Dean Acheson

American secretary of state (1949-1953)

• Born: April 11, 1893
• Birthplace: Middletown, Connecticut
• Died: October 12, 1971
• Place of death: Sandy Spring, Maryland

As secretary of state, Acheson conducted negotiations leading to the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and dealt with crises involving the victory of communism in China and American participation in the Korean War. His policies determined the basic framework of U.S. security commitments in Europe and Asia during the Cold War.

Early Life

Dean Acheson (ACH-a-suhn) was the son of a Canadian couple who moved to the United States. His father, Edward Acheson, had served with a Canadian militia regiment before settling on a career as an Episcopalian minister. Eleanor Gooderham Acheson, the boy’s mother, was from a prosperous and socially prominent family in Toronto. Margot and Edward, Jr., a sister and a younger brother, were born during the next ten years. Acheson recalled that his childhood was unusually happy, a golden age of games, pony riding, and Fourth of July celebrations. He never quarreled with his father until he was in college; he had a particularly fond and close relationship with his mother. During his adolescent years, Acheson was educated at the Groton School in southeastern Connecticut. After six languid years there, he spent the summer of 1911 in Canada, working on the Temiscaming and Northern Ontario Railroad; the experience of unrelenting physical labor among rough-hewn railway men left enduring memories of life in the wild that Acheson cherished in later life. That autumn, he enrolled at Yale University, and with only a modicum of effort he received passing grades and was graduated in 1915.

Acheson then entered the law school of Harvard University; he found academic demands there far more rigorous but also more challenging and stimulating. Particularly rewarding was his relationship with Professor Felix Frankfurter, who encouraged him in the study of constitutional law. For some time Acheson had seen his sister’s roommate at Wellesley College, Alice Stanley, the daughter of a Michiganlawyer; in 1917 he married her. The following year, after he had earned his law degree, Acheson enlisted in the Naval Auxiliary Reserve, and for several months, until World War I ended, he served as an ensign at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He then intended to pursue graduate studies in law, but after six months at Harvard, Professor Frankfurter obtained a position for him as secretary to Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis. In 1919, Acheson moved to Washington, D.C.; as he attended to the myriad details of cases brought before the high court, he received lasting impressions of Brandeis’s unstinting standards of excellence. Devoted to the justice’s work, Acheson provided needed assistance and support when Brandeis’s wife suffered a nervous breakdown. In appreciation, Brandeis made an unusual offer, extending Acheson’s appointment as his secretary for a second year.

Life’s Work

At about this time, Acheson’s life became more settled. A daughter, Jane Acheson, was born in 1919, followed by a son, David, and a younger daughter, Mary. In 1920, the family moved into a small house in Washington; later they acquired a quaint old farmhouse in Sandy Spring, Maryland, which Acheson regarded as a welcome refuge from legal and political cares. By his own account, Acheson was a liberal in politics, and the Republican ascendancy of the 1920’s evidently deepened these convictions. In 1921, he joined Covington and Burling, a promising new law firm in the nation’s capital. Although often aroused by political issues, he spent the next twelve years handling cases at law, some of which had international implications. In 1922, he represented Norway in proceedings arising from wartime shipping contracts; with others in the firm, Acheson argued this case before the Court of International Justice in the Hague. Other legal work concerned corporations or involved claims of water rights in the United States.

Acheson was six feet three inches tall, with a spare but powerful build. He had brown hair, which he combed back in spite of its tendency to recede in later years. He had thick, bushy eyebrows that seemingly were underscored by the mustache he had cultivated since early adulthood; to the delight of cartoonists, he often combed the ends upward, producing a curiously flamboyant effect. His manner perplexed many of those around him. He could be supercilious to the point of overt arrogance, but he could also act with a distinct stoicism, which possibly arose from his father’s religious calling. He was able to endure direct affronts with quiet dignity. His style of speaking and writing, which was urbane and refined, bore the hallmarks of careful and discriminating reading; at times he would invoke great American or British thinkers or quote aphorisms in Latin.

In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Democratic administration assumed power, and Felix Frankfurter’s intercession with the new president secured for Acheson an appointment as undersecretary of the treasury. Major disagreements ensued, however, over the government’s policy of manipulating the price of gold in an effort to stimulate economic growth. Acheson had misgivings about the legal basis for such action and believed that it was improper in view of existing gold contracts. After six months in office, he resigned and returned to his law practice. In 1939, Frankfurter was nominated as a Supreme Court justice; Acheson served as adviser and representative to his old mentor during the Senate confirmation hearings. Acheson then became chair of a committee advising the attorney general. During the next year, President Roosevelt considered means by which American destroyers might be sent to Britain, to aid in its war with Nazi Germany; Acheson assisted in legal work facilitating this transfer of military vessels. In 1941, Acheson was appointed assistant secretary of state for economic affairs. He played an important part in financial planning during World War II and aided in the establishment of such organizations as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. As undersecretary of state from 1945 to 1947, he participated in deliberations leading to the European Recovery Program, or Marshall Plan. He was also the chair of a special committee that considered problems surrounding proposals for the international control of atomic energy.

Although Acheson had often expressed his wishes for a return to private life, and indeed left the State Department in 1947, President Harry S. Truman appreciated his experience and his skill in coordinating administrative work. Accordingly, Acheson accepted his appointment to the nation’s highest diplomatic post, in January, 1949. He had first to deal with proposals for mutual security arrangements, which had been considered among Western nations as a means to deal with Soviet expansionism. Enlarging on projects that had already been advanced, involving Great Britain and several European states, Acheson carried out negotiations for a formal defense alliance. By reassuring hesitant states, such as Norway and Denmark, and encouraging those eager to join, such as Italy, the particular concerns of various governments were reconciled. In all, twelve original members joined the Atlantic alliance, which, while committed to maintaining peace, affirmed that an armed attack on any signatory would be regarded as an attack on all. Acheson also appeared before the United States Senate and adroitly dispelled the doubts of those who were wary of overseas commitments. In July, 1949, the Senate ratified the North Atlantic Treaty, and thus the nation embarked on a military alliance in peacetime.

More intractable were problems in China, where for several years Communist insurgents steadily had won control of major provinces; in October, 1949, they entered the capital, whereupon their Nationalist opponents fled to the island of Formosa. The State Department and the administration at large had come under criticism for their seeming inaction. Acheson, called on to answer for the United States’ China policy, firmly insisted that no reasonable measures could have prevented a Communist victory; he held to this position both in the State Department’s official publications and in his testimony before the Senate.

Anxiety also had arisen about communist influence in the United States. An alleged Communist, Alger Hiss, was a former State Department officer who at one time had worked under Acheson. When he was convicted of perjury, Acheson expressed his personal compassion for Hiss. The secretary of state’s critics charged that he was doing little to oppose communist inroads. Senator Joseph McCarthy later insinuated that Acheson was somehow subservient to international communism.

In Korea, communist forces launched a direct attack from across the demarcation line dividing the peninsula, in June, 1950; President Truman, on consultation with Acheson and other members of his cabinet, authorized the use of American troops to drive back the invaders. During the crisis, Acheson coordinated efforts to obtain support from America’s allies and the United Nations. By November, North Korean troops had been compelled to retreat, but Chinese Communist armies then entered the war and threatened the wholesale rout of United Nations forces. While insisting on the stalwart defense of positions in Korea, Acheson resisted demands for direct action against China itself. Nevertheless, General Douglas MacArthur, the U.S. and U.N. commander in Korea, called for expanded action and, in defiance of a standing directive from Washington, issued his own version of possible peace terms in a virtual ultimatum to the other side. President Truman consulted with other military leaders and members of his cabinet; they concluded that MacArthur had exceeded his authority and, in April, 1951, he was removed from his command. Acheson supported this measure; in June, 1951, he testified before the Senate for eight days in justification of Truman’s decision. Throughout the Korean War, Acheson maintained that the peninsula had to be defended, but in a limited war that would avoid the risk of major confrontations elsewhere. Thus he supported the defense of Formosa but rejected proposals for involving Nationalist China in action against the Communists.

Diplomatic activity affecting other parts of the world was guided by Acheson’s concerns for European security and the defense of Asia. He authorized American aid to support French forces fighting communist guerrillas in Indochina; Middle Eastern concerns, such as a major government crisis in Iran in March, 1951, and the Egyptian revolution of July, 1952, he handled guardedly. In September, 1951, the United States concluded negotiations for a peace treaty with Japan, which Acheson endorsed as a means of strengthening U.S. security arrangements in the Far East.

When Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower became president in January, 1953, Acheson left the State Department. During the last eighteen years of his life he took on the role of elder statesman. He published seven books; two collections of essays and an anthology of his letters appeared posthumously. He did perform some legal work, and once again he was involved in international litigation at the Hague. Widely respected for his deftly conjoined views of politics and diplomacy, he was in some demand as a public speaker. Although he did not seek any permanent appointments, he was called back to Washington as an adviser during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962; PresidentsLyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon also consulted with him on means by which a resolution might be found for the Vietnam War. Late in life he was increasingly affected by physical ailments, which he bore with some fortitude. Finally, on October 12, 1971, Acheson died of a heart attack and was found slumped over his desk at his home in Sandy Spring, Maryland.

Significance

Having witnessed political upheaval on the international stage during the first half of the twentieth century, Acheson became secretary of state during a critical period, when the United States’ role in world politics awaited clear definition. After World War II, various responses were considered to meet challenges from the Soviet Union and its allies. Profoundly distrustful of the counsels of isolationism, which still appeared in certain guises, Acheson also was skeptical that international organizations such as the United Nations in and of themselves would ensure peace and security. His approach was to underscore the commitment of the United States to international order, first and foremost by organizing the Atlantic alliance and involving the United States directly in the defense of Europe. Communist advances in Asia he took to be manifestations of Soviet ambitions in the Far East; nevertheless, he recognized the limitations of the United States’ ability to act. It could not reverse the course of events in China, where massive political turmoil had engulfed the world’s most populous nation; even while at war in Korea, the United States could not court wider and more dangerous confrontations. The course Acheson charted established commitments for the defense of Korea and Japan but left the United States with somewhat broader concerns about Communist penetration in other regions of the world as well.

Acheson’s views of foreign policy were distinctively shaped by the temper of his times; he had seen the rise of dictators preceding World War II, and his dealings with the Soviet Union came during the most intransigent period of Stalinist diplomacy, when most other Communist parties monotonously echoed the Soviet line. Thus the measures Acheson took reflected certain assumptions about the postwar world; during his later years, he steadfastly maintained that the Soviet Union benefited from the efforts of Chinese and Vietnamese communism. For a time he defended American involvement in Vietnam; only after several years of war did he conclude that victory there was not possible. Much in the world changed after he left the State Department, and many new concerns arose, but the basic structure of U.S. foreign policy continued to rest on security alliances Acheson negotiated for the common defense of Western Europe and of major Asian nations in the Pacific region.

Bibliography

Acheson, Dean. Among Friends. Edited by David S. McLellan and David C. Acheson. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1980. A group of letters selected from among those written between 1918 and the last month of his life, this collection often shows Acheson in various offhand moods, commenting on issues of the day to his family, friends, and public officials. Useful as a guide to his way of thinking over the years.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Morning and Noon. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965. Whimsical sketches of Acheson’s first forty-eight years, which recapture childhood joys, assess his education, and point to the influence of great jurists, such as Felix Frankfurter and Louis D. Brandeis, in the development of his legal career. The formation of his political outlook and his brief but stormy period of service in the Treasury Department are also discussed.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department. New York: W. W. Norton, 1969. Sweeping panoramic memoirs that trace the entire ambit of Acheson’s formal diplomatic career, written with some regrets but no apologies. Acheson was forthright in his judgments of men and events, and his dry, mordant wit is often in evidence; particularly vivid and illuminating are his reflections on the Atlantic alliance, the Korean War, and Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anticommunist campaign. For this work, Acheson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. This Vast External Realm. New York: W. W. Norton, 1973. Acheson’s unsentimental views of international power politics, and his unshaken conviction that Soviet influence must be kept in check, are set forth in this collection of articles and speeches. Also noteworthy are his piquant suggestions for instilling a greater sense of realism in American diplomacy.

Beisner, Robert L. Dean Acheson: A Life in the Cold War. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. An exhaustive eight-hundred-page biography of Acheson’s long and influential career.

Brinkley, Douglas. Dean Acheson: The Cold War Years, 1953-1971. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1992. Portrait of Acheson’s life after he retired as secretary of state, recounting how he became an elder statesman and adviser to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson and reconciled with his former nemesis, Richard M. Nixon.

McLellan, David S. Dean Acheson: The State Department Years. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1976. A careful scholarly examination of Acheson’s diplomatic practice, this work delineates his approach to foreign policy from among the divergent standpoints that existed at the time in the State Department and in other branches of government. Due balance is assigned to the demands of Cold War crises abroad and domestic political pressures that affected Acheson’s positions on issues that shaped the postwar world.

McNay, John T. Acheson and Empire: The British Accent in American Foreign Policy. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2001. Revisionist history, in which the author argues that Acheson’s consistent vision of empire influenced his foreign policy initiatives.

Smith, Gaddis. Dean Acheson. New York: Cooper Square, 1972. This thoroughgoing and thoughtful exposition of Acheson’s work as secretary of state, volume sixteen of the series The American Secretaries of State and Their Diplomacy, sets forth the particular means by which his handling of European and Asian crises defined America’s foreign policy objectives. Sympathetic though not uncritical, the author is incisive in conveying the historical context against which American diplomacy under Acheson was carried out.

Stupak, Ronald J. The Shaping of Foreign Policy: The Role of the Secretary of State as Seen by Dean Acheson. New York: Odyssey Press, 1969. A brief study of problems of organization and bureaucracy in the State Department, this work is studded with the terminology of political science and reaches no larger conclusions about the direction of American foreign policy under Acheson’s stewardship.