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The House Select Committee on Foreign Aid, or Herter Committee, was established to study the proposal that had been launched by General
George Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the US Army under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry ...
in his speech at Harvard on June 5, 1947 for a
Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...
, in part as
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
anticommunism Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...
, which led future US President
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
to focus on foreign policy throughout his public career. In 1947, it identified a "prevailing theme throughout–that democratic leadership was close to non-existent and Communist leadership at the forefront of political shaping."


Members

Committee members came not only from the House Foreign Affairs Committee but also geographically and politically diverse members: Staff members included:


History

On July 29, 1947, the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
passed House Resolution 296 that created a Select Committee on Foreign Aid, comprising 19 members. On August 28, 1947, the committee and staff sailed to Europe. The group comprised 17 representatives, ten consultants, and two secretaries. In London, they met with UK
Minister of Food The Minister of Food Control (1916–1921) and the Minister of Food (1939–1958) were British government ministerial posts separated from that of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Minister of Agriculture. In the Great War the Minist ...
John Strachey. During the voyage, they received briefings. They visited every European nation except Albania, Russia, and Yugoslavia. Additionally, non-committee members
Frances P. Bolton Frances Payne Bolton (née Bingham; March 29, 1885 – March 9, 1977) was a Republican politician from Ohio. She served in the United States House of Representatives. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Ohio. In the late 1930s Bolton ...
and Chester E. Merrow visited the Middle East (then "Near East"), while Walter H. Judd traveled to China, Japan, and Korea. In October 1947, the Herter Committee came back home "with a healthy and wholehearted respect for Europe's Reds." Representative Thomas A. Jenkins (R-OH) called activity by Communist
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
at
Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...
"terrorism." Representative James P. Richards (D-SC) said that the committee saw Communist leaders in Italy, France, and England who were "tough, hard, fanatical, well-financed and clever"; he called it a "great tragedy" that Europeans were unaware of the degree of American aid to date. European progress was moving slowly; the committee noted that Finnish farmers were feeding cattle with "a mixture of fish and wood pulp." The committee noted concern about Communist guerrillas in the
Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...
(1946-1949) and the rise of the
Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). ...
under
Palmiro Togliatti Palmiro Michele Nicola Togliatti (; 26 March 1893 – 21 August 1964) was an Italian politician and leader of the Italian Communist Party from 1927 until his death. He was nicknamed ("The Best") by his supporters. In 1930 he became a citizen of ...
. At that point, the committee planned to recommend aid but at $12 Billion (not $19 Billion) as a loan (not a gift) with an American entity to oversee not only distribution but advantages for the United States on imports like rubber, tin, and manganese. On Thursday, November 13, 1947, the Herter Committee released seven reports to Congress (published next day by newspapers). While their reports addressed more immediate aid at that moment, they indicated the direction of their stance on the Marshall Plan. (Also, President Truman was to address Congress the following Monday to urge support for the Marshall Plan.) Herter focused on the threat of "Communist-controlled labor unions." Bolton linked the growing
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
front in Europe with America's long-term security.
John Davis Lodge John Davis Lodge (October 20, 1903 – October 29, 1985) was an American film actor, lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was the 79th governor of Connecticut from 1951 to 1955, and later served as U.S. ambassador to Spain, Argentina, and Swit ...
saw the plan as a tool to support America's "democratic system and its moral and spiritual values." The seven reports covered: The reports included grave concerns about the spread of
Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
in Europe by former WWII ally the USSR, particularly Italy (as of November 1947):
The upward trend in the cost of living, wages and Government deficits continued unabated during two years of Communist participation in the Government. This was due (a) to lack of political strength and to technical incompetence of the Government, and (b) to deliberate sabotage on the part of the Communists to create chaotic conditions which they hoped would make the rise of a totalitarian regime inevitable. Since the expulsion of the Communists, the Government has adopted a strong program for the stabilization of the including improvements in the tax-collection system, control over speculation, and more effective control over Government expenditures.
Frank Lindsay, who served in the OSS (1944-1945) served as a consultant to the Herter Committee (1947-1948, after which he was stationed in Paris for the
Organization for European Economic Co-operation An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived fro ...
, and then worked for the newly formed
United States Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
or CIA (1949-1953). Later, he helped set up the European side of the
Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...
and helped fellow OSS officer
Frank Wisner Frank Gardiner Wisner (June 23, 1909 – October 29, 1965) was one of the founding officers of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and played a major role in CIA operations throughout the 1950s. Wisner began his intelligence career in the Of ...
establish the
Office of Policy Coordination The Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) was the covert operation wing of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Created as a department of the CIA in 1948, it actually operated independently until October 1950. OPC existed until 1 A ...
(OPC), a
covert operation A covert operation is a military operation intended to conceal the identity of (or allow plausible deniability by) the party that instigated the operation. Covert operations should not be confused with clandestine operations, which are performe ...
wing of the CIA.


Legacy


Marshall Plan

''See
Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...
'' On March 13, 1948, the Marshall Plan passed both the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
(71:19) and House (333:78). On April 1, 1948, the plan went to joint conference committee; on April 2, 1948, it passed both the House and Senate. On April 3, 1948, US President Harry S. Truman signed the bill into law. In 1951 the Marshall Plan was largely replaced by the
Mutual Security Act The Mutual Security Act of 1951 launched a major American foreign aid program, 1951–61, of grants to numerous countries. It largely replaced the Marshall Plan. The main goal was to help poor countries develop and to containment, contain the spre ...
. The resulting European Recovery Program (ERP) transferred more $12 billion (more than $128 billion as of 2020) to Western European economies and operated for four years. ERP goals included: rebuilding war-torn regions, removing
trade barrier Trade barriers are government-induced restrictions on international trade. According to the theory of comparative advantage, trade barriers are detrimental to the world economy and decrease overall economic efficiency. Most trade barriers work o ...
s, modernizing
industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...
, improving European prosperity, and preventing the spread of
Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
. The ERP required a reduction of interstate barriers, a dropping of many regulations; it encouraged an increase in
productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...
, as well as the adoption of modern business procedures. Economists
Bradford DeLong James Bradford "Brad" DeLong (born June 24, 1960) is an economic historian who is a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. DeLong served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury in the Clin ...
and
Barry Eichengreen Barry Julian Eichengreen (born 1952) is an American economist and economic historian who holds the title of George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, where he ha ...
deemed the Marshall Plan "History's Most Successful Structural Adjustment Program," stating:
It was not large enough to have significantly accelerated recovery by financing investment, aiding the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure, or easing commodity bottlenecks. We argue, however, that the Marshall Plan did play a major role in setting the stage for post-World War II Western Europe's rapid growth. The conditions attached to Marshall Plan aid pushed European political economy in a direction that left its post World War II "mixed economies" with more "market" and less "controls" in the mix.


Nixon

Nixon's name appears only once and only in a list of committee members. On May 15, 2008, the journalist
Daniel Schorr Daniel Louis Schorr (August 31, 1916 – July 23, 2010) was an American journalist who covered world news for more than 60 years. He was most recently a Senior News Analyst for National Public Radio (NPR). Schorr won three Emmy Awards for his te ...
recalled:
He ixonwas a member of the House led by Chris Herter. And they made a tour of Europe to see how the Marshall Plan was working. Among places they came to were Holland where I was living, and they had a press conference, and I met them, but I must admit to you, at that time I was paying attention to Herter. Nixon was not a very big name at that point.
In his 1960 memoir ''Six Crises'', Nixon does not mention what he learned from his trip to Europe with the Herter Committee, nor again does he in the 1978 ''RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon''. In his 1980 memoir ''The Real War'', Nixon recalled:
In a more fundamental sense, however, this book's origins go back more than thirty years, to my early days as a Congressman in the period immediately following World War II. It was then that I toured war-devastated Europe as a member of the Herter Committee, as we sought to chart what America's role should be in helping its recovery. From then on, foreign policy was the chief focus on my concern in public life.
In his 1982 book ''Leaders'', he mentions meeting Italian Prime Minister
Alcide de Gasperi Alcide Amedeo Francesco De Gasperi (; 3 April 1881 – 19 August 1954) was an Italian politician who founded the Christian Democracy party and served as prime minister of Italy in eight successive coalition governments from 1945 to 1953. De Gasp ...
during his Herter Committee trip. Nixon recalled:
Italy's most important elections since the ware were less than a year away. Its Communist party was the largest and most heavily financed outside the
Soviet bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
.... Italian aristocrats were making their plans to flee the country if the Communists came to power. The elections would be a crucial turning point. We knew it. De Gasperi knew it. The Soviets knew it.
On July 13, 1973, during an exit interview, Herbert G. Klein, Executive Branch Communications Director for Nixon, said:
... ixonimpressed me deeply by his ability to observe things almost as a newsman as he went through the various countries. I can recall him telling me that he made it a point of going to the minimum number of official functions and trying to spend his time out talking to the people or observing things in the countryside. One of the things I remember most was that he brought back a picture of himself from either Greece or Turkey (I believe it was Greece) standing by a stucco wall with a hammer and sickle painted on the back of it.... In 1948... in those days in California, you could run on both tickets, so that you could seek the Democratic nomination by cross-filing, as well as the Republican. He ixoncross-filed. Because of the intensity of the activity with the Marshall Plan which emerged from the Herter Committee, with what he was doing on the
House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...
and on the Labor Committee and some things he was doing for the district.... The big district issue was the Whittier Narrows dam.
In 2007, Klein recalled:
...We'd go out and have a cup of coffee, and he would talk to me first about the Hiss matter, and then he went with the Herter Committee, and he would come back and tell me about what he'd seen and what he learned there, and recalled Turkey aid when he went to Greece. I remember one of the things he was talking to me about was when we went to Greece and it was the episode with Tito on the other side, and that he decided the embassy parties were fine, but he would rather be out in the countryside. So he spent most of his time, he told me, going around talking to people in Athens and their surrounding area to learn more about the Greeks and what their stands were. And I think that the Herter Committee and the Greco-Turkey aid trip with Herter really made him into an internationalist; he became a real great expert of the century.


Works

The committee's final, 889-page report included six (6) main points:
The
Franklin Lindsay Franklin A. Lindsay (12 March 1916 – 13 October 2011) was a spy and business executive. Lindsay graduated from Stanford University in 1938 and ended up working for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. During the war he parac ...
papers at the Hoover Institution Archives include the following papers from the Herter Committee: * 1947.11.04: "Preliminary Report of the House Select Committee on Foreign Aid," resolution * 1948.02.06: "Memorandum for Congressman Herter," suggestions about labor leaders in ERP and resumes * 1948.03.04: "Country Section of Final Report," by Lindsay, Herter Committee report * 1948.04.10: "The Place of the United States in European Industrial Development," by Lindsay, memorandum for Herter Committee * Undated: "Draft of Thoughts on the Major Problems of the Marshall Proposals," memoranda for the staff of the Herter Committee * Undated: "The European Recovery Program: Dollar Needs and Dollar Resources," memorandum on Herter Committee stationary


See also

*
Christian Herter Christian Archibald Herter (March 28, 1895December 30, 1966) was an American diplomat and Republican politician who was the 59th Governor of Massachusetts from 1953 to 1957 and United States Secretary of State from 1959 to 1961. His moderate t ...
*
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
*
Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...


References

{{reflist, 2


Sources


Register of the Franklin Lindsay papers - Box 9 - House Select Committee on Foreign Aid (Herter Committee)

Nixon Library - Herter Committee Trip

USDOS SUMMARY REPORT OF ACTION TAKEN ON HERTER COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
Herter Herter is a German occupational surname for a herdsman. Notable people with the surname include: * Albert Herter (1871–1950), American painter; son of Christian, the furniture maker * Christian Herter (1895–1966), American politician; son of ...
Herter Herter is a German occupational surname for a herdsman. Notable people with the surname include: * Albert Herter (1871–1950), American painter; son of Christian, the furniture maker * Christian Herter (1895–1966), American politician; son of ...
Herter Herter is a German occupational surname for a herdsman. Notable people with the surname include: * Albert Herter (1871–1950), American painter; son of Christian, the furniture maker * Christian Herter (1895–1966), American politician; son of ...
1947 establishments in Washington, D.C. Government agencies established in 1947