History

The Institute's origins date to the earliest days of the Republic. The idea for the establishment of an official U.S. government institution dedicated to the cause of international peace can be traced back to debates by the framers of the U.S. Constitution. The first formal proposal for the establishment of an official U.S. government peace institution dates to 1792. The product of efforts by architect and publisher Benjamin Banneker and physician and educator Dr. Benjamin Rush, the proposal called for establishing a "Peace Office" on equal footing with the War Department—noting the importance to the welfare of the United States of "an office for promoting and preserving perpetual peace in our country."

Over the years, the idea of an official U.S. peace office or agency continued to be advocated by a wide array of prominent Americans, including Woodrow Wilson, Jennings Randolph, and Everett Dirksen. In fact, from 1935 to 1976 over 140 bills were introduced in Congress to establish various peace-related departments, agencies, bureaus, and committees of Congress.

In 1976, the first cornerstone for the campaign that led to creation of the U.S. Institute of Peace was laid when Senator Vance Hartke of Indiana and Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon introduced a bill to create the George Washington Peace Academy. After hearings in the Senate on the Hartke-Hatfield bill, it was decided that further study was needed. In 1979, after several unsuccessful attempts, a provision was successfully added to the Elementary and Secondary Education Appropriation Bill for the establishment of the Commission on Proposals for the National Academy of Peace and Conflict Resolution.

A nonpartisan commission consisting of appointees named by President Jimmy Carter and the leadership of the House and Senate, the committee worked for over a year and half. Chaired by Senator Spark Matsunaga of Hawaii, the Matsunaga Commission, as it came to be known, conducted a wide survey and study of the theories, techniques, and institutions involved in the resolution of international conflicts. The commission met with military and government officials, leading educators, conflict resolution professionals, and representatives from various religious, ethnic, and scientific communities. In addition to these sessions, the commission heard from thousands of interested citizens through a series of public meetings held across the nation that resulted in over 6,000 pages of transcripts.

In 1981, after the completion of its deliberations, the Matsunaga Commission issued a final report recommending the creation of a national peace academy. Based upon the recommendations included in the report, bills were subsequently introduced in both houses of Congress under the bipartisan sponsorship of Senators Mark Hatfield, Spark Matsunaga, and Jennings Randolph and Congressman Dan Glickman. A vigorous public campaign led by Milton C. Mapes of the National Peace Academy Campaign supported these efforts. After considerable debate about the appropriate form of the new institution, the United States Institute of Peace Act was finally passed and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. The Institute's Board of Directors was installed in February 1986 and held its first meeting then, and the initial staff of three people opened the Institute's first office at 730 Jackson Place NW, Washington, D.C., in April of that year.