Acheson: The Secretary of State Who Created the American World

No one was more influential in successfully constructing the American political approach toward negotiating the difficult passage of the United States in the fractious post World War Two period than Harry Truman's controversial Secretary Of State, Dean Acheson. No single individual was more energetic, impassioned, or persistent in creating the American worldview of the second half of this century than Acheson, and although he was not among the original company of American "Cold Warriors", he quickly made up for his late start with extraordinary enthusiasm, brilliance, and decisive action. In this stirring, comprehensive, and immensely readable biography by historian James Chace, the reader is taken into the fascinating vortex of the wealthy power elite, where we watch with fascination as this child of privilege slowly comes of age, graduating from prestigious Groton Academy and undergraduate studies at Yale, moving on to Harvard Law School, where he was a housemate of Cole Porter's. Acheson indeed quickly learned to walk with ease in the corridors of money, power, and influence, first, as a protégé of Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, and then as a close advisor to General George Marshall. He was a friend and confidant to Winston Churchill, and after the war was appointed by Harry Truman to the job of a lifetime, that of Secretary of State from 1949 until 1953, thus achieving the key position he needed to massively influence the key decisions and policies that would shape the post-WWII world. As a consummate man of action who often moved decisively behind the scenes, Acheson executed the Marshall Plan to contain Soviet aggression and influence in Berlin, and was also the principal architect of the so-called Truman Doctrine designed to limit Stalin's expansionist ambitions in the early 1950s. Moreover, he was a driving force in the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, which ensured military parity in Europe and restrained The Soviet Union in its efforts to export its philosophy and politics to the rest of a Europe still reeling from the effects of the war.The author's portrait of Acheson is not that of an impassioned ideologue seemingly obsessed with single-handedly combating the evils of communism. Quite the contrary, Chace's view of Dean Acheson seems more that of a quite intelligent, thoughtful, and balanced veteran of `realpolitik', i.e., of a brilliantly pragmatic patriot whose enlightened views of the Soviet Union and Communist China quite gradually hardened based both on experience as well as a belated recognition of the horrors of what had transpired in each of those countries both before and during the Second World War. Unfortunately for Acheson, his moderate and realistic views earned him the distrust and repudiation of the far right, and McCarthy and his fellow travelers unfairly branded him as the man "who had lost China". Acheson later became a much-valued elder statesman who advised Presidents and Sena

Acheson is a great biography and a splendid introduction to Cold War history. Unlike most political biographers, Chace manages to render a full portrait of Acheson without getting bogged down in the minutiae of his long and extraordinary public life. Prior to this book, my impression of Acheson was as the Ultimate Cold Warrior. Chace reveals him to be a far more complex and ultimately heroic character than that moniker would suggest. Aside from the Cold War chapters, what I found most fascinating were the details of Acheson's relationship with Oliver Wendell Holmes and the influence the old jurist had on him.

James Chace has written an excellent history of the cold war through his biography of Dean Acheson, the architect of the US post WWII foriegn policy. If you like history and biographies -- this book is a great read.

While it can sometimes be overly favorable to the former Secretary of State, this book provides a very interesting view of the most important events of the century. A must read for anyone interested in Cold War history, the author has done a great job - it's not remotely boring!

Chace provides a well-balanced history of United States post WWII foreign policy and Acheson's key role during that time. His loyalty to the country and the presidency -- not the individual-- is something sorely missed now. Every Secretary of State should hang Acheson's portrait in their office as a reminder.