The United States Agency for International Development, known as USAID, is an organization that provides funds and administers programs designed to assist developing countries in many fields including health, economics, security and human resources rights. This government organization has contributed to many advancements globally since its inception. The bigger debate, however, is that, with all the aid that has been administered to foreign countries, is the United States benefiting more from foreign aid than the countries it is supposed to help? In this essay I will explore the benefits that USAID brings to its aid recipients and attempt to compare them to the benefits obtained by contractors who may be contributing to persistent poverty in developing countries. Brief History of USAID What is USAID? The United States Agency for International Development, also known as USAID, was developed with the passage of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 by President John F. Kennedy and Congress. The foundation of this organization came from the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan is Secretary of State George C. Marshall's effort that provided a large amount of financial and technical assistance to Europe after World War II, allowing Europe to stabilize (USAID.gov). With the success of the Marshall Plan, President Harry S. Truman proposed an international development assistance program in 1949. The program had two objectives; “Creating markets for the United States by reducing poverty and increasing production in developing countries” and “Diminishing the threat of communism by helping countries prosper under capitalism” (USAID.gov). In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed the Foreign Assistance Act and USAID was created. Once USAID took off, internationally... middle of paper... the fact that USAID often does not hire local staff to oversee its programs is disheartening since US contractors often have the same buttressed objectives from the US government approaches that are often unproductive. Conclusion I believe there are multiple trade deals going on between USAID and American businesses that are hindering the overall fight against global poverty and its many contributors that development organizations around the world are struggling to combat. While USAID has made many contributions around the world that have made a positive difference in the immediate lives of citizens of developing countries, there is no real big push for programs that provide a long-term solution to poverty global because this would hinder employment sector development in the United States. So in the end the question remains: who benefits from USAID??