Dean Acheson | |
|---|---|
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| 51st United States Secretary of State | |
| In office January 21, 1949 – January 20, 1953 | |
| President | Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | George C. Marshall |
| Succeeded by | John Foster Dulles |
| 14th United States Under Secretary of State | |
| In office August 16, 1945 – June 30, 1947 | |
| President | Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | Joseph Grew |
| Succeeded by | Robert A. Lovett |
| 1st Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs | |
| In office December 20, 1944 – August 15, 1945 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Ernest A. Gross |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dean Gooderham Acheson April 11, 1893 Middletown, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | October 12, 1971 (aged 78) Sandy Spring, Maryland, U.S. |
| Resting place | Oak Hill Cemetery Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, including David |
| Education | Yale University (BA) Harvard University (LLB) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service | United States National Guard |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
Dean Gooderham Acheson (/ˈætʃɪsən/ ATCH-iss-ən;[1] April 11, 1893 – October 12, 1971) was an American politician and lawyer. As the 51st U.S. Secretary of State, he set the foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration from 1949 to 1953. He was also Truman's main foreign policy advisor from 1945 to 1947 during early years of the Cold War. Acheson helped design the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, as well as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He was in private law practice from July 1947 to December 1948.[2] After 1949 Acheson came under political attack from Republicans led by Senator Joseph McCarthy over Truman's policy toward the People's Republic of China.
As a private citizen in 1968 he counseled President Lyndon B. Johnson to negotiate for peace with North Vietnam. During the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, President John F. Kennedy called upon Acheson for advice, bringing him into the executive committee (ExComm), a strategic advisory group.
- ^ "Dean Acheson". Oxford Learner's Dictionary. Archived from the original on October 30, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
- ^ Beisner, pp. 79, 83