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The Mutual Defense Assistance Program*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

Robert H. Connery and
Paul T. David
Robert H. Connery
Affiliation:
Duke University
Paul T. David
Affiliation:
Brookings Institution
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Extract

The Mutual Defense Assistance Program represents the military portion of an important foreign policy of the United States, that of aid to free nations. While assisting allies by grants of money and supplies is by no means a new undertaking, even for the United States, the scope of this program, under which expenditures may soon exceed $7 billion annually, makes it a good laboratory specimen to illustrate the impact of a positive foreign policy on the structure of the national government. Furthermore, analysis of the program clearly shows the tremendous changes that have taken place in the methods of formulating and administering American foreign policy since the end of World War II.

For more than a generation prior to 1916, the Secretaries of State, War, and Navy occupied the same building at the seat of government.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 45 , Issue 2 , June 1951, pp. 321 - 347
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1951

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References

1 Albion, Robert G., “State, War and Navy—Under One Roof, 1882,” United States Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 75, pp. 793–796 (July, 1949)Google Scholar.

2 The North Atlantic Pact, Department of State Pub. 3462, General Foreign Policy Series 7, p. 14 (Washington, March, 1949)Google Scholar.

3 See Collective Defence Under the Brussels and North Atlantic Treaties, Minister of Defence, Cmd. 7883, pp. 13–16 (London, Feb., 1950)Google Scholar.

4 Address of the President of the United States, Congressional Record, 80th Cong., 2nd sess., Vol. 94, pt. 3, pp. 2996 ff. (March 17, 1948)Google Scholar.

5 S. Res. 239, commonly referred to as the “Vandenberg Resolution,” Congressional Record, 80th Cong., 2nd sess., Vol. 94, pt. 6, pp. 7791 ff. (June 11, 1948)Google Scholar.

6 North Atlantic Treaty between United States and Other Governments, Department of State Pub. 3635 (Washington, Aug. 1949)Google Scholar. See also North Atlantic Treaty, Hearings, U. S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 81st Cong., 1st sess. (Washington, 1949)Google Scholar.

7 Public Law 329, 81st Cong., 1st sess.

8 Public Law 430, 81st Cong., 1st sess. (Oct. 28, 1949).

9 H. Doc. 613, 81at Cong., 2nd sess.

10 Congressional Record, 81st Cong., 2nd sess., Vol. 96, pt. 6, pp. 7896–7897Google Scholar.

11 An Act to Amend the Mutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949, Public Law 621, 81st Cong., 2nd sess.

12 Public Law 759, 81st Cong., 2nd sess.

13 H. Doc. 670, 81st Cong., 2nd sess. (Aug. 1, 1950).

14 Public Law 843, 81st Cong., 2nd sess. (Sept. 27, 1950).

15 First Semiannual Report, p. 41.

16 Executive Order No. 10099, dated January 27, 1950.

17 General Handy wore at least five different “hats” in four different chains of command. He was military Commander in Chief in Europe (CINCEUR). He was also Army Commander in Europe; Army member of JCS representatives in Europe, Military Representative of the Secretary of Defense in Europe, and United States Representative on the Western European Planning Group.

18 Department of State Bulletin, Vol. 24, no. 603, pp. 155–156 (Jan. 22, 1951)Google Scholar.

19 Current Developments in United States Foreign Policy, Vol. 3, pp. 18–19 (The Brookings Institution; Dec., 1950)Google Scholar.

20 Ibid., Vol. 4, p. 20 (Jan., 1951).

21 “West Pact Sets Up a Supreme Council,” New York Times, May 4, 1951Google Scholar.

22 The manuscript of the present article was completed in late April, 1951. In clearing galley proofs in mid-May, the information on NATO reorganization referred to by footnote 21 was added; more complete details have now become available in Department of State Bulletin, Vol. 24, no. 620, pp. 810–12 (May 21, 1951)Google Scholar.

On May 24, 1951, President Truman sent to Congress his long-awaited message on military and economic aid for the fiscal year 1952. As anticipated, the proposal is for a consolidation of the Mutual Defense Assistance Program, the European Recovery Program, the Technical Cooperation Program (Point IV), and other economic aid, together with a considerable shifting of emphasis. The new program is called the Mutual Security Program, and this usage has been inserted in the present text in connection with the chart at page 340, although further redrafting was not possible in page proofs corrected for the printer on June 6, 1951.

The President's message is extremely brief in dealing with administrative plans. In some quarters it has been interpreted as a retreat from the intention to assign major coordinative responsibilities for the program as a whole to the Department of State. The extent to which this may prove to be the case is not yet clear, but existing arrangements are presented by the message in a way which tends to minimize the role of the Department of State.

These administrative questions are dealt with extensively in a Brookings Institution report, “The Administration of Foreign Affairs and Overseas Operations,” completed for the Bureau of the Budget under the date of June 1, 1951. Although it appears probable that this report will be published by the Bureau, a decision has not been made by June 6.

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