Aid With Strings

Paul V. Applegarth is on a mission to change the hostile view conservatives have long held about U.S. foreign aid. And

At the moment, the United States ranks behind most other developed nations in its generosity toward less fortunate nations. And that's attributable in part to conservatives' view that foreign aid is largely wasted. As Applegarth notes, critics of foreign aid thought it was "going to corrupt dictators who put it in Swiss bank accounts."

Now, Applegarth is trying to "rebuild faith in foreign aid" as the chief executive officer of a new federal agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation. And he's got the backing of one of Washington's foremost conservatives: President Bush.