali, and Mauritania. Vaughn's background growing up on a ranch in Montana helped him in his work with USAID where he worked in "mainly agricultural reform. I had a lot of training," says Vaughn. Before his appointment to the Peace Corps, Vaughn met with President Kennedy who didn't like Vaughn's mustache and told him he would have to shave it off if he wanted to work in the Peace Corps.

President Johnson named Vaughn US Ambassador to Panama in 1964 after the two nations broke off diplomatic relations Vaughn arrived in Panama on April 17, 1964, to take up the post of Ambassador, now vacant for six months.

In the book The Negotiations Regarding the Panama Canal by Omar Jaen Suarez, Vaughn is given great credit for defusing the tensions between the two countries and starting the United States and Panama on the road to successfully negotiating the Panama Canal Treaty. "I lived here in a successful and comfortable way, dedicated to agricultural activities and as I was not a member of the U.S. military, I understood that now was the moment to change the relation, the cut of the pie, that Panama was receiving for the Canal" Vaughn said speaking of his time in Panama in the early 1950s. Although Vaughn takes no credit for President Carter's efforts beginning in 1977 to complete negotiations for a new Panama Canal treaty, Vaughn's early initiatives to reach an understanding with Panama paved the way for Carter's negotiations later. Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs and the United States coordinator of the Alliance for Progress.

Vaughn promoted a Peace Corps-style approach to diplomacy.

Peace Corps director Peace Corps director Jack Vaughn meets with reporters and answers questions in fluent Spanish in Honduras in February 1969. From the Peace Corps Volunteer magazine May, 1969. When Johnson picked Sargent Shriver to head up his "War on Poverty" in 1966, Vaughn was named Peace Corps director. During the hearings Senator Laushe of Ohio asked Vaughn about reports that some Peace Corps volunteers did not dress properly.

Vaughn said that his first task as Director would be to visit Peace Corps programs around the world, meet staff members and volunteers and explain his plans. Vaughn meant that literally and started at the top of the 12-story Peace Corps Headquarters building to personally meet and shake hands with every employee. "I want to help build on this image and bask in your collected glory," said Vaughn.

Environmental focus One of Vaughn's most lasting contributions to the Peace Corps was to redirect the Peace Corps' focus to environmental issues.

Problems in Nigeria The New York Times reported on October 6, 1966, that Vaughn had left for Africa to investigate an unusually large number of complaints by Peace Corps Volunteers regarding their living allowances and working conditions in Nigeria. Vaughn traveled to Nigeria and spent three weeks traveling the country to meet in small groups with about 600 of the 699 volunteers in country to re-establish "a missing dialogue" between Volunteers and Washington Staff. Vaughn traveled with two reporters from the "Peace Corps Volunteer" magazine, a monthly magazine that went out to Peace Corps Volunteers worldwide.

Program improvements The weaknesses in the Nigeria program confirmed Vaughn's worst suspicions about the need to improve the quality of Peace Corps programs. Many volunteers also disagreed with United States policy during the Vietnam war, and some members of Congress thought that volunteers should be required to support United States policy while they were serving overseas.

However, dissent had its limits for Peace Corps volunteers. On July 19, 1967, Vaughn clarified Peace Corps policy on writing letters to newspapers on political issues and said that volunteers could now identify themselves as Peace Corps volunteers in letters to newspapers.

One of the fallouts of the anti-government stance of many young people was a decline in applications to join the Peace Corps. "An increasing number of people are saying, 'since we do not or have not been able to solve our own problems, perhaps we had better focus more attention and resources on our own problems at home before we continue our effort to save the world,'" said Vaughn.

Nonpartisan support for the Peace Corps As a lifelong Republican appointed to head the Peace Corps by a Democratic president, Vaughn exemplified the non-partisan basis of the Peace Corps and the support the agency had from both political parties. Instead, Vaughn was informed in March, 1969, that he would be replaced after all "I was the first bureaucrat Nixon fired when he took office," Vaughn said. No major diplomatic initiatives took place with Colombia during Vaughn's ambassadorship there. Vaughn saw his role more as a "good will ambassador" and made many efforts to help the United States be seen in a positive light. For example, while Ambassador to Colombia, Vaughn, a former boxer, refereed boxing matches for the flyweight, lightweight, and middleweight finals in the Colombian National amateur championships held in Cartagena.

Vaughn announced his resignation as Ambassador to Colombia on June 11, 1970, to return to private life.

Post-government activities

Head of National Urban Coalition, Planned Parenthood On October 8, 1970, Vaughn was named President of the National Urban Coalition replacing John W. Gardner, former Secretary of Health Education and Welfare. From 1972 to 1975 Vaughn was Dean of International Studies at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. Vaughn was President of Planned Parenthood From 1977 to 1979 Vaughn was Vice-President of Development and Resource Corporation for Iran.

Confirmation hearings for Gaddi Vasquez Vaughn opposed the George W. Bush's nomination of Gaddi Vasquez to become Peace Corps director in 2001. and was accepted in the full Senate on a voice vote.

Continued Support for the Peace Corps On February 28, 2008, Vaughn published an op-ed in the Tucson Citizen supporting expansion of the Peace Corps and defending the relevance of the Peace Corps in today's world.

Personal life Vaughn's first marriage to the former Joanne Cordes Smith ended in divorce. He is the father of Kathryn Vaughn Tolstoy and Carol Blair Vaughn by his first wife and Jack Hood Vaughn Jr. and Jane Vaughn Constantineau with his second wife.

In 1988 Vaughn made headlines while visiting New York City when Vaughn, then 67, defended himself during an attempted mugging

Vaughn's son, also named Jack Vaughn, is a record producer who has run his own label, Slimstyle Records, and now heads Comedy Central's record label. The younger Vaughn went to high school in Guatemala while his father was a diplomat working there.

Jack Vaughn died at his home in Tucson on October 29, 2012, following a bout of cancer. He was 92.

Kill The Gringo Kill the Gringo, is a memoir written by Jack Hood Vaughn and his daughter Jane Weld Constantineau. Vaughn began writing Kill the Gringo in 1992, but due to his death on October 29, 2012, it was finished by Jane. This memoir goes through the things Vaughn did in his life, including boxing, military, politics, and personal life.