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It was formed as an alternative to the [[peace]]time two year compulsory [[military]] service for [[conscientious objector]]s.<ref>[[Richard Nixon]], a [[Naval Intelligence]] veteran, referred to Peace Corps volunteers as "cookie pushers" and the [[State Department]] Foreign Service as "[[homosexual|faggots ]] in stripped pants".</ref>
Kennedy launched the Peace Corps by executive order in 1961, putting his brother-in-law [[Sargent Shriver]] (b. 1915) in charge. It was not designed as a liberal antipoverty program; rather it was designed to be a powerful new weapon in the Cold War arsenal, one that could reach the people directly at the grass roots not merely their national leaders. Kennedy in the 1960 campaign promised to form the agency, saying: