868.00/3–747
The Acting Secretary of State to President Truman 1
Subject: Program for aid to Greece and Turkey.
In accordance with the conversation Secretary Marshall and I had with you on February 26, 1947, and our subsequent talk with Congressional leaders, I submit herewith a calculation of the costs involved in an extensive program of aid to Greece and Turkey; draft legislation [Page 99] to provide authority for such a program; and a draft message from you to the Congress explaining this problem.2
The figures on the cost of the program (Tab A) show a total of $400,000,000 for Greece and Turkey for the balance of the period ending June 30, 1948. This covers the cost of military equipment and maintenance, essential economic development and supervisory administration of these expenditures.
The draft legislation (Tab B) is in the form of a single bill with language broad enough to cover the extension of financial aid, military equipment and other supplies and the detail of technical and professional personnel. The legislation is so drawn as to cover other countries should analogous situations develop requiring similar aid from this Government.
The draft message (Tab C) from you to the Congress describes the circumstances which have produced the current critical situation in Greece, with a reference to Turkey’s somewhat different status and needs, and the consequences which may flow from a failure on our part to assist Greece at this time. The message presents also the figures on costs, referred to above, and an outline of the legislation to be submitted to Congress.
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Copy sent on March 7 to Col. Joseph E. Bastion, Jr., by Carlisle H. Humelsine, Director of the Executive Secretariat, with information that Mr. Acheson had discussed it with President Truman “this morning”. Colonel Bastion was the War Department’s Liaison Officer with the Department of State on the Greek-Turkish aid program.
Mr. Humelsine’s transmitting memorandum to Colonel Bastion stated that Mr. Acheson had requested that the memorandum on Greece and its three attachments be sent to Secretary Patterson and that the general problem would be discussed the following day at 11 a.m. with the Secretaries of War, Navy, Commerce, and Treasury in the office of Secretary of the Treasury, John W. Snyder.
The Cabinet Committee on Foreign Aid Programs, with Secretary Snyder presiding and with the Secretaries of Agriculture and Labor also present, met on March 8. The minutes disclose that “the meeting was to consider the most appropriate method for discussing the proposed program of aid to Greece and Turkey with influential business leaders for the purpose of making clear what the objectives of the Administration are and to enlist” their support. Mr. Acheson also discussed various administrative problems of the program. (868.00/3–847)
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