Dean Acheson

Dean Acheson
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
Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations and International Conferences
In office December 20, 1944 – August 15, 1945
President	Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Ernest A. Gross (Legislative Affairs) Dean Rusk (International Organization Affairs)
Personal details
Born	Dean Gooderham Acheson (1893-04-11)April 11, 1893 Middletown, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	October 12, 1971(1971-10-12) (aged 78) Sandy Spring, Maryland, U.S.
Resting place	Oak Hill Cemetery Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Alice Stanley ​ (m. 1917)​
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 (pronounced /ˈætʃɪsən/ ATCH-iss-ən;^[1] April 11, 1893 – October 12, 1971) was an American statesman 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, especially regarding 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 partisan 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.