General Clay believed in learning by doing

Chapter 19 XIX Potsdam Germany
Ready or not, however, the Germans in the US zone were going to taste democracy soon - sooner than anyone expected. They were not going to get it because they wanted it or because they deserved it but because General Clay believed in learning by doing and -probably as much as for any other reason - because the end of the war in the Pacific inspired him to convert necessity into virtue. After V-J Day, USFET G-5 records showed that 40 percent of the officers and 50 percent of the enlisted men in military government would be eligible for discharge by the end of 1945. With this information in mind, on 16 September, Clay wrote to McCloy that he had worked out a program for local elections in the US zone. He continued:

The Potsdam Agreements call for restoration of local self government as rapidly as consistent with the purposes of the occupation. If the Germans are to learn democracy, I think the best way is to start off quickly at the bottom. Besides, this will help us reduce the personnel needed for military government. With many officers returning to the US in the coming months, we will not be able to staff a large number of local detachments. Yet, we can hardly withdraw the detachments until officials appointed by us have been replaced by others selected by the Germans.