John F. Kennedy photo

Message to the Guests at a Dinner Marking the 15th Anniversary of the Marshall Plan.

April 06, 1963

PLEASE convey my personal greetings to all those attending tonight's commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the Marshall plan.

The Marshall plan succeeded because it was conceived and operated on a scale commensurate with the task. It was an extraordinary reply to an extraordinary challenge. All those who translated this imaginative concept into concrete results can look with satisfaction tonight on the feats they achieved and the honor which they have earned.

Now we face another extraordinary challenge-the task of helping the awakening nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America catch up with the 20th century. Here, once again, a half-hearted response will not do-and I take heart in the knowledge that many of those who helped to win the great victory over "hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos" in Western Europe are still fighting a good fight for freedom.

My very best wishes to all of you on this memorable evening.

Note: The dinner, held at the Statler Hilton Hotel in Washington, was sponsored by a committee composed of Paul G. Hoffman, first Administrator of the Economic Cooperation Administration; William C. Foster, Director, U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, who served as Deputy Administrator and later as Administrator of ECA; and W. Averell Harriman, who was the U.S. Special Representative in Europe under the Marshall plan.

The President's message was read by Mr. Hoffman to the more than 500 guests, all former employees of ECA.

The Economic Cooperation Administration was established by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1948 as the U.S. agency to administer the European recovery program first outlined by the former Secretary of State George C. Marshall.

John F. Kennedy, Message to the Guests at a Dinner Marking the 15th Anniversary of the Marshall Plan. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/237137

Filed Under

Categories

Simple Search of Our Archives