Foreign Assistance Act

The election of John F. Kennedy to the office of president brought with it a reinvigoration of public spirit and new Cold War strategies. The 43-year-old New Englander approached the Cold War with a more flexible response than his predecessor President Dwight Eisenhower. While Kennedy still supported the United States’ nuclear strength and counterinsurgency measures, he also sought to expand the United States’ humanitarian efforts because he thought it was the most effective measure to promote and spread democracy, expanding on the efforts of the Truman administration. When Kennedy took office, the apparatus of dispensing aid was inefficient. Dozens of government agencies were dispensing aid to dozens more programs under the guidance of the International Cooperation Administration. Problems were evident to Kennedy as aid was disproportionately dispensed to larger, more favorable nations, the topic of aiding nations became politicized as government officials viewed foreign aid as wasteful, and aid was mismanaged as to how it was used. The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 repealed both the Mutual Security Act, which had replaced the Marshall Plan, and the International Cooperation Administration, and combined the various aid programs into a single body. The act laid out guidelines for assistance in areas like agriculture, education, and health as well as authorized aid for military assistance and security. To combat the potential for abuse of aid, the act placed limitations and conditions on aid. The act was an important step in expanding cooperation efforts between the United States and nations around the world.