By George C. Marshall, Secretary of State (1947)

Reviewed by Michael Hornblow, Associate Editor

Text and audio: www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/georgecmarshall.html

In April 1947, while visiting Moscow, Secretary of State George Marshall received a memo from Undersecretary

On his return to Washington, D.C. on April 28, Marshall instructed George Kennan to produce a proposal for European assistance and reconstruction within two weeks. The deadline was missed but Marshall had the proposal in hand by May 23rd, Clayton, not Kennan, being its principal architect, according to Dean Acheson in his memoir Present at the Creation. Marshall then asked his Special Assistant, Charles (Chip) Bohlen, to write a speech for him.

-The speech was originally scheduled for delivery at the University of Wisconsin on May 28, but was not ready in time. It was then scheduled for delivery at Amherst College for June 16, but the economic situation in Europe was deteriorating so quickly that Marshall asked Harvard to revive a formal invitation to receive an honorary degree.

Thus it was on June 5, a beautiful late spring day in Harvard Yard, that Marshall delivered a speech lasting less than 15 minutes in a solemn, straight-forward manner completely appropriate for the moment and the messenger. The speech had no rhetorical flourishes or exhortations. It was interrupted by applause three times, all toward the end of the address. Those in attendance probably had no idea they were witnessing an historic turning point. The recovery program, Marshall said, "is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist."

The European Economic Recovery Plan, thanks in large part to the efforts of Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg (R) of Michigan, was approved by Congress and adequately funded. Assistance began in 1948, lasted until 1951, and totaled $13.3 billion divided among 16 European countries, none going to Eastern Europe. The effort was regarded as a great success, and for years there have been calls for new "Marshall Plans" for the Middle East, or South America, or New York City after 9/11.

On June 16, 1955, a tribute to General Marshall and the Marshall Plan was held in the U.S. Capitol. Marshall, in his remarks, gave highest credit to Senator Vandenberg, explaining, "But for that man the passage of the plan would have been extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible." He also gave prescient advice on how to win consent in Congress for ambitious programs: Get the women of America behind them. "Men," said the general, "always agree with you on these things and then go back to their business, but the women, once aroused really go to work and put things over."