15 - Revive

Summary

Two main factors allowed the much wiser Marshall Plan to supplant the vindictive Morgenthau Plan. The first stemmed from an enlightened self-interest. Occupation was proving exceedingly expensive. The costs would be lessened if the German economy were revived. But the second factor stemmed from empathy. The scale of child deaths from malnutrition was growing increasingly difficult for American observers to stomach. Elderly Germans as well could scarcely withstand the freezing winters without heat or fuel, nor the near starvation rations that Hoover and his team were struggling to raise. This chapter follows Will Clayton, the unsung hero and arguably the true father of the Marshall Plan, as he experienced a change of heart. Initially supporting aspects of the harsh Morgenthau Plan, he now reversed course and persuaded his country to do the same.