Point Four Program

With White House assistants Clark Clifford and George Elsey and State Department official Ben Hardy taking the lead, the Truman administration came up with the idea for a technical assistance program as a means to win the "hearts and minds" of the developing world after countries from the Middle East, Latin America, Asia and Africa had complained about the emphasis on European aid by the U.S.[1] By sharing American know-how in various fields, especially agriculture, industry and health, officials could help "third world" nations—i.e., those not aligned with NATO nor the Soviets—on the development path, raise the standard of living, and show that democracy and capitalism could provide for the welfare of the individual.

In his inauguration speech on January 20, 1949, President Truman stated the fourth objective of his foreign policy as follows: "we must embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas.

But our imponderable resources in technical knowledge are constantly growing and are inexhaustible"[2] Truman denied that this was a colonial venture to dominate other countries.

[4] Point Four was the first global U.S. foreign aid program, yet it drew some inspiration from the nation's wartime Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (OCIAA), which extended technical assistance to Latin American countries.

After the suggestion was as good as lost in the foggy miasma of the State Department's bureaucracy, Hardy decided to bring the idea to the attention of Truman aide, George Elsey.

[7][8] In order to implement the program, on February 9, 1949, a new committee was established within the Department of State, known as the Technical Assistance Group, chaired by Samuel Hayes.

[9] Describing the new program, Truman noted that, "Communist propaganda holds that the free nations are incapable of providing a decent standard of living for the millions of people in under-developed areas of the earth.

"[10] After Congressional approval on October 27, 1950, the Technical Cooperation Administration (TCA) was established within the Department of State to run the Point Four program and the OCIAA became incorporated into the new organization.

[1] The post-war climate and rising threat of communism alongside lack of investment from both congress and American businessmen led to the faltering of the Point Four Program.