Dean Acheson

Dean Gooderham Acheson (April 11, 1893 – October 12, 1971) was an American statesman and lawyer; as United States Secretary of State in the late 1940s he played the central role in defining American foreign policy for the Cold War. He likewise played a central role in the creation of many important institutions including Lend Lease, the Marshall Plan, NATO, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, together with the early organizations that later became the European Union and the World Trade Organization. His most famous decision was convincing the nation to intervene, in June 1950, in the Korean War. Portrait of Dean Acheson. ... Portrait of Dean Acheson. ... April 11 is the 101st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (102nd in leap years). ... 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... October 12 is the 285th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (286th in leap years). ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... Seal of the United States Department of State. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Lend-Lease This article is about the World War II program. ... Map of Cold-War era Europe and the Near East showing countries that received Marshall Plan aid. ... NATO 2002 Summit in Prague The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation[1] (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for collective security established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, DC, on 4 April 1949. ... The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization that oversees the global financial system by observing exchange rates and balance of payments, as well as offering financial and technical assistance when requested. ... Logo of the World Bank The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, in Romance languages: BIRD), better known as the World Bank, is an international organization whose original mission was to finance the reconstruction of nations devastated by WWII. Now, its mission has expanded to fight poverty by means... WTO redirects here. ... Combatants United Nations: Republic of Korea  Australia  Belgium Canada  Colombia Ethiopia  France Greece  Netherlands  New Zealand  Philippines South Africa  Thailand  Turkey  United Kingdom United States Medical staff:  Denmark  India  Italy  Norway  Sweden Communist states: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea People’s Republic of China  Soviet Union Commanders Syngman Rhee...

Acheson was a prominent defender of State Department employees accused during Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-Communist investigations, incurring the wrath of McCarthy himself. Acheson was instrumental in the prehistory of the Vietnam War, persuading Truman to dispatch aid and advisors to French forces in Indochina, though he would later counsel President Lyndon B. Johnson to negotiate for peace with North Vietnam. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy called upon Acheson for advice, bringing him into Kennedy's executive committee (ExComm). Department of State redirects here. ... Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin between 1947 and 1957. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... French Indochina was a federation of protectorates in Southeast Asia, part of the French colonial empire. ... Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States (1963–1969). ... The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN), or less commonly, Vietnamese Democratic Republic (Vietnamese: Việt Nam Dân Chủ Cộng Hòa), also known as North Vietnam, was proclaimed by Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, September 2nd1945 and was recognized by the Peoples Republic of China and the... USAF spy photo of one of the suspected launch sites The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States regarding the Soviet deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba. ... For other persons named John Kennedy, see John Kennedy (disambiguation). ... The Executive Committee of the National Security Council (commonly referred to as simply the Executive Committee or ExComm) was a body of U.S. officials that convened to advise President John F. Kennedy during the fateful days of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. ...

Early life and career

Dean Acheson was born in Middletown, Connecticut. His father, Edward Campion Acheson, was an English-born Church of England priest who, after several years in Canada, moved to the US to become Episcopal Bishop of Connecticut. His mother, Eleanor Gertrude Gooderham, was a granddaughter of prominent Canadian distiller William Gooderham (1790–1881), founder of the Gooderham and Worts Distillery. Nickname: Forest City Coordinates: NECTA Hartford Region Midstate Region Incorporated (town) 1651 Incorporated (city) 1784 Consolidated 1923 Government type Mayor-council Mayor Sebastian N. Giuliano Area    - City 42. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church[1] in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... A view of Torontos Distillery District The Distillery District is a historic district to the east of the downtown core of Toronto, Canada, spanning 13 acres (52,000 square metres) and comprised of more than 40 heritage buildings and 10 streets. ...

Acheson attended Groton School and Yale College (1912–15), where he joined the prestigious secret society, Scroll and Key. At Harvard Law School from 1915 to 1918 he became a protégé of professor Felix Frankfurter. At that time, a new tradition of bright law students clerking for the U.S. Supreme Court had been begun by Supreme Court Justice, Louis Brandeis for whom Acheson clerked for two terms from 1919 to 1921. Frankfurter and Brandeis were close associates, and future Supreme Court Justice Frankfurter suggested that Brandeis take on Acheson. Groton School is a private Episcopalian boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts. ... For other uses, see Yale (disambiguation). ... The Scroll and Key Society is a secret society that was established by John Addison Porter and others at Yale University in 1842. ... Harvard Law School (HLS) is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. ... Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. ... The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States federal government. ... Louis Dembitz Brandeis (November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an American litigator, Supreme Court Justice, advocate of privacy, and developer of the Brandeis Brief. ...

Economic diplomacy

A lifelong Democrat, Acheson worked at a law firm in Washington D.C., Covington & Burling, often dealing with international legal issues before Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed him Undersecretary of the United States Treasury in 1933. Acheson, a conservative in economic matters, resigned over Roosevelt's plan to change the price of gold. The History of the Democratic Party is an account of a continuously supported political party in the United States of America. ... Covington & Burling is a major legal and lobbying firm focused on industry and regulatory and corporate, tax and benefits issues, and litigation. ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... The United States Department of the Treasury is a Cabinet department, a treasury, of the United States government established by an Act of U.S. Congress in 1789 to manage the revenue of the United States government. ...

In 1940 Roosevelt brought Acheson back into government as a senior official of the State Department, where he developed much of the economic warfare waged by the United States against the Axis Powers. He designed the American/British/Dutch oil embargo that cut off 95% of Japanese oil supplies and escalated the crisis with Japan in 1941; there is debate among historians whether Roosevelt fully understood and approved the scope of the embargo. In 1944, Acheson played a central role in the Bretton Woods Conference as the head delegate from the State Department. At this conference the post-war international economic structure was designed. This conference was the birthplace of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the last of which would evolve into the World Trade Organization. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Bretton Woods system of international economic management established the rules for commercial and financial relations among the major industrial states. ... The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization that oversees the global financial system by observing exchange rates and balance of payments, as well as offering financial and technical assistance when requested. ... Logo of the World Bank The World Bank Group is a group of five international organizations responsible for providing finance to countries for purposes of development and poverty reduction, and for encouraging and safeguarding international investment. ... The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (typically abbreviated GATT) was originally created by the Bretton Woods Conference as part of a larger plan for economic recovery after World War II. The GATTs main purpose was to reduce barriers to international trade. ... WTO redirects here. ...

Cold War diplomacy

Official portrait

Later, in 1945, Harry S. Truman selected Acheson as his Undersecretary of United States Department of State; he retained this position working under Secretaries of State Stettinius, Byrnes, and Marshall. During the post-war period, the Secretary was often overseas, and Acheson attended Cabinet meetings as acting Secretary. During this period, Acheson cemented a close relationship with President Truman. Over the next two years, Acheson played the central role in devising both the Truman Doctrine and the European Recovery Program (called the "Marshall Plan.") Acheson believed the best way to contain Stalin's Communism and prevent future European conflict was to restore economic prosperity to Western Europe, to encourage interstate cooperation there, and help the American economy by making its trading partners richer. Portrait of Dean Acheson. ... Portrait of Dean Acheson. ... Department of State redirects here. ... Portrait of U.S. Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, Jr. ... James Francis Byrnes (May 2, 1879 – April 9, 1972) was an American politician from the state of South Carolina. ... For other people named George Marshall, see George Marshall (disambiguation). ... Truman delivering the Truman Doctrine on March 12, 1947. ... U.S. postage stamp issued 1997 honoring the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Plan. ...

In 1949, Acheson was appointed Secretary of State. In this position he built a working framework for containment, first formulated by George Kennan, who served as the head of Acheson's Policy Planning Staff. Acheson was the main designer of the military alliance NATO, and signed the pact for the United States. The formation of NATO was a dramatic departure from historic American foreign policy goals of avoiding any "entangling alliances." Containment refers to the foreign policy strategy of the United States in the early years of the Cold War in which it attempted to stop what it called the domino effect of nations moving politically towards Soviet Union-based communism, rather than European-American-based capitalism. ... George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904 – March 17, 2005) was an American advisor, diplomat, political scientist, and historian, best known as the father of containment and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War. ... The Policy Planning Staff (sometimes referred to as the Policy Planning Council) is the chief strategic arm of the U.S. Department of State. ... NATO 2002 Summit in Prague The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation[1] (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for collective security established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, DC, on 4 April 1949. ...

"The Attack of the Primitives"

The failure of the United States to prevent the communist takeover of mainland China in 1949 precipitated several years of organized opposition to Acheson's tenure, a period to which Acheson refers in his outspoken memoirs as "The Attack of the Primitives." Although he maintained his role as a firm anti-communist, he was attacked by various anti-communists for not taking a more active role in attacking communism abroad and domestically, rather than a mere containment of communist governments. Both he and Secretary of Defense George Marshall came under attack from men such as Joseph McCarthy; Acheson became a byword to some Americans, who tried to equate containment with appeasement. Richard Nixon, who later as President would call on Acheson for advice, would complain of "Acheson's College of Cowardly Communist Containment." This criticism grew very loud after Acheson refused to 'turn his back on Alger Hiss' when the latter was accused of being a Communist Spy, which was later proved by the Venona Project. Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 - November 15, 1996) was a U.S. State Department official involved in the establishment of the United Nations. ... The VENONA project was a long-running and highly secret collaboration between United States intelligence agencies and the United Kingdoms MI5 and GCHQ that involved the cryptanalysis of messages sent by several Soviet intelligence agencies. ...

On December 15, 1950, the Republicans in the House of Representatives resolved unanimously that he be removed from office, to no avail. Furthermore, Acheson also upset the right wing when he took the side of Harry S. Truman in his dispute with General Douglas MacArthur over the Korean War. Acheson and Truman wanted to limit the war to Korea, whereas MacArthur called for the extension of the war to China. Douglas MacArthur (January 26, 1880 - April 5, 1964), was a famous American general who played a prominent role in the Pacific theater of World War II. He was poised to command the invasion of Japan in November 1945 but was instead instructed to accept their surrender on September 2, 1945. ... Combatants United Nations: Republic of Korea  Australia  Belgium Canada  Colombia Ethiopia  France Greece  Netherlands  New Zealand  Philippines South Africa  Thailand  Turkey  United Kingdom United States Medical staff:  Denmark  India  Italy  Norway  Sweden Communist states: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea People’s Republic of China  Soviet Union Commanders Syngman Rhee...

Return to private life

After the 1952 presidential campaign, Acheson returned to his private law practice. Although his official governmental career was over, his influence was not. Acheson headed up Democratic Policy Groups during the Eisenhower years. Much of President Kennedy's flexible response policies came from the position papers drawn up by this group. Presidential electoral votes by state. ... Flexible response was a nuclear strategy implemented by John F. Kennedy in 1961 to supersede the previous policy of Massive Retaliation. ...

Acheson's law offices were strategically located a few blocks from the White House and he accomplished much out of office. He became an unofficial advisor to the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, for example, he was dispatched by Kennedy to France to brief de Gaulle and gain his support for the United States blockade. USAF spy photo of one of the suspected launch sites The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States regarding the Soviet deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba. ... Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (  listen?) (November 22, 1890 – November 9, 1970), in France commonly referred to as le général de Gaulle, was a French military leader and statesman. ...

During the 1960s, he was a leading member of a bipartisan group of establishment elders known as The Wise Men who initially supported the Vietnam War but then turned against it at a critical meeting with President Lyndon Johnson in March 1968. The Wise Men were a group of six government officials, who during the Truman administration developed the containment policy of dealing with the Communist bloc. ... Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908–January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, was an American politician. ...

In 1964, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1970, he won the Pulitzer Prize for History for his memoirs of his tenure in the State Department, Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department. The Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is one of the two highest civilian awards in the United States, considered the equivalent of the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor. ... The Pulitzer Prize for History has been awarded since 1917 for a distinguished book upon the history of the United States. ...

In 1971, Dean Acheson died of a massive stroke at his desk on his farm in Sandy Spring, Maryland at the age of 78. He was survived by a son, David C. Acheson and a daughter, Mrs. William P. Bundy. Sandy Spring is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Maryland. ... David Campion Acheson (born 4 November 1921, Washington, District of Columbia) is a son of former Secretary of State, Dean Gooderham Acheson. ... This article or section should be merged with William Bundy William Putnam Bill Bundy (September 24, 1917–October 6, 2000) was a foreign-affairs advisor to U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. ...

References

• Robert L. Beisner. Dean Acheson: A Life in the Cold War. (2006), 800 pp
• Chace, James. Acheson: The Secretary of State Who Created the American World. (1998). 512 pp.
• Harper, John Lamberton. American Visions of Europe: Franklin D. Roosevelt, George F. Kennan, and Dean G. Acheson. Cambridge U. Press, 1994. 378 pp.
• John T. McNay. Acheson and Empire: The British Accent in American Foreign Policy (2001)

Books by Acheson

• Power and Diplomacy (1958)
• Morning and Noon (1965),
• Acheson, Dean (1969). Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department (in English). New York: Norton, 798 pp.. ASIN B0006D5KRE. 
• The Korean War (1971).

External links

• Acheson biography
• Work on Acheson's Role in Designing the Foreign Policy Stance of the Democratic Party after the 1952 election.
• Annotated bibliography for Dean Acheson from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues

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