# Mutual Security Agency *United States agency (1951–1953) for military and economic assistance to allied countries* The **Mutual Security Agency** (MSA) was a United States federal agency created by the Mutual Security Act of 1951 (Oct. 10, 1951; 65 Stat. 378). It developed and administered military assistance and the economic assistance programs that the Technical Cooperation Administration did not run.[^1] It replaced the [[Economic Cooperation Administration]]. Reorganization Plan No. 7 of 1953 (67 Stat. 641) abolished it, effective August 1, 1953, and moved its functions to the [[Foreign Operations Administration]].[^1] The agency enters the Minnesota record through [[Harlan Cleveland]]. From 1952 to 1953 he was the MSA's assistant director in charge of the European program, the post in which he supervised the fourth year of the Marshall Plan.[^2] From 1980 to 1987 he was the first dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the [[University of Minnesota]].[^2] ## Who The President appointed the Director, with the advice and consent of the [[United States Senate]].[^1] The State Department's Office of the Historian lists two Directors: William Averell Harriman (1951–1953) and Harold E. Stassen (1953).[^1] The Historian's record lists Stassen as a non-career appointee whose state of residence was Pennsylvania. He was appointed Director on January 27, 1953, entered on duty the next day, and his appointment ended on August 1, 1953.[^3] ## What The 1951 Act brought two things under one agency: military aid, and the economic aid programs outside the Technical Cooperation Administration's portfolio.[^1] The agency it replaced, the Economic Cooperation Administration, had been responsible only for oversight of economic aid.[^4] ## When Congress established the agency through the Mutual Security Act on October 10, 1951.[^1][^4] The agency lasted less than two years. Under Reorganization Plan No. 7 of 1953, it ceased to exist on August 1, 1953.[^1] ## Why In the words of the Act as quoted in the Wikipedia entry, the agency's stated purpose was to organize "military, economic, and technical assistance to friendly countries to strengthen the mutual security and individual and collective defenses of the free world." The Act also aimed to help those countries develop their resources "in the interest of their security and independence and the national interest of the United States."[^4] The Office of the Historian describes the agency's work more narrowly. It records the development and administration of military assistance, and of economic assistance programs other than the Technical Cooperation Administration's, until the 1953 transfer.[^1] ## How The agency was ended by a reorganization plan, not by repealing the Act, and its functions passed intact to a successor body.[^1] The same official carried the office across the transfer. On August 1, 1953, the President authorized Stassen to take the new position of Director of the Foreign Operations Administration, pending Senate confirmation. Stassen was appointed to that post on August 3, 1953, and served until March 19, 1955.[^3] ## How many The Office of the Historian records two Directors over the agency's existence.[^1] Its European program, under Cleveland's supervision, covered the fourth year of the Marshall Plan.[^2] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who Cleveland came to the MSA after earlier work in foreign economic aid:[^2] - At the [[United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration]], he was department chief of the Italian Mission (1946–1947) and director of the China office (1947–1948). - At the Economic Cooperation Administration's Far East Program Division, he was director (1948–1949) and then assistant administrator (1949–1951). The University of Hawaiʻi's oral-history summary records that in 1952 he became "the Washington-based supervisor of the Marshall Plan for European recovery." It also records that in early 1953 he left Washington to become executive editor of *The Reporter*.[^5][^6] He later led the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute as its first dean (1980–1987).[^2] He retired in 1988 as professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota.[^5] ### When Cleveland's MSA service ran from 1952 to 1953, ending in the year the agency was abolished. His Minnesota deanship began twenty-seven years later, in 1980.[^2][^1] ### Where The oral-history summary and the University of Hawaiʻi's 2008 notice both describe Cleveland's Marshall Plan supervision as Washington-based.[^5][^6] ## See also - [[Economic Cooperation Administration]] - [[Foreign Operations Administration]] - [[United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration]] - [[Harlan Cleveland]] - [[Hubert Humphrey]] - [[University of Minnesota]] ## Notes [^1]: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, *Directors of the Mutual Security Agency* (last updated Mar. 14, 2024) — Mutual Security Act of 1951 (Oct. 10, 1951; 65 Stat. 378) established the MSA, superseding the Economic Cooperation Administration; responsibility for military and non-TCA economic assistance; Director appointed by the President with Senate advice and consent; Reorganization Plan No. 7 of 1953 (67 Stat. 641) abolished the MSA effective Aug. 1, 1953, transferring functions to the Foreign Operations Administration; Directors Harriman (1951–1953) and Stassen (1953). https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/principalofficers/director-mutual-security-agency [^2]: Princeton University Library, Public Policy Papers, *Harlan Cleveland Papers* (MC234), finding aid by Adriane Hanson (2009) — Cleveland's UNRRA and ECA posts; MSA assistant director, European program, 1952–1953, supervising the fourth year of the Marshall Plan; first dean of the Humphrey Institute, 1980–1987. https://findingaids.library.upenn.edu/records/PRIN_MUDD_MC234 [^3]: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, *Harold E. Stassen* (last updated Mar. 14, 2024) — non-career appointee, residence Pennsylvania; MSA Director appointed Jan. 27, 1953, entry on duty Jan. 28, 1953, terminated Aug. 1, 1953; authorized Aug. 1, 1953 to act as FOA Director; appointed Aug. 3, 1953, terminated Mar. 19, 1955. https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/stassen-harold-e [^4]: Wikipedia, *Mutual Security Agency* (rev. 1381314035, retrieved Oct. 28, 2026) — Act passed Oct. 10, 1951; the Act's stated purpose as quoted; ECA had oversight only of economic aid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_Security_Agency [^5]: University of Hawaiʻi Center for Oral History, *Biographical Summary* and oral history interview with Harlan Cleveland (Jan. 18, 1996) — Washington-based Marshall Plan supervisor from 1952; left Washington early 1953 for *The Reporter*; retired 1988 as professor emeritus, University of Minnesota. https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/06664c59-9afe-47e1-a739-155aafc827a2/content [^6]: University of Hawaiʻi, *University of Hawaii remembers former president Harlan Cleveland* (June 5, 2008) — Cleveland as Washington-based supervisor of the Marshall Plan; left Washington in 1953; later helped develop and lead the Humphrey Institute. https://www.hawaii.edu/news/article.php?aId=2348