Loret Miller Ruppe

Loret Miller Ruppe (January 3, 1936 – August 7, 1996) was a Director of the Peace Corps and US Ambassador to Norway.

She was the wife of U. S. Congressman Philip Ruppe of Michigan.

Loret Miller was born January 3, 1936, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Her great-grandfather, Frederick Miller, founded the Miller Brewing Company.

Her father, Frederick C. Miller, was the company chairman.

Her father was killed in a plane crash with his oldest son in 1954.

Ruppe attended Marymount College in New York state, and Marquette University in Milwaukee.

Loret Miller married Philip Ruppe and settled in Houghton, Michigan, where she began her long career as a volunteer organizer and civic leader.

Ruppe served as chairperson of the Houghton United Fund campaign, president of the St. Joseph's Hospital Guild, and as an active member of the Houghton County Republican Committee.

Ruppe also traveled extensively through Africa, spending time in Kenya, Morocco, Egypt, and the Spanish Sahara where she saw the potential for partnerships with third world countries to meet human needs.

In 1966, Loret Miller's husband was the Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 11th congressional district who defeated incumbent Democrat Raymond F. Clevenger to be elected to the 90th Congress and was subsequently re-elected to the next five Congresses, serving from January 3, 1967, to January 3, 1979.

In 1971 the Peace Corps had lost its independent status when the Nixon Administration made it part of Action, an umbrella agency that included the Foster Grandparent Program, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), and the National Center for Service Learning.

Ruppe attended the Conference on Africa in Ditchley Park, England, in 1978 which furthered her interest in solving problems in the third world.

He was not a candidate for reelection in 1978 to the 96th Congress.

After the resignation of Peace Corps Director Carolyn R. Payton in 1978, President Jimmy Carter issued an executive order restoring some of its autonomy, but supporters of the agency continued to feel that under Action the Peace Corps suffered from a lack of visibility and identity.

Loret Miller was George H. W. Bush's campaign manager in the 1980 Michigan Presidential primary and was a leader of the Reagan-Bush campaign in Michigan that fall.

On February 15, 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced the selection of Ruppe as director of the Peace Corps.

The White House press office said that Mrs. Ruppe "has spent most of her life in volunteer efforts," including International Neighbors Club IV, and "has traveled extensively and shared ideals with past Peace Corps volunteers in many countries."

Ruppe said after her nomination "I have had a great interest in the Peace Corps and I'm very thrilled and excited about the nomination."

Ruppe also stated her belief in the continuing relevance of the Peace Corps.

"At a time when we're seeking a strong peace, I think this program can be a very important part of that," Ruppe said.

Matters came to a head in March, 1981 when Reagan appointed Thomas W. Pauken to be director of Action.

Mr. Pauken served as a military intelligence officer in the Vietnam war.

The Peace Corps has a prohibition against having former intelligence agents serve in the agency.

Senator Alan Cranston of California led Democrats in drafting legislation to make the Peace Corps completely independent again, saying the Peace Corps could not operate with the necessary credibility and independence from the Government if it were organizationally under the direction of Mr. Pauken.

Ruppe publicly took the position that there was no need for the agency to be more independent than it already was under Action.

However, on March 18, 1981, Ruppe sent a letter to Senator Alan Cranston (D-CA), which challenged Pauken's nomination.

An ACTION official told The Heritage Foundation, "She fought vociferously against the Administration position that the Peace Corps should be a part of Action."

On June 20, 1981, the Peace Corps celebrated its twentieth anniversary and thousands of returned volunteers came to Howard University Washington, DC, to celebrate.

At the opening of the conference, the audience of returned volunteers applauded Ruppe when she told them that she was committed to a strict policy of keeping the Peace Corps out of United States intelligence work in foreign countries.

Ruppe added that on May 15, 1981, she and Secretary of State Alexander Haig had sent a joint communique to all United States embassies reaffirming that Peace Corps volunteers would not engage in spy or intelligence activities.

Cranston's legislation to sever ties between Action and the Peace Corps subsequently passed even though opposed by the Reagan administration claiming the duplication of administrative overhead would cost the taxpayers an additional $3 million to $7 million per year.

On November 1, 1981, the New York Times reported that Peace Corps' budget of $105 million budget would be cut to $83.6 million and that the agency had appealed to the Administration for reconsideration.

Ruppe met with Secretary of State Alexander Haig about the budgetary problem and said she had found him "very supportive."

"He said what we were doing was right in line with the Administration's foreign policy," Ruppe said.

"But we haven't heard anything yet about our appeal," Ruppe added.

Ruppe was successful in restoring the cuts.

"This agency's budget has less in purchasing power than when Sargent left it in the '60s. In 1981 it was listed in the 150 Account under 'miscellaneous.' We changed that. Its budget was less than the military marching band. We changed that. In 1983, an official State Department document listed us as the 'Peach Corps.' I said, 'I hope that doesn't mean they will cut us to the pit.'"

Ruppe was eventually able to convince Ronald Reagan, originally a skeptic of the Peace Corps, that the agency had value.

In 1996 she remembered the fight for the budget.