Mutual Security Act

The Mutual Security Act of 1951 is a United States federal law, signed on October 10, 1951 by President Harry S. Truman, which authorized nearly $7.5 billion for foreign military, economic, and technical foreign aid to American allies; the aid was aimed primarily at shoring up Western Europe, as the Cold War developed. The Act also abolished the Economic Cooperation Administration, which had managed the Marshall Plan and transferred its functions to the newly established Mutual Security Agency (MSA). The Agency was established and continued by acts of October 10, 1951 (65 Stat. 373) and June 20, 1952 (66 Stat. 141) to provide military, economic, and technical assistance to friendly nations in the interest of international peace and security, but was abolished by Reorganization Plan No. 7 of 1953, effective August 1, 1953, and its functions were transferred to the Foreign Operations Administration. The act however, was extended by appropriators each fiscal year until the early 1960s.

As the Marshall Plan was ending, Congress was in the process of piecing together a new foreign aid proposal designed to unite military and economic programs with technical assistance. In the words of Secretary of State Dean Acheson, who testified before Congress, Western Europe needed assistance against Soviet “encroachment.” The measure was intended to signal Washington’s resolve to allies and to the Kremlin that the United States was capable of and committed to containing communism globally, even while it fought a protracted land war in Korea. The measure took about two months to work its way through the House, meeting resistance from fiscal conservatives along the way. Republicans were divided about the cost of the expenditures; nevertheless nearly half (80) joined the overwhelming majority of Democrats to pass the measure 260 to 101 on August 17. John M. Vorys of Ohio summed up GOP support for the measure, noting that military aid to “nations who will fight on our side” is “sound economy.” Representative James P. Richards of South Carolina, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, noted that the Mutual Security Act was intended “not to fight a war” but “to prevent a war.”