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who created the marshall plan

The Marshall Plan was created and proposed by U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall in 1947, then enacted under President Harry S. Truman in 1948 as the European Recovery Program.

Quick Scoop

  • The name comes from George C. Marshall, who outlined the idea in a famous speech at Harvard University on June 5, 1947.
  • Although Marshall was the key public architect, policy experts like George F. Kennan and William Clayton heavily shaped the details behind the scenes.
  • President Harry Truman and the U.S. Congress then turned Marshall’s proposal into law in April 1948 as a massive aid program to rebuild war‑torn Europe.

In short: George C. Marshall is credited with creating the Marshall Plan, supported by a wider U.S. policy team and approved by Truman’s administration.