A Historical Rundown

• 1792 Benjamin Banneker, noted African American scientist, surveyor, and editor and Benjamin RUSH, doctor, educator and signer of the Declaration of Independence suggested the blue print for an Office of Peace.

• 1935, 1937, and 1939, Senator Matthew Neely of West Virginia introduced bills calling for a Department of Peace.

• 1943 Senator Alexander Wiley of Wisconsin spoke on the Senate floor calling for the United  
States of America to be the first government on the world to have a Secretary of Peace.  

• 1945 Representative Louis Ludlow of Indiana introduced a bill that would establish a Department of Peace.

• 1947 Representative Everett Dirksen of Illinois introduced a bill for “A Peace Division in the State Department”.

• 1955-1968 Eighty-five bills calling for a Department of Peace were introduced in the House or the Senate.

• 1969 Senator Vance Hartke of Indiana and Representative Seymour Halpern of New York introduced legislation in the House of Representatives and the Senate to create a Department of Peace.

• 2001 and 2003 Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio introduced legislation in the House of Representatives to create a Department of Peace.

• September 2005 Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Senator Mark Dayton of Minnesota introduced legislation in the House of Representatives and the Senate to create a Department of Peace and Nonviolence.

• February 2005 Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio introduced legislation in the House of Representatives to create a Department of Peace and Nonviolence.