Written by Eric Z. Lucas   

“…The trumpet summons us again…to…struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself…” President John F. Kennedy, 1961

The New Vision

In his Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961, President John F. Kennedy outlined a new conception of citizenship. There he said:

"Now the trumpet summons us again--not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need--not as a call to battle, though embattled we are-- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"--a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself…"

The Old Philosophy of Citizenship

Many hold that our society is merely a rule of law system with no need to have any concern for the quality of the individual citizens who populate it. Such individuals tend to believe that our founding fathers did not have a common view of citizenship or they believe that this view is embedded in the constitution. But this is not correct. Their real view was actually embodied in their way of life. And they were conscious of this fact.

On this point President Thomas Jefferson said:

"Those who labor in the earth are the chosen of God…whose breasts He has made His particular deposit for substantial and genuine virtue. It is the focus in which he keeps alive that sacred fire, which might otherwise escape from the face of the earth. Corruption in the morals of the mass of cultivators is a phenomenon which no age nor nation has furnished an example. It [Corruption] is the mark set on those who…depend…on casualties and caprice of customers. Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition…but, generally speaking, the proportion which the aggregate of the other classes of citizens bears in any State to that of the husbandmen, is the proportion of its unsound to its healthy parts, and is a good enough barometer whereby to measure the degree of corruption…The mobs of great cities add just so much to the support of pure government, as sores do to the strength of the human body. It is the manner and spirit of a people, which preserve a republic in vigor. A degeneracy in these is a canker that soon eats to the heart of its laws and constitution."


Clearly, Jefferson thinks that farmers are morally superior to city-dwellers because of the nature of their work. He refers to farmers as “Gods chosen people.” And feels that the “dependence” of the city dweller creates corruption: it “begets subservience and venality” and, “suffocates the germ of virtue.” Strong words. But not as strong as the closing phrase that asserts: “It is the manner and spirit of a people which preserve a republic in vigor. A degeneracy in these is a canker that soon eats to the heart of its laws and constitution.” This not a statement about the infallibility of the rule of law: Far from it. It is a statement about the interdependence of law and constitution on the character of its people.

The problem with their belief (assuming it is true) is that it is limited by technology. We are no longer a nation of farmers. Jefferson’s forces no longer exist. But JFK’s call suggests there is another way to build the values necessary for good citizenship.


The Peace Corps As Prototype

In 1960 Senator John F. Kennedy campaigned for the office of President of the United States. During that campaign he promoted a new program, a new kind of public service eventually called the Peace Corps. October 14, 1960, on a campaign visit to the University of Michigan, he first suggested the idea with these words:


"How many of you who are going to be doctors, are willing to spend your days in Ghana? Technicians or engineers: How many of you are willing to work in the Foreign Service and spend your lives traveling around the world? On your willingness to do that, not merely to serve one year or two years in the service, but on your willingness to contribute part of your life to this country, I think will depend the answer whether a free society can compete. I think it can! And I think Americans are willing to contribute. But the effort must be far greater than we’ve ever made in the past…"

Here President Kennedy directly asks his audience “not merely to serve one year or two years in the service”, but be willing “to contribute part of your life to this country.” This is a concept of service that in my opinion goes far beyond any sort of elective office, volunteerism, or charity.

He gave a glimpse of the necessary set of values in his Executive Order starting the Peace Corps. On March 1, 1961 he said:

"The initial reactions to the Peace Corps proposal are convincing proof that we have, in this country, an immense reservoir of such men and women--anxious to sacrifice their energies and time and toil to the cause of world peace and human progress.

In establishing our Peace Corps we intend to make full use of the resources and talents of private institutions and groups…making it clear that the responsibility for peace is the responsibility of our entire society…sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace."

Here President Kennedy sets forth a vision of service that is the responsibility of our entire society, and that is not partisan or ideological. I first heard these words, with the limited comprehension of a child. I now believe I understand what this proposal really meant. It was his very modest suggestion, encapsulated in this new experimental program called “The Peace Corps,” that service could be a way of life for all.


The New Citizenship: Service as a Way of Life

In everyday life, every single person has the power to change the world. This fact is the very essence of The Peace Corps. The New Citizen lives by this fact.

Members of The Peace Corps were everyday people doing everyday tasks: geologists, foresters, computer scientists, agriculturalists and small business advisors. These individuals worked for all of humanity. In his article, “Has the Peace Corps Made a Difference” author David Searles says:

"Virtually all volunteers (92% in surveys) said that the Peace Corps influence on their lives has been profound. Their concept of the world and their place in it has changed permanently for the better. Whatever…provincialism they began with has been replaced by recognition that we are all in this together."



My book, "The Tao of Public Service," advances the ideal of “Public Service as a Way of life.” But, this is not the ultra-noble ideal of total sacrifice most often seen in a spiritual context. It is service based on recognition of the practical reality that in living our human lives “we are all in this together.” This understanding requires that we do our best work for each other. This is the essence of the New Citizen.

The New Citizen seeks perfection yet not the all-encompassing perfection of the omnipotent or the omniscient, but the limited perfection of the task at hand. One has to strive for the immediate and attainable ideal. It is a matter of character. One has to try and be the ideal: worker, teacher, doctor, lawyer, soldier, judge, professor, president, governor, mayor, CEO, husband, wife, son, daughter, father or mother one can become.

My fellow citizens there can be, in our day and in our time, a new birth of freedom, founded on character. However, not a character rooted in the routine of farm life and reflecting a unity of activity. But rather a character rooted in a common striving that finds its expression in “perfect service.” And in this way, we can build a better world.