After the war, George C. Marshall, the U.S. Secretary of State, pushed the idea of to help European countries with U.S. financing. This plan was signed into law by President Truman on April 3, 1948 and became known as the Marshall plan. The Marshall plan was designed to rebuild the European countries that were damaged by the war. The US was worried that poverty, unemployment, and dislocation from the war would lead to the the rise communist parties in these countries. Instead the U.S. wanted them to promote democratic governments. The Marshall plan assisted 16 countries including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Howland, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and western Germany. Because of the plan, these Country's economies grew 15 to 25% making the plan a very successful one.