# Foreign Operations Administration *A 1953–1955 United States federal agency for foreign aid and mutual security, directed by former Minnesota governor Harold Stassen.* The Foreign Operations Administration (FOA) was a United States federal agency of the Eisenhower administration. The State Department's Office of the Historian records that on August 1, 1953, the President authorized [[Harold Stassen]], then Director of the Mutual Security Agency, to occupy "the new position of Director of the Foreign Operations Administration" pending Senate confirmation.[^1] He was appointed to that post on August 3, 1953, and the Historian's entry gives March 19, 1955, as the date his appointment terminated.[^1] By early 1955 the agency's functions "were soon to be transferred to the Departments of State and Defense," according to the editorial note in *Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957*, Volume XX.[^2] On March 19, 1955, Eisenhower announced Stassen's appointment, at Cabinet rank, as Special Assistant to the President on disarmament. The same announcement said Stassen would remain FOA director for the time being.[^2] Stassen had served as [[Governor of Minnesota]]. He was elected in 1938 and re-elected in 1940 and 1942.[^3] He resigned in April 1943 to enlist in the Navy.[^4] The [[Minnesota Historical Society]] holds his papers, which include a series on the FOA dated 1953–1957.[^4] The record assembled here documents the agency through its director's appointments, correspondence and papers. It does not establish any FOA appropriation, headcount, program count or Minnesota-specific instrument.[^1][^4] ## Who The Office of the Historian lists Stassen as a non-career appointee to the directorships of both the Mutual Security Agency and the FOA.[^1] He came to federal service from the presidency of the University of Pennsylvania, which he held from 1948 to 1953.[^4] The university's archives record that he accepted when newly elected President Eisenhower offered him a position in his foreign aid administration.[^5] The Minnesota Historical Society's finding aid states that Eisenhower chose Stassen in 1953 as a member of his Cabinet and the National Security Council. It records that he "served as director of the Mutual Security Agency and the Foreign Operations Administration."[^4] Eisenhower, like Stassen, sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1952, and Eisenhower was selected.[^3] Stassen's international service predated the agency. On February 13, 1945, the White House announced that the President would invite "Commander Harold Stassen" to be a member of the United States Delegation to the United Nations Conference, which opened at San Francisco on April 25, 1945.[^6] The finding aid describes his Eisenhower-era papers as dealing "almost exclusively with international issues, particularly domestic security concerns raised during the Cold War, foreign aid, and nuclear disarmament."[^4] ## What The Historian's appointment entry shows the sequence of offices. Stassen's Mutual Security Agency appointment terminated on August 1, 1953, the same day he was authorized to take the new FOA directorship.[^1] The Minnesota Historical Society files his records from both bodies under one series, *Mutual Security Agency/Foreign Operations Administration, 1952–1957*. That series has sub-series for the Mutual Security Agency (1952–1954) and the Foreign Operations Administration (1953–1957).[^4] In a March 3, 1955 telegram from Karachi, Stassen told Eisenhower he assumed he would have time to finish two tasks before taking up disarmament. The first was guiding the substance of the President's mutual security program for fiscal year 1956 through Congress. The second was easing the FOA's transition to the form of organization already determined.[^2] ## When - January 27, 1953: Stassen appointed Director of the Mutual Security Agency; entry on duty January 28, 1953.[^1] - August 1, 1953: Mutual Security Agency appointment terminated; President authorized Stassen to occupy the new position of FOA director, pending Senate confirmation.[^1] - August 3, 1953: Stassen appointed Director of the Foreign Operations Administration.[^1] - February 10, 1955: NSC Action No. 1328-b recommended that the President select a Special Representative to review U.S. policy on control of armaments full time.[^2] - March 1, 1955: Eisenhower's telegram offering Stassen the disarmament post was sent to Karachi, after Secretary of State John Foster Dulles had revised it; Stassen replied on March 3.[^2] - March 14, 1955: Eisenhower and Stassen met at the White House and agreed on the appointment and on general guidelines for reorganizing the FOA.[^2] - March 19, 1955: Eisenhower announced Stassen's appointment as Special Assistant to the President on disarmament.[^2] The Historian's personnel entry lists the same date as the termination of his FOA appointment.[^1] - February 18, 1958: Stassen resigned his cabinet position after the London arms control negotiations ended in stalemate.[^4] The sources differ on when Stassen's FOA service ended. The *Foreign Relations* editorial note records that the March 19 announcement said he would continue as FOA director "for the time being."[^2] The Historian's personnel entry gives March 19, 1955, as his termination date.[^1] The finding aid dates the FOA series of his papers to 1957.[^4] ## Where The Office of the Historian records Stassen's state of residence at appointment as Pennsylvania.[^1] He received the disarmament offer while visiting Karachi, Pakistan. Dulles reviewed the draft offer from Saigon. Stassen asked that any announcement wait until his return to Washington on March 13, 1955.[^2] ## Why The documents here do not state why the FOA was created in 1953. They also do not say why its functions were to be moved to the Departments of State and Defense.[^1][^2] For the disarmament post that followed, the editorial note says Stassen's appointment "resulted from the inability of the various agencies of the government" to agree on new proposals and strategies. It names State, Defense and the AEC in particular.[^2] Robert Bowie had urged on January 4 and February 9, 1955, that a qualified person of national prestige be appointed. None of the names that State, Defense and the Atomic Energy Commission put forward included Stassen.[^2] ## How The FOA directorship was filled by presidential authorization pending Senate confirmation.[^1] To carry out the 1955 reorganization, the President assigned Joseph Dodge to work with Stassen on the pending transfer of FOA functions. Memoranda of Eisenhower's telephone calls to Dulles, Dodge and Stassen on March 15, 1955 record the assignment.[^2] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who Stassen (April 13, 1907 – March 4, 2001) was Minnesota's 25th governor, a member of the [[Republican Party (United States)]], with his residence in South St. Paul.[^3] He earned bachelor's and law degrees at the [[University of Minnesota]].[^3] The Legislative Reference Library dates his election as [[Dakota County Attorney]] to 1929 and says he served two terms.[^3] The Minnesota Historical Society instead places that election a year after he opened his South St. Paul law office in November 1929.[^4] ### When Stassen took office as governor on January 2, 1939, having been elected at age thirty-one.[^3] The Legislative Reference Library identifies the Minnesota Labor Relations Act (1939), which set up mediation between unions and employers, as the principal enactment of his governorship.[^3] He resigned four months into his third term and enlisted in the Navy on April 27, 1943.[^4] After returning to Minnesota in 1978, he ran for the [[United States Senate]]. He later ran for governor in 1982 and for the fourth district congressional seat in 1986. In 1994, at age 87, he sought the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.[^3] ### Where The Legislative Reference Library and the Minnesota Historical Society both record that Stassen was born on a farm in [[Dakota County, Minnesota]].[^3][^4] The University of Pennsylvania archives give his birthplace as West St. Paul.[^5] He died in Bloomington, Minnesota, in 2001.[^3] ## Notes [^1]: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, *Harold E. Stassen – People – Department History* (last updated March 14, 2024) — non-career appointee; residence Pennsylvania; Mutual Security Agency director January 27, 1953 – August 1, 1953; authorized August 1, 1953 to occupy the new FOA directorship pending Senate confirmation; FOA appointment August 3, 1953, terminated March 19, 1955. https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/stassen-harold-e [^2]: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, *Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Regulation of Armaments; Atomic Energy, Volume XX*, Document 16 (Editorial Note) — NSC Action No. 1328-b; Eisenhower–Stassen telegrams of March 1 and 3, 1955; March 14 meeting; Dodge assigned to the FOA transfer; March 19, 1955 announcement; FOA functions to be transferred to State and Defense. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1955-57v20/d16 [^3]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Governor Bio: Governor Harold Stassen* (n.d.) — 25th governor, Republican, residence South St. Paul, assumed office January 2, 1939; Dakota County birth; election as county attorney in 1929; re-elections in 1940 and 1942; Minnesota Labor Relations Act (1939); later campaigns; death in Bloomington in 2001. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/mngov/govbio?govid=14 [^4]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Harold E. Stassen: An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society* (finding aid 00202) — Cabinet and NSC membership in 1953; directorships of the Mutual Security Agency and FOA; series *Mutual Security Agency/Foreign Operations Administration, 1952–1957*; Navy enlistment April 27, 1943; cabinet resignation February 18, 1958; Penn presidency 1948–1953. http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00202.html [^5]: University of Pennsylvania University Archives, *Harold Edward Stassen* (Penn People) (n.d.) — born April 13, 1907, in West St. Paul, Minnesota; accepted Eisenhower's offer of a position in his foreign aid administration. https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/harold-edward-stassen/ [^6]: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, *Foreign Relations of the United States, Diplomatic Papers, 1945, General: The United Nations, Volume I*, Document 17 (February 13, 1945) — White House announcement naming Commander Harold Stassen to the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Conference at San Francisco. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945v01/d17