Surrounded by members of Congress and his cabinet, on April 3, 1948, President Harry S Truman (1884-1972) signed the Foreign Assistance Act, the legislation establishing the Marshall Plan. His official statement said, "Few presidents have had the opportunity to sign legislation of such importance. . . . This measure is America's answer to the
challenge facing the free world today."
Copyprint from The Marshall Plan at the Mid-Mark. Averell Harriman Papers,
Manuscript Division