President Truman outlined a situation was more difficult than the “man on the street” understood and the years following hostilities end, recovery had been slower than expected. Spending money to treat surface problems would prolong the reconstruction of Europe and was bigger than the U. S. economy could handle, primarily due to the German war effort that had assimilated or destroyed the economic and industrial infrastructure of the nations they conquered. The plan addressed the breakdown in Europe’s modern division of labor and what needed was needed to repair it. The message sent to Russia and her satellites was interesting if they did nothing they would be left alone, but if they attempted to slow recovery, they would be opposed. Many