Point Four Program was a foreign aid program of President Harry S. Truman. It established the principle of United States interest in the economic growth of developing nations. The program was the fourth foreign policy point in Truman’s inaugural address in January 1949.
Congress authorized about $35 million for Point Four in 1950. The program was designed to promote improved agricultural production and technological progress in underdeveloped areas. But threats from Communist powers later led Truman to stress military alliances instead of economic aid. Point Four then got insufficient funding and became merely symbolic.
