Tuesday, April 03, 2007

TDIH

April 3, 1948:

President Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan, allocating more than $5 billion in aid for 16 European countries recovering from World War II.

4 comments:

Si's blog said...

One of my favorite Presidents and turning points in history. See my latest entry.

Cameron said...

The Marshall Plan was a great plan and obviously wildly successful. I've done a little bit of reading on Mr. Truman and I find him and his political career fascinating. He certainly seems to be a bit underrated, though history is proving kind to him.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, please keep coming. I'll certainly keep checking your site for updates.

Geoffrey Kruse-Safford said...

The Marshall Plan had to be sold as a humanitarian effort by George Marshall, even though it was actually a military plan drawn up by Dean Acheson to fight communism in western Europe (France and Italy were both teetering on the brink). In Acheson's memoirs, he notes that he authored the plan, but insisted Marshall, who was seen to be above partisan politics, sell it, so Republicans, who were wary of such a huge outlay, would vote for it.

Cameron said...

Thanks Geoffrey, Si's blog post says somewhat the same thing concerning the fight against communism. A good lesson, I think.