Dean Acheson

Dean Gooderham Acheson was a "lawyer, author, Secretary of State in the Harry S. Truman administration, and member of the Yale Corporation. Acheson attended Groton, Yale College (1911?-1915), and the Harvard Law School. He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis before joining the Washington law firm of Covington & Burling. He served for more than twelve years at the U.S. State Department (1941-1953), first as assistant and under secretary of state and then as secretary of state during President Truman's second term. During these years Acheson was instrumental in forging the NATO alliance, the Truman doctrine, and the Marshall Plan; in developing America's postwar posture towards Germany, the Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China; and in diplomatic negotiations during the Korean Conflict. Following his retirement as secretary of state, Acheson returned to his law practice, served as advisor to John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon, and wrote several books including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Present at the Creation. He died on October 12, 1971."