Our Heritage 

“I have long believed, as have many before me, that peaceful relations between nations require mutual respect between individuals,” said President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He put the ideal behind these words into practice when he founded People to People in 1956. Since that time, People to People has benefited from an extraordinary legacy of White House support. Eight U.S. Presidents have served as the honorary chairman of People to People International.

As President John F. Kennedy so eloquently said, “The nature of People to People activities is as varied as the individuals involved. The housewife whose recipe contains the yeast of kindness, the soldier whose arms embrace homeless waifs, the doctor who heals with humility, all assert a single theme—the power of people, acting as individuals, to respond imaginatively to the world’s need for peace.”

People to People continues its mission to provide imaginative responses to the world’s need for peace. And it continues to enjoy presidential support as it does so.