# Economic Cooperation Administration *United States economic-aid agency, superseded by the Mutual Security Agency under the Mutual Security Act of 1951; documented in this record through the official career of Harlan Cleveland.* The Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) was a United States agency that administered economic aid, including aid to China and East Asia, in the late 1940s and early 1950s.[^1] In the Mutual Security Act of 1951 (October 10, 1951; 65 Stat. 378), Congress established the [[Mutual Security Agency]], which superseded the ECA.[^2] The record does not document the ECA's creating statute, appropriations, staffing or program totals, and none is supplied here. The record documents the agency mainly through [[Harlan Cleveland]] (1918–2008). His archival finding aid lists him as director (1948–1949) and department assistant administrator (1949–1951) of the ECA's Far East Program Division.[^1] A University of Hawaiʻi biographical summary dates his entry into the agency to 1948 and names his first post as director of the China Aid Program.[^3] The agency's link to Minnesota runs through Cleveland's later career. From 1980 to 1987 he was the first dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the [[University of Minnesota]].[^1] The record does not connect the ECA itself to any Minnesota statute, appropriation, court filing or at-issue pair. ## Who - **Harlan Cleveland.** Before joining the ECA, Cleveland worked for the [[United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration]]. He was department chief of its Italian Mission from 1946 to 1947 and director of its China office from 1947 to 1948.[^1] The University of Hawaiʻi's 2008 notice gives the same sequence: relief work in Italy and China, then the ECA's China Aid Program.[^4] - **Differing descriptions of his ECA posts.** The Princeton finding aid gives his titles as director and then assistant administrator of the Far East Program Division.[^1] The Hawaiʻi summary describes him as director of the China Aid Program who "developed and managed U.S. aid to East Asia."[^3] - **Cleveland after the ECA.** From 1952 to 1953 he was assistant director for the Mutual Security Agency, in charge of the European program. In that post he supervised the fourth year of the Marshall Plan.[^1] - **Directors of the successor agency.** The State Department's Office of the Historian lists two directors of the Mutual Security Agency: William Averell Harriman (1951–1953) and Harold E. Stassen (1953).[^2] It records Stassen as a non-career appointee, with Pennsylvania as his state of residence.[^5] ## What - **Work of the ECA.** The ECA work documented in the record is economic aid: the China Aid Program, aid to East Asia, and the Far East Program Division.[^1][^3] - **Work of the successor agency.** The Mutual Security Agency replaced the ECA. It was charged with developing and administering military assistance and economic assistance programs, except those run by the Technical Cooperation Administration.[^2] ## When - **1948.** Cleveland joined the ECA.[^3] - **1948–1951.** He served in the Far East Program Division: as director in 1948–1949 and as department assistant administrator in 1949–1951.[^1] - **October 10, 1951.** The Mutual Security Act of 1951 (65 Stat. 378) established the Mutual Security Agency, which superseded the ECA.[^2] - **1952–1953.** Cleveland was assistant director for the Mutual Security Agency.[^1] - **January 27, 1953.** Stassen was appointed Director of the Mutual Security Agency. He entered on duty the next day.[^5] - **August 1, 1953.** Reorganization Plan No. 7 of 1953 (67 Stat. 641) took effect. It abolished the Mutual Security Agency and moved its functions to the [[Foreign Operations Administration]].[^2] - **August 1, 1953, to March 19, 1955.** On August 1 the President authorized Stassen to occupy the new post of Director of the Foreign Operations Administration, pending Senate confirmation. He was appointed on August 3, 1953, and his appointment ended on March 19, 1955.[^5] ## Where - **Places of ECA work.** Cleveland's ECA posts covered China and East Asia.[^3] His 1952 supervision of the Marshall Plan, then under the successor agency, was based in Washington.[^3][^4] ## How - **Appointment of the director.** The President appointed the Director of the Mutual Security Agency with the advice and consent of the Senate.[^2] - **Transfer to the new agency.** When the Foreign Operations Administration replaced the Mutual Security Agency, the sitting director moved to the new post by presidential authorization while his Senate confirmation was pending.[^5] ## How many - **Directors of the successor agency.** The Office of the Historian lists two directors of the Mutual Security Agency for its 1951–1953 existence.[^2] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - **Cleveland at the University of Minnesota.** Cleveland was the first dean of the University of Minnesota's Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.[^1] The Hawaiʻi biographical summary calls him the institute's founding dean during the 1980s. It records that he retired from the University of Minnesota in 1988 as professor emeritus.[^3] - **University records.** According to his finding aid, the University of Minnesota holds records related to Cleveland's tenure there.[^1] ### When - **Dates.** He served as dean from 1980 to 1987, according to the Princeton finding aid.[^1] He retired in 1988, according to the Hawaiʻi summary.[^3] ## Notes [^1]: Princeton University Library, Public Policy Papers (via Philadelphia Area Archives), *Harlan Cleveland Papers* (MC234), finding aid (May 2009) — establishes his UNRRA posts in 1946–1948 and his ECA Far East Program Division posts (director 1948–1949; department assistant administrator 1949–1951). It also covers his Mutual Security Agency post in 1952–1953, his deanship of the Humphrey Institute in 1980–1987, and University of Minnesota records of his tenure. https://findingaids.library.upenn.edu/records/PRIN_MUDD_MC234 [^2]: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, *Directors of the Mutual Security Agency* (last updated March 14, 2024) — establishes that the Mutual Security Act of 1951 (Oct 10, 1951; 65 Stat. 378) created the Mutual Security Agency, which superseded the ECA. It also gives the agency's remit, Senate advice and consent for its director, its abolition by Reorganization Plan No. 7 of 1953 (67 Stat. 641) effective Aug 1, 1953, and its two directors. https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/principalofficers/director-mutual-security-agency [^3]: University of Hawaiʻi Center for Oral History, *Oral History Interview with Harlan Cleveland* (January 18, 1996), *Biographical Summary* — establishes that he joined the ECA in 1948 as director of the China Aid Program and developed and managed U.S. aid to East Asia. It also records his 1952 Washington-based Marshall Plan supervision, his founding deanship at the Humphrey Institute, and his 1988 retirement. https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/06664c59-9afe-47e1-a739-155aafc827a2/content [^4]: University of Hawaiʻi, *University of Hawaii remembers former president Harlan Cleveland* (June 5, 2008) — establishes his UNRRA work in Italy and China, followed by the ECA China Aid Program and East Asia aid. It also records his role as Washington-based supervisor of the Marshall Plan and his later Humphrey Institute role. https://www.hawaii.edu/news/article.php?aId=2348 [^5]: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, *Harold E. Stassen* (last updated March 14, 2024) — establishes Stassen's Mutual Security Agency appointment (January 27, 1953; entry on duty January 28, 1953; terminated August 1, 1953). It also covers the presidential authorization of August 1, 1953, his Foreign Operations Administration appointment (August 3, 1953, to March 19, 1955), his non-career status and his state of residence. https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/stassen-harold-e