George C. Marshall

In June 1947, George Marshall, chief of staff of the U.S. Army during World War II and then the civilian secretary of state, signalled America's willingness to help Europe rebuild itself. His 1947 Harvard commencement appearance had been arranged at the last moment; the language of his brief address was tentative and deceptively simple. Those who heard him that day can be excused for failing to recognize his speech as a defining moment at the dawn of the Cold War.