Joseph Blatchford (June 7, 1934 - October 7, 2020) was the third Director of the United States Peace Corps succeeding Jack Vaughn. Blatchford was appointed Peace Corps Director in 1969 by President Richard Nixon.
Early life and education
Blatchford was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 7, 1934. His family moved to California when Blatchford was ten years old and Blatchford grew up in Beverly Hills, California where his father dealt with motion picture finances. Blatchford attended Christian Science Sunday School growing up; however, in a profile published in the New York Times in 1970 he said that he is no longer a practicing Christian Scientist. Blatchford attended the University of California at Los Angeles where in 1956 during his senior year he was captain of the University of California's tennis team. Blatchford went on tennis tours of Europe and competed in the British tennis championships at Wimbledon in 1956. Blatchford was defeated by Neale Fraser of Australia in the second round 6–1, 6–1, 6–4. Blatchford then attended Berkeley Law and completed his JD.
Founding of Accion
Good Will Tour
In 1958, vice-president Richard Nixon was charged by a mob in Venezuela. This started Blatchford, then a student at University of California, thinking about what could be done to restore the traditional friendship in the hemisphere. Blatchford's first venture in South America would be a good-will tour of the continent with four of his friends who were jazz musicians using tennis exhibitions and jam sessions as an entree into student communities. Blatchford organized the tour with Ronald K. Dunton, a trombone player, who had organized jazz groups that toured Europe and Mexico while an undergraduate at Dartmouth. Blatchford and Dunton decided to take a year off from school to organize the Latin American tour. The plan was to give afternoon tennis exhibitions and jazz concerts in the evening without admission charges that would be followed by discussions with young people. Blatchford and Dunton did not want any assistance from the government so they canvassed private companies, foundations, and individuals to raise $13,000 of the $15,000 they need for the tour.
On March 19, 1959, Blatchford left on a 120-day goodwill tour covering thirteen countries with their first stop in the Dominican Republic. The other members of their tour were Michael Payson, Toshio Nagatani, Donn Dhickering, Robert Shechteman, and Juan Elac. "Playing tennis exhibitions, trying to use sports and music as a door opener, handles as they say, to get to know students, politicians, labor leaders. We came back rather critical of American foreign policy and American ways of doing things in these countries," said Blatchford. "I saw the conditions and I saw the feeling of frustration that young people in Latin America had about not being able to forge their own futures."
Returning from the goodwill tour, Blatchford made the acquaintance of Eugene Burdick, author of the best seller The Ugly American (1958) that stressed the need for "personal" aid overseas. Burdick became an advisor to Accion. Burdick suggested that Blatchford obtain financial assistance from private enterprise to make a survey of the needs of various countries in Latin America. Arthur K. Watson, president of IBM, financed another trip to South American where Blatchford talked to politicians, labor leaders, and students. The US State Department arranged appointments with officials and the Institute of International Education, a private agency that administers government student exchange programs also provided assistance to Blatchford.