Jack H. Vaughn
Jack Hood Vaughn was 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 Vaughn. Vaughn grew up in Montana where his father managed a retail store and eventually owned the Vaughn and Ragsdale stores. Vaughn moved with his family to Albion, Michigan, in 1931 where his father managed a chain of clothing stores in Michigan and Montana. Vaughn attended Albion Public Schools and graduated from Albion High School in 1939. Vaughn earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan in 1943.Boxing career
Vaughn became interested in boxing as a youth and would spar with local boxers on the third floor of his father's building in Albion, Michigan where a makeshift gymnasium was located. By age 14 Vaughn was boxing publicly in "smokers." "Everyone was smoking Roi-Tan cigars," says Vaughn. "We were fighting in a purple haze. It was $5 if you won, $3 if you didn't. The events featured three or four semi-pro boxing matches and one fairly professional striptease. If there was no striptease, they brought in the wrestlers." Vaughn was a Golden Gloves boxer and won three Golden Gloves championships. Vaughn would sometimes box in Detroit where he worked occasionally as a sparring partner for notable prizefighters, including Sugar Ray Robinson, Jake LaMotta, Willie Pep and Sandy Saddler.Vaughn began fighting professionally in 1942 under the name of "Johnny Hood." "I was bumming around Mexico one summer when I ran out of money," Vaughn said. "I decided I would take my boxing and turn pro, but I didn't know enough Spanish at the time to tell whether the agent said I would get 60 pesos for four rounds or four pesos for 60 rounds. You can guess which figure was correct." Vaughn fought 26 featherweight bouts as a professional. Vaughn tells the story that the first time he fought professionally in Mexico, the fans cheered enthusiastically but he couldn't make out what they were saying and he thought they were cheering him on. It was only later that he learned that what the fans were shouting was "Kill the Gringo!" "My first fight was down in Juarez," said Vaughn. "I was in the first of a four-round preliminary match. My second was a high school kid from El Paso. The crowd began to shout, 'Mata al Gringo!' I asked my second what they were saying. He said, 'I think they're saying, 'Welcome to Juarez.' A week later I found out what that meant." Mata al Gringo! later became the title for Vaughn's Memoir. Vaughn was the head boxing coach at University of Michigan from 1942 to 1943 and also taught Spanish, French and Latin American affairs while he was at the University of Michigan.
Marine officer in World War II
During World War II, Vaughn served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps as a rifle company commander and a combat intelligence officer from 1942 to 1946. Vaughn saw combat in Eniwetok, Guam, and Okinawa. Vaughn left the Marines with the rank of captain. Vaughn earned the Purple Heart during his service. "I was wounded three times, all in the rear end," says Vaughn.After returning from World War II, Vaughn earned a Master of Arts in 1947 in Romance Languages from the University of Michigan and a master's in economics.
Vaughn taught Spanish, French and Latin American affairs while he was at the University of Michigan and was also the head boxing coach. "I wanted to be a professor of French literature," says Vaughn. Vaughn continued fighting to earn extra money while he worked at the University of Michigan. "I ended up losing the sight in my right eye in 1948," says Vaughn. "So in 1949, I went to the State Department."
State Department career
USIA and USAID
Vaughn joined the US Information Agency in 1949 as director of the bi-national center in La Paz, Bolivia and later moved to Costa Rica with the USIA. Vaughn joined the State Department in 1951 and spent 1951 to 1956 in Panama with the State Department. While working for the State Department in the 1950s Vaughn met several times with Che Guevara. "I met him seven or eight times. Each time I liked him less," says Vaughn. "My final meeting, I gave him a University of Michigan T-shirt. He wore it backwards." 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.Peace Corps staff
Vaughn's connection with the Peace Corps began in 1961 when Peace Corps founding director Sargent Shriver came to Senegal where Vaughn was serving with USAID. "There were 4,000 volunteers signing up a day for the Peace Corps, and countries weren't asking for them. So Shriver came over to meet the Senegalese," says Vaughn. "I was the only one who spoke French.I went up to meet Shriver and his lawyer in their hotel room. They did not have on a stitch of clothing. We all sat down and had a conversation. They said they had never seen heat like that. It was 120 degrees and no air conditioning." Vaughn's boxing prowess and prior experience as a prize fighter paid off when Sargent Shriver decided to recruit Vaughn. "I was recruited by Sargent Shriver because I had been in the ring with Sugar Ray Robinson," Vaughn said. "He loves jocks." Coates Redmond described Vaughn as "barely medium height, slight of build, with ginger-colored hair and a 1940s moustache to match, quietly spoken and careful of gesture" in her history of the early years of the Peace Corps, Come As You Are. 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. Vaughn refused to shave the mustache but got the appointment anyway.
Vaughn joined the Peace Corps staff because "the Peace Corps idea had a great appeal to me. And the people I knew who were putting this idea into effect appealed to me even more." Shriver admired Vaughn's courage and felt anyone who would brave the ring with Sugar Ray Robinson would have the grit to fight for the Peace Corps in Latin America so when the Peace Corps decided to send volunteers to teach in Venezuela in 1963 despite the presence of Castro communists, Shriver made Vaughn his point man. "Shriver said, 'Show them your teeth, not your tail,'" Vaughn said. "Those teachers did great there. I'm sure it was his finest moment in the Peace Corps."
Vaughn served as the Latin-American director of the Peace Corps from October, 1961 to April, 1964. When Vaughn came to the Peace Corps there were only 78 volunteers serving in Latin America. By the time he left after two-and-a half years in the position, there were 2,500 volunteers working in rural and urban development in Latin America. Vaughn left the Peace Corps in 1964 to return to the State Department.
Ambassador to Panama
US Ambassador to Panama Joseph S. Farland resigned in August, 1963 leaving the United States without an ambassador for several months. The New York Times printed a story on January 10, 1964, criticizing the administration for leaving the post vacant and saying the vacancy had contributed to anti-American riots in Panama. "The absence of an American Ambassador was an invitation to the Communists to raise the devil," said Senator George D. Aiken, Republican of Vermont. "They have been waiting for this chance."President Johnson named Vaughn US Ambassador to Panama in 1964 after the two nations broke off diplomatic relations because of nationalistic rioting in Panama. The Senate approved Vaughn's appointment on April 7, 1964. Vaughn arrived in Panama on April 17, 1964, to take up the post of Ambassador, now vacant for six months. His arrival was welcomed by Panamanians who knew and liked Vaughn from his previous work in Panama with the US AID mission. Vaughn had previously arranged for about 1,000 young Panamanians to go to the United States for post-graduate study. In the airport lounge, ten young Panamanians unfurled a long sign greeting Vaughn. "Jack, the scholarship holders remember your work and greet you," the sign read.
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. After Vaughn became ambassador to Panama, it was difficult for Vaughn to convince the US government to offer concessions because the Vietnam War was going on at the time. "It was a time of total war when the Pentagon was thinking of nothing else, like revising agreements or other annoyances like these, because they needed the military bases for training the troops," Vaughn said.
Vaughn's efforts were fruitful. On December 19, 1964, President Johnson made an address to the Panamanian people proposing the negotiation of an entirely new treaty on the Panama Canal. "In these new proposals we will take every possible step to deal fairly and to deal helpfully with the citizens of both Panama and of the United States who have served so faithfully through the years in operating and maintaining the Panama Canal," said Johnson. 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.