ABSTRACT
President John F. Kennedy, at the beginning of his administration, initiated a series of steps to intensify US global involvement and put increased emphasis on the Third World. With both private and governmental foreign assistance since World War II there has been a growing shift from programs of relief to long-term programs of development; government funds have become available for development projects. The wartime alliance of Western Europe and America with the Soviet Union was beset by deep suspicion and tensions even before the military victory was won. Military assistance came to overshadow economic assistance, even in some developing countries with no immediately discernible military needs. The Truman administration's position on foreign assistance had been primarily one of benevolent protection: low level assistance with the assurance of defense against communist takeover. The Agency for International Development was created to administer enlarged and new foreign aid programs.
