Interviews with Professionals
Mr. Eric McGuire is a world history teacher at Southridge High School.
"We're still talking about the Marshall Plan today... It has a great legacy. It did help do what it was supposed to do. It did help recover Europe. It wasn't about giving people money to help support themselves...It was much more about the big pieces of the economy, the corporations and the government... creating systems that were going to be sustainable."
"We're still talking about the Marshall Plan today... It has a great legacy. It did help do what it was supposed to do. It did help recover Europe. It wasn't about giving people money to help support themselves...It was much more about the big pieces of the economy, the corporations and the government... creating systems that were going to be sustainable."
Professor Michael J. Hogan is a distinguished professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Dr. Hogan is the author of the book entitled The Marshall Plan: America, Britain and the Reconstruction of Europe, 1947-1952 , published in 1989 through Cambridge University Press.
"The most important legacy is the European Union, the Eurozone, of today. The Marshall Planners had as their ultimate goal the formation of a United States of Europe, which would embed a revitalized Germany. They saw this as the best way to contain Germany in the future, to prevent its rearmament and new German aggression... And of course they saw it as the best way to contain the Soviet Union and defeat Communism. Europe is not yet a full economic and political union today, but it has moved a long way towards that goal, and all other goals of the plan have been achieved. A really remarkable success..."
"The most important legacy is the European Union, the Eurozone, of today. The Marshall Planners had as their ultimate goal the formation of a United States of Europe, which would embed a revitalized Germany. They saw this as the best way to contain Germany in the future, to prevent its rearmament and new German aggression... And of course they saw it as the best way to contain the Soviet Union and defeat Communism. Europe is not yet a full economic and political union today, but it has moved a long way towards that goal, and all other goals of the plan have been achieved. A really remarkable success..."
Professor Jane Hunter has been a professor of history at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon since 1990. Dr. Hunter has served as chair of the History department for seven years.
"I believe that the Marshall Plan did contribute to the rebuilding of the European economy and the integration of Europe with the United States in an economic and political system of relative prosperity--the creation of what we know of as "the West"... The United States' investment in Europe through the Marshall Plan was a useful application of the abundant resources of the United States that ultimately repaid us many times over in supplying markets for American goods and political allies for American projects."
"I believe that the Marshall Plan did contribute to the rebuilding of the European economy and the integration of Europe with the United States in an economic and political system of relative prosperity--the creation of what we know of as "the West"... The United States' investment in Europe through the Marshall Plan was a useful application of the abundant resources of the United States that ultimately repaid us many times over in supplying markets for American goods and political allies for American projects."
Professor Steven Jones is the History Department Chair of Southwestern Adventist University in Keene, Texas. He is the author of The Right Hand of Command: Use and Disuse of Military Staffs in the Civil War.
" Seventy years of stability in Western Europe (which is unprecedented); the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union -- Ronald Reagan didn't "win" the Cold War, he merely continued the steady push-back of Communism that began in the Marshall Plan era; and the dominance of the US as the leader of the free world. It really showed the United States stepping forward into the leadership position it had shunned after WWI."
" Seventy years of stability in Western Europe (which is unprecedented); the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union -- Ronald Reagan didn't "win" the Cold War, he merely continued the steady push-back of Communism that began in the Marshall Plan era; and the dominance of the US as the leader of the free world. It really showed the United States stepping forward into the leadership position it had shunned after WWI."
Professor Fr. Art Wheeler has worked at the University of Portland since 1987. He is currently the assistant to the provost and director of Studies Abroad program.
"After the First World War, the United States did not take responsibility for rebuilding order in the world, although the United States was the most economically powerful country in the world. After World War II, the American commitment to the rebuilding of ravaged areas sent a very powerful message of hope to people who were in despair. The psychological impact is perhaps the greatest legacy of the Marshall Plan..."
"After the First World War, the United States did not take responsibility for rebuilding order in the world, although the United States was the most economically powerful country in the world. After World War II, the American commitment to the rebuilding of ravaged areas sent a very powerful message of hope to people who were in despair. The psychological impact is perhaps the greatest legacy of the Marshall Plan..."
Mr. Jeffrey S. Kozak is the Archivist and Assistant Librarian at the George C. Marshall foundation. He curated the Marshall Plan Speech, the Foundation's first Google Cultural Institute exhibit.
"When you look at Marshall's career as a whole, considering he was in the army for a majority of his life, people tend to gravitate towards the fact that he was Chief of Staff of the Army during World War II. What he saw in the wars, in World War I and World War II made him such an advocate for peace, and that's what led to the Marshall Plan...He had to deal with sending young Americans to war...He tried to do everything he could do to prevent future wars from occurring, so that families did not have to send their young people off to war. He encouraged both Europe and America to follow in that path of trying to remain peaceful."
"When you look at Marshall's career as a whole, considering he was in the army for a majority of his life, people tend to gravitate towards the fact that he was Chief of Staff of the Army during World War II. What he saw in the wars, in World War I and World War II made him such an advocate for peace, and that's what led to the Marshall Plan...He had to deal with sending young Americans to war...He tried to do everything he could do to prevent future wars from occurring, so that families did not have to send their young people off to war. He encouraged both Europe and America to follow in that path of trying to remain peaceful."
Mr. Paul Barron is the Director of Library and Archives at the George C. Marshall foundation. He curated the Foundation's third Google Cultural Institute exhibit.
"He was recognized as the greatest American of the 20th century...There was only one other American who could be compared to George C. Marshall, and that was George Washington."
"He was recognized as the greatest American of the 20th century...There was only one other American who could be compared to George C. Marshall, and that was George Washington."
Ms. Cara Sonnier is the Digital Communications Librarian at the George C. Marshall Foundation. She curated the Foundation's Google Cultural Institute exhibit D-Day and has also digitized comic books in which George C. Marshall appears.
"For Europe, Marshall's greatest legacy was the Marshall Plan. We've had visitors come to the museum [George C. Marshall Museum in Lexington, VA] from Europe and say "I'm here as a result of the Marshall Plan! It fed me when I was a kid and that's why I'm still alive." ... It still touches people's lives. They were able to grow up as children. They were able to have homes and food and be able to go to school. They had some sorts of normalcy because of the aid that was given."
"For Europe, Marshall's greatest legacy was the Marshall Plan. We've had visitors come to the museum [George C. Marshall Museum in Lexington, VA] from Europe and say "I'm here as a result of the Marshall Plan! It fed me when I was a kid and that's why I'm still alive." ... It still touches people's lives. They were able to grow up as children. They were able to have homes and food and be able to go to school. They had some sorts of normalcy because of the aid that was given."