On this date in 1947 U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall gave a speech  at Harvard University outlining the plan to rebuild Europe in the aftermath of World War II.

It should have been called the Truman Plan-but President Truman thought it would have a better chance of passing in Congress if it was named after Marshall.

Eventually 13 billion dollars in economic and technical assistance was given to help the European countries that had joined. The best 13 billion dollars the United States ever spent on foreign aid.

George Marshall by the way I think is the most underrated great american of the 20th century.