Dean G. Acheson

Born April 11, 1893
Middletown, Connecticut
Died October 12, 1971
Sandy Spring, Maryland

U.S. secretary of state, lawyer, and author

S ecretary of State Dean Acheson played a critical role in developing U.S. foreign policy as the post–World War II (1939–45) rivalry with the Soviet Union was taking shape. He firmly believed in maintaining a position of strength through military might while seeking solutions through diplomacy. His influence would last throughout the Cold War (1945–91). The Cold War was an intense political and economic rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Early influences

Dean Gooderham Acheson was born on April 11, 1893, in Middletown, Connecticut. His father, Edward Campion Acheson, was born in Britain but left home at age sixteen to journey to Canada, where he joined the military. He married Eleanor Gooderham, daughter of a wealthy Canadian family, and moved to New England. There he became an Episcopal minister and later the Episcopal bishop of Connecticut. Having a comfortable middle-class upbringing, young Dean attended the exclusive Groton preparatory school, graduating in 1911. He then attended Yale University and went on to Harvard Law School. At Harvard, Acheson studied under future U.S. Supreme Court justice Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965). While in law school, Acheson married Alice Stanley, a graduate of the prestigious Wellesley College, in May 1917. They would have three children.

Following graduation from Harvard in 1918, Acheson moved to Washington, D.C., to become a law clerk for Supreme Court justice Louis D. Brandeis (1856–1941). Brandeis became a highly influential person in Acheson's intellectual life. After two years with Brandeis, Acheson joined the highly respected Washington law firm of Covington, Burling, and Rublee in 1921. As a young lawyer, Acheson made a striking impression: He was a stylish dresser with tailored suits and a handkerchief. He was very quick intellectually but had a sarcastic wit that the press would later interpret as arrogance. He was impatient with slower thinkers.

After participating in the successful presidential campaign of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945; served 1933–45) in 1932, Acheson became undersecretary of the treasury in early 1933. However, he resigned six months later in protest over Roosevelt's monetary policies and returned to his job in the law firm.

Beginning of an influential public career

With a world war looming, President Roosevelt appointed Acheson assistant secretary of state for economic affairs in 1940. In that position, Acheson promoted an active U.S. role in combating Germany's push to dominate Europe, the same strategy he would later recommend for dealing with the Soviet Union. He persuaded Roosevelt to adopt the Lend-Lease program, which provided aging U.S. warships to Britain in exchange for the use of military bases in various British colonies around the world. Also under this program, $39 billion in aid would go to countries battling Germany, primarily Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Acheson's role in postwar economic matters would be even larger: At an international meeting held at Bretton Woods, New York, he was instrumental in establishing the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank). Both became major funding institutions for nations recovering from the destruction of World War II and for developing nations worldwide.

President Roosevelt died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain) on April 12, 1945. Roosevelt's successor, Vice President Harry S. Truman (1884–1972; see entry), appointed Acheson undersecretary of state, first under James F. Byrnes (1879–1972; see entry) and later under George C. Marshall (1880–1959; see entry). Both Truman and Acheson had straightforward, realistic approaches to foreign policy, so they built a strong working relationship. In his first several months in office, Truman relied heavily on Acheson to guide him on foreign policy. During this time, Acheson encouraged Truman to drop the atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945 to end World War II. Acheson also developed a plan for international control of atomic energy programs through the United Nations. It was called the Baruch Plan, after American financier Bernard Baruch (1870–1965), the U.S. representative on the UN Atomic Energy Commission who presented the plan to the United Nations. However, Baruch had insisted on substantial changes to the plan that Acheson strongly opposed. The Soviets also rejected the proposal.

Cold War architect

Soviet military intimidation in 1946 in Iran, Turkey, and Greece began to convince Acheson that friendly cooperation would not be possible. The Soviet Union operated under a communist form of government. Communist economic theory calls for the elimination of private property and privately owned businesses so that goods produced and wealth accumulated can be shared equally by all. This system threatened the U.S. economy, which relies on free trade and competition to thrive; accumulation of wealth and private property is one of the chief goals of American business. Because of the conflict between U.S. and Soviet economic goals, Acheson advised Truman to strongly oppose the Soviet Union's efforts to expand its influence.

In a meeting with congressional leaders at the White House, Acheson presented some alarming news about Soviet intentions. He claimed that if Greece and Turkey fell to Soviet influence, all of Western Europe could be next. (Western Europe includes Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.) Acheson then developed a speech for Truman to give to Congress on March 12, 1947. The historic speech outlined what is now called the Truman Doctrine, stating that it was in America's interest to stop communist expansion anywhere in the world. This marked the first time the United States adopted a policy of direct involvement in the internal affairs of foreign nations threatened by communism. This policy would guide the United States throughout the rest of the Cold War.

The next step for Acheson was to design an economic recovery plan for Western Europe. Acheson believed that the region was vulnerable to growing communist influence because it had been economically weakened by World War II. He contended that the economic prosperity of Europe was directly related to the well-being of the United States. In a speech on June 5, 1947, Secretary of State Marshall formally introduced the proposed economic recovery plan, which became known as the Marshall Plan. It provided $12 billion over a four-year period to restore industry and expand trade in Western Europe. Having achieved his key goals, Acheson resigned as undersecretary on June 30 and returned to private law practice. However, after only eighteen months, he would get the call to public service once again.

Secretary of State

On January 21, 1949, at the beginning of his second term of office, President Truman appointed Acheson secretary of state. Acheson turned once again to the defense of Europe. Having addressed Europe's economic strength through the Marshall Plan, Acheson next wanted to build Europe's military strength. Toward this end, he promoted creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the spring of 1949. NATO was a peacetime alliance of Western European nations, Canada, and the United States, and a key factor in the attempt to contain communism. Under Acheson's guidance, the part of Germany that was occupied by U.S., British, and French military forces became an independent government, the Federal Republic of Germany, more commonly called West Germany. The new nation was established in June 1949.

However, by June, Cold War events began turning more ominous. First, communist forces led by Mao Zedong (1893–1976; see entry) finally overthrew the Chinese government after years of civil war. Then in August, the Soviet Union tested an atomic bomb, surprising U.S. officials, who had thought the Soviets were far behind them in research and development. The United States was no longer the only nation with atomic weapons. In reaction, Acheson promoted development of the much more powerful hydrogen bomb, despite objections by other key advisors. Acheson also guided a study of foreign policy written by policy analyst Paul H. Nitze (1907–). Known as National Security Council Memorandum 68 (NSC-68), the study reflected Acheson's "get tough" approach to stopping the expansion of Soviet influence. The report called for substantial increases in military spending. It was not immediately well received by Congress because of its costs, but the North Korean invasion of South Korea (see box) on June 25, 1950, spurred Congress to adopt it.

Acheson recommended a military counterattack against North Korean forces. Meanwhile, he suspected that the Soviet Union might try to attack Western Europe while the United States was preoccupied with Korea, so he took steps to try to prevent this: He tried unsuccessfully to lobby Europe to rearm Germany; however, he did manage to increase the number of U.S. troops in Europe. He also appointed the highly popular World War II general Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969; see entry) supreme commander of NATO. The army and air force grew dramatically as Acheson sought to triple the U.S. defense budget. In addition, Acheson established new U.S. military bases in Morocco, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Japan, and provided support to the French in Vietnam, where they were fighting communist rebel forces.

While Acheson was busily serving as chief advisor to Truman regarding the Korean War, he had to deal with continual attacks from U.S. senator Joseph R. McCarthy (1908–1957; see entry) of Wisconsin and his supporters, who accused Acheson of being "soft on communism." They made these accusations because the communists had gained ground in China and Eastern Europe during the late 1940s, while Acheson was secretary of state. McCarthy also charged that communists had infiltrated Acheson's State Department. Critics constantly pressured Acheson to resign. To escape from public pressure, Acheson took refuge on his eighteenth-century Maryland farm, where he made furniture by hand.

An active life after public service

In January 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower entered the White House and Acheson's time as secretary of state came to a close. Though retired, Acheson remained active in foreign policy for years. He was a leading critic of Eisenhower and Eisenhower's secretary of state, John Foster Dulles (1888–1959; see entry), especially of their heavy reliance on nuclear deterrents. Acheson served as an informal advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy (1917–1963; served 1961–63; see entry) and Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973; served 1963–69; see entry), continuing to advocate tough positions against Soviet actions. For example, he urged Kennedy to bomb the newly discovered Soviet missile sites during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. (Kennedy chose a less aggressive but successful course of blockading Cuba.) Acheson also supported U.S. military action in Vietnam until 1968, when he became convinced the war was no longer winnable. At that time, he advised President Johnson to begin scaling down U.S. involvement. President Richard M. Nixon (1913–1994; served 1969–74; see entry) and his national security advisor, Henry Kissinger (1923–; see entry), called on Acheson in 1969 for advice.

Acheson wrote many books and articles on foreign policy and politics in his later years. He won the Pulitzer Prize in history for his 1969 book Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department. On October 12, 1971, Acheson died suddenly of a stroke while working at his desk on his Sandy Spring, Maryland, farm. He was seventy-eight.

For More Information

Books

Acheson, Dean. Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department. New York: Norton, 1969.

Acheson, Dean. Sketches from Life of Men I Have Known. New York: Harper, 1961.

Brinkley, Douglas. Dean Acheson: The Cold War Years, 1953–1971. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992.

Isaacson, Walter, and Evan Thomas. The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made: Acheson, Bohlen, Kennan, Harriman, Lovett, McCloy. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1986.

Web Site

"Oral History Interview with Dean Acheson." Truman Presidential Museum and Library.http://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/acheson.htm (accessed on August 20, 2003).

Korean War

The Korean War (1950–53) dominated Dean Acheson's term as secretary of state. In fact, some people accused Acheson of being responsible for the war. In January 1950, in his first month as secretary, Acheson gave a speech to the National Press Club. During the speech, he stated that South Korea was outside what he considered the U.S. defense perimeter. Critics claimed Acheson's comment made North Korea think that the United States would not respond if North Korea attacked the south.

When North Korean forces invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950, Acheson instantly became President Harry Truman's key war advisor. That same day, he went before an emergency session of the United Nations (UN) Security Council to obtain resolutions condemning the attack and calling for a military response. The United States would spearhead the war effort with the assistance of several other nations. Acheson was lucky: Because the Soviet Union was boycotting the UN at the time (protesting the organization's exclusion of the People's Republic of China), Soviet representatives were not present to veto the resolutions.

On June 30, U.S. troops under the command of General Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964; see entry) arrived in Korea. Though North Korea had pushed deep into the south, MacArthur's strategy of splitting North Korean forces by invading farther up the Korean coast worked. North Korean forces were put on the run as the largely American force pushed all the way north to the border with the People's Republic of China (PRC). Acheson hoped MacArthur would crush the North Korean forces for a decisive victory. However, contrary to expectations, on November 25, the PRC entered the war in support of North Korea. The PRC sent three hundred thousand troops into North Korea, routing U.S. forces. U.S. soldiers retreated into South Korea and finally were able to battle to a stalemate at the original boundary between North and South Korea. Acheson later commented that the PRC attack was his worst moment in public life. Acheson had to support Truman's decision to remove General MacArthur from his command in April 1951 for not following orders. The war would drag on until June 1953, months after Acheson had returned to private life.