108. Editorial Note
In late March 1961, Charles Burton Marshall began his study of the military assistance program. Marshall had served as a staff assistant to the House Foreign Affairs Committee 1947-1950 and as a member of the Department of State’s Policy Planning Staff 1950-1953. Marshall’s appointment to write this study derived from agreement among the new leadership of the Department of Defense and Department of State that [Page 241] the complex economic and political issues might require a different approach to military aid. At an interagency meeting on February 25, Secretaries McNamara and Rusk discussed the prospect of a study of these issues; see Document 93. In a March 15 letter to McNamara, Secretary Rusk outlined the parameters for the Marshall study; see Document 96. In a March 29 letter to Secretary Rusk, Deputy Defense Secretary Gilpatric endorsed Secretary Rusk’s recommendations for this study which Marshall had already begun. (Department of State, Central Files, 700.5-MSP/3-2961) Other documentation on the preparation of this study is ibid.
Marshall completed the study on May 17. For its recommendations, see Document 109. For interagency discussion of its conclusions at a meeting on May 26, see Document 112.