by Benn Steil
Clinton, Hillary (1947– ). American politician and diplomat. First lady, 1993–2001; senator (D-NY), 2001–2009; secretary of state, 2009–2013.
Cohen, Benjamin (1894–1983). American official. State Department counselor, 1945–1947.
Connally, Tom (1877–1963). American politician. Senator (D-TX), 1929–1953; chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 1941–1947, 1949–1953.
Cortesi, Arnaldo (1897–1966). American New York Times reporter stationed in Rome. Won a Pulitzer Prize in 1946.
Cox, Edward Eugene (1880–1952). American politician. Congressman (D-GA), 1925–1952. Argued that Marshall aid without military support would be ineffective.
Cripps, Sir Richard Stafford (1889–1952). British Labour politician. Chancellor of the exchequer, 1947–1950.
Dalton, Lord Edward Hugh (1887–1962). British Labour politician. Chancellor of the exchequer, 1945–1947.
Davies, Joseph (1876–1958). American lawyer and diplomat. Ambassador to the Soviet Union, 1936–1938; special adviser with rank of ambassador, Potsdam Conference, 1945.
Deaton, Sir Angus (1945– ). British economist. Won Nobel Prize for Economics in 2015.
De Gasperi, Alcide (1881–1954). Italian statesman. Prime minister, 1945–1953. Pro-American Christian Democrat who oversaw the creation of a new Italian constitution.
de Gaulle, Charles (1890–1970). French military leader and statesman. President, 1958–1969. Led provisional governments during and immediately after World War II before fronting the Rally of the French People (RPF) popular movement in the late 1940s.
Depreux, Édouard (1898–1981). French Socialist politician. Minister of the interior, 1947–1948; education minister, 1948.
Dewey, Thomas (1902–1971). American lawyer and politician. Governor (R-NY), 1943–1955; Republican presidential candidate. Defeated by Truman in the famously close election of 1948.
Djilas, Milovan (1911–1995). Yugoslav politician and writer. Secretary of Yugoslav Communist Party Executive Bureau, 1948–1953.
Dodd, Norris (1879–1968). American official. Under secretary of agriculture, 1946–1948; director-general, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1948–1954.
Douglas, Lewis (1894–1974). American diplomat. Financial adviser to General Clay, 1945; ambassador to the United Kingdom, 1947–1949. A skilled negotiator and polished diplomat, he was one of the Marshall Plan’s most important envoys in Europe.
Draper, William Jr. (1894–1974). American military leader and diplomat. Chief, Economics Division, Control Council for Germany, 1945–1946; under secretary of war, 1947; under secretary of the Army, 1947–1949; special representative in Europe, 1952–1953.
Drtina, Prokop (1900–1980). Czechoslovak politician. Justice minister, 1945–1948. Ardent anti-Communist.
Duclos, Jacques (1896–1975). French Communist politician.
Dulles, Allen (1893–1969). American lawyer and intelligence official. President of the Council on Foreign Relations, 1946–1950; director of central intelligence, 1953–1961.
Dulles, John Foster (1888–1959). American politician and diplomat. Senator (R-NY), 1949–1950; secretary of state, 1953–1959. Foreign policy adviser who accompanied George Marshall to conferences in Moscow and London in 1947 and counseled Thomas Dewey during the 1948 presidential campaign.
Dunn, James (1890–1979). American diplomat. Ambassador to Italy, 1946–1952.
Durbrow, Elbridge (1903–1997). American diplomat. Chief, Eastern European Division, State Department, 1944–1946; counselor in Moscow, 1946–1948.
Eady, Sir Wilfred (1890–1962). British diplomat and official. Joint second secretary of the treasury, 1942–1952.
Earle, Edward Mead (1894–1954). American scholar and administrator. Board of Analysts at the Office of Strategic Services, 1941–1942; special consultant to the commanding general of the American Air Forces, 1942–1945.
Eaton, Charles (1868–1953). American politician. Congressman (R-NJ), 1925–1953; chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, 1947–1949; chairman of the Select Committee on Foreign Aid, 1947–1948.
Ebert, Friedrich (Fritz) (1894–1979). East German Communist politician. Mayor of East Berlin, 1948–1967. Son of Weimar Republic’s first president.
Eccles, Mariner (1890–1977). American banker. Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, 1934–1948.
Echols, Oliver (1892–1954). American military officer and official. Director, Civil Affairs Division, War Department Special Staff, 1945–1947.
Eden, Sir Robert Anthony (1897–1977). British Conservative statesman. Foreign secretary, 1935–1938, 1940–1945, 1951–1955; prime minister, 1955–1957. Opposed the Morgenthau Plan for deindustrializing postwar Germany.
Eisenhower, Dwight David (1890–1969). American military leader and statesman. Supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, 1943–1945; chief of staff of the Army, 1945–1948; president, 1953–1961. Led Allied forces in Europe during World War II and was the first military governor of the U.S. zone of occupied Germany.
Elsey, George (1918–2015). American official and presidential aide. Assistant to the special counsel to the president, 1947–1949; administrative assistant to the president, 1949–1951; assistant to the director, Mutual Security Agency, 1951–1953.
Erdog˘an, Recep Tayyip (1954– ). Turkish politician. Prime minister, 2003–2014; president, 2014– .
Erhard, Ludwig (1897–1977). West German politician. Director of the economic council for the joint Anglo-U.S. zone of occupied Germany, 1948–1949; economics minister, 1949–1963; chancellor, 1963–1966. Free marketeer whose economic reforms were important to West Germany’s postwar recovery.
Ethridge, Mark (1896–1981). American diplomat. Delegate to the United Nations Commission of Investigation to study Greek border disputes, 1947; chairman of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Information, 1948–1950.
Feierabend, Ladislav (1891–1969). Czechoslovak politician and writer. Finance minister in the London-based government-in-exile, 1941–1945.
Ferguson, Homer (1889–1982). American politician. Senator (R-MI), 1943–1955. Argued that aid to European governments undermined free enterprise.
Forrestal, James (1892–1949). American official. Secretary of the Navy, 1944–1947; secretary of defense, 1947–1949. One of the most hawkish members of Truman’s cabinet.
François-Poncet, André (1887–1978). French diplomat. High commissioner for Germany, 1949–1955.
Franks, Sir Oliver (1905–1992). British diplomat. Chairman of the Committee of European Economic Co-operation, 1947–1948; ambassador to the United States, 1948–1952.
Friedensburg, Ferdinand (1886–1972). German Christian Democratic politician. Interim mayor of Berlin, 1948.
Gaddis, John Lewis (1941– ). American Cold War historian and biographer of George Kennan.
Gaidar, Yegor Timurovich (1956–2009). Soviet economist and Russian political and economic reformer.
Ganeval, Jean (1894–1981). French general. Commandant of the French sector of Berlin, 1946–1950.
Genscher, Hans-Dietrich (1927–2016). West German statesman. Chairman of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), 1974–1985; foreign minister, 1974–1992.
Gerashchenko, Vladimir Sergeevich (1905–1995). Soviet finance and banking expert. Assistant chairman of the Board of the State Bank, 1944–1958; head of the Economic Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1944–1948.
Geschke, Ottomar (1882–1957). German Communist politician. Deputy speaker of the Berlin City Council, 1946–1948.
Gilbert, Charles (1878–1958). American clergyman. Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of New York, 1947–1950.
Gomułka, Władysław (1905–1982). Polish politician. Secretary general of the Communist Party, 1943–1948; first secretary of the Communist Party, 1956–1970.
Gorbachev, Mikhail Sergeevich (1931– ). Soviet Communist Party leader and statesman. General secretary of the Communist Party, 1985–1991
; last president of the Soviet Union, 1990–1991. Supported closer Russian relations with the West and opposed NATO expansion. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.
Gore, Al (1948– ). American Democratic politician. Vice president, 1993–2001. Advocate for action to prevent climate change.
Gottwald, Klement (1896–1953). Czechoslovak Communist politician. Deputy prime minister, 1945–1946; prime minister, 1946–1948; president, 1948–1953. Helped orchestrate the February 1948 Communist coup.
Grachev, Pavel Sergeevich (1948–2012). Soviet military commander and Russian politician. Defense minister, 1992–1996.
Griffis, Stanton (1887–1974). American diplomat. Ambassador to Poland, 1947–1948.
Gromyko, Andrei Andreevich (1909–1989). Soviet diplomat. Ambassador to the United States, 1943–1946; ambassador to the United Nations, 1946–1948; deputy foreign minister, 1946–1949; first deputy foreign minister, 1949–1952.
Grotewohl, Otto (1894–1964). East German Communist politician. Co-chairman of the Communist SED party, 1946–1964; prime minister, 1949–1964.
Haffner, Sebastian (1907–1998). British-German writer and journalist.
Hála, František (1893–1952). Czechoslovak politician. Minister of posts, 1946–1948.
Hall, Alvin (1888–1969). American official. Director, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, 1924–1954.
Halle, Louis, Jr. (1910–1998). American writer and diplomat. Spent many years in the State Department before moving into academia.
Halleck, Charles (1900–1986). American politician. Congressman (R-IN), 1935–1969; House majority leader, 1947–1949, 1953–1955.
Halvorsen, Gail (1920– ). American Air Force pilot. Berlin airlift pilot nicknamed the “Candy Bomber.”
Harriman, William Averell (1891–1986). American banker, politician, and diplomat. Ambassador to the Soviet Union, 1943–1946; ambassador to the United Kingdom, 1946; secretary of commerce, 1946–1948; special representative in Europe under the Marshall Plan, 1948–1950; special assistant to the president, 1950–1952; director, Mutual Security Agency, 1951–1953. Headed the bipartisan President’s Committee on Foreign Aid (Harriman Committee), whose report on the Marshall Plan was instrumental in passing the aid legislation.
Hawkins, Harry (1894–1983). American diplomat. Counselor for economic affairs at the embassy in London, 1944–1947; director, Foreign Service Institute, 1950–1952.
Hay, John (1838–1905). American statesman. Secretary of state, 1898–1905.
Henderson, Loy (1892–1986). American diplomat. Director, Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs, State Department, 1946–1948. Career foreign service officer and Russia specialist.
Herman, Stewart, Jr. (1909–2006). American clergyman. Worked on humanitarian issues with the World Council of Churches in Geneva, 1945–1948.
Herter, Christian (1895–1966). American politician and diplomat. Congressman (R-MA), 1943–1953; governor, 1953–1957; under secretary of state, 1957–1959; secretary of state, 1959–1961. Internationalist who led a congressional research trip to Europe to survey the severity of the continent’s postwar economic situation.
Hickerson, John (1898–1989). American official and diplomat. Deputy director, Office of European Affairs, State Department, 1944–1947; director, Office of European Affairs, State Department, 1947–1949; assistant secretary of state, 1949–1953; ambassador to Finland, 1955–1960.
Hinton, Harold (1898–1954). American writer and journalist at The New York Times.
Hoffman, Clare (1875–1967). American politician. Congressman (R-MI), 1935–1963.
Hoffman, Paul (1891–1974). American auto executive and official. Director, Economic Cooperation Administration, 1948–1950. Oversaw implementation of the Marshall Plan.
Hogan, Michael (1943– ). American historian. Author of The Marshall Plan: America, Britain, and the Reconstruction of Western Europe, 1947–1952.
Holbrooke, Richard (1941–2010). American diplomat. Ambassador to Germany, 1993–1994; assistant secretary of state for European and Canadian affairs, 1994–1995; ambassador to the United Nations, 1999–2001. Strong advocate of NATO expansion in the 1990s.
Hoover, Herbert (1874–1964). American Republican statesman. President, 1929–1933. Influential supporter of German reconstruction after World War II.
Hopkins, Harry (1890–1946). American official. Secretary of commerce, 1938–1940. One of FDR’s closest aides.
Hottelet, Richard (1917–2014). American journalist and correspondent. Worked with CBS from 1944 to 1985.
Houdek, Vladimir (1912–2006). Czechoslovak diplomat. Ambassador to the United Nations, 1948–1950. Secret conduit between Henry Wallace and Andrei Gromyko in 1948. Defected to the West in 1950.
Hull, Cordell (1871–1955). American politician and diplomat. Congressman (D-TN), 1907–1930; senator, 1931–1933; secretary of state, 1933–1944. Ardent free trader.
Humelsine, Carlisle (1915–1989). American official. State Department executive secretary, 1947–1950; deputy assistant secretary of state for administration, 1950; assistant secretary of state for administration, 1950; deputy under secretary of state for administration, 1950–1953.
Inverchapel, Lord (Sir Archibald Clark Kerr) (1882–1951). British diplomat. Ambassador to the United States, 1946–1948.
Ivashov, Leonid Grigorievich (1943– ). Russian official and military historian. Chief, Main Office of International Military Cooperation, Ministry of Defense, 1996–2001.
Jäger, Harald (1943– ). East German military officer. Berlin Wall border guard in November 1989.
Jarman, Peterson (1892–1955). American politician. Congressman (D-AL), 1937–1949.
Javits, Jacob (1904–1986). American politician. Congressman (R-NY), 1947–1957; senator, 1957–1981.
Jessup, Philip (1897–1986). American diplomat. Representative to the United Nations General Assembly, 1948–1952; ambassador at large, 1949–1953. Close adviser to Dean Acheson whose backchannel negotiations with Soviet United Nations ambassador Yakov Malik led to the ending of the Berlin blockade.
Johnson, Louis (1891–1966). American official. Assistant secretary of war, 1937–1940; secretary of defense, 1949–1950.
Jones, Joseph, Jr. (1908–1990). American diplomat. Special assistant to the assistant secretary of state for public affairs, 1946–1948; special assistant to the administrator, Economic Cooperation Administration, 1949–1952; special assistant to the U.S. representative in Europe, 1952–1953. Documented the beginnings of the Marshall Plan in his book, The Fifteen Weeks.
Judt, Tony (1948–2010). British historian and writer. Author of Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945.
Kardelj, Edvard (1910–1979). Yugoslav Communist revolutionary and politician. Vice president, 1945–1953; foreign minister, 1948–1953.
Kennan, George Frost (1904–2005). American diplomat and intellectual. Counselor in Moscow, 1944–1946; director of policy planning, 1947–1949; ambassador to the Soviet Union, 1952–1953. Expert on the Soviet Union who authored some of the early Cold War’s seminal documents. Formulated the policy of Soviet containment. A leading architect of the Marshall Plan.
Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeevich (1894–1971). Soviet Communist Party leader and premier. First secretary of the Communist Party, 1953–1964; chairman of the Council of Ministers, 1958–1964. Succeeded Stalin as leader of the Soviet Union.
Kindleberger, Charles (1910–2003). American economist and official. Chief, Division of German and Austrian Economic Affairs, State Department, 1945–1947; adviser to the European Recovery Program, 1947–1948.
King, William Lyon Mackenzie (1874–1950). Canadian Liberal statesman. Prime minister, 1921–1926, 1926–1930, 1935–1948.
Kissinger, Henry (1923– ). American statesman and scholar. National security adviser, 1969–1975; secretary of state, 1973–1977. Received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973.
Knowland, William (1908–1974). American politician. Senator (R-CA), 1945–1959; Senate majority leader
, 1953–1955.
Koenig, Marie-Pierre (1898–1970). French general. Military governor of the French zone of occupied Germany, 1945–1949.
Kohl, Helmut (1930–2017). German statesman. Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union, 1973–1998; chancellor of West Germany, 1982–1990; chancellor of reunified Germany, 1990–1998. Led the drive for rapid German reunification as the Soviet Union collapsed.
Kohler, Foy (1908–1990). American diplomat. Counselor in Moscow, 1948–1949; ambassador to the Soviet Union, 1962–1966.
Kopecký, Václav (1897–1961). Czechoslovak Communist politician. Minister of information, 1945–1953.
Kotikov, Alexander Georgievich (1902–1981). Soviet military commander. Commandant of the Soviet sector of Berlin, 1946–1950.
Kozyrev, Andrei Vladimirovich (1951– ). Russian diplomat. Foreign minister, 1990–1996.
Krug, Julius (1907–1970). American official. Secretary of the interior, 1946–1949.
Kuznetsov, Fedor Fedotovich (1904–1979). Soviet military commander. Head of the Intelligence Office, 1943–1945; head of the Main Intelligence Office of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, 1945–1947; assistant chairman of the Committee of Information under the Council of Ministers, 1947–1949.
Ladas, Christos (1891–1948). Greek lawyer and official. Justice minister, 1947–1948. Assassinated by a member of the Greek Communist Party.
La Follette, Robert, Jr. (1895–1953). American Republican and Progressive politician. Senator (WI), 1925–1947; member of the President’s Committee on Foreign Aid (Harriman Committee), 1947.
Lasky, Melvin (1920–2004). American journalist. Liberal-left, anti-Communist founder of the German literary journal Der Monat.
Lavrov, Sergei Victorivich (1950– ). Russian diplomat. Ambassador to the United Nations, 1994–2004; foreign minister, 2004– .
Leahy, William (1875–1959). American naval officer, diplomat, and presidential aide. Ambassador to Vichy France, 1940–1942; chief of staff to FDR, 1942–1945; chief of staff to Truman, 1945–1949.
LeMay, Curtis (1906–1990). American Air Force commander. Chief of staff of the Strategic Air Forces, 1945–1948.
