Synopses & Reviews
Acheson is the first comprehensive biography of the most important and controversial secretary of state of the twentieth century. More than any other of the renowned "Wise Men" who shaped America's vision of the world in the aftermath of World War II, Dean Acheson was the quintessential man of action, the driving force behind the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and NATO. James Chace has given us an important and dramatic work of history chronicling the momentous decisions, events, and fascinating personalities of the most critical decades of the American Century.
Review
What makes Acheson such an excellent book is Chace's ability to blend serious foreign policy analysis with colorful vignettes...Chace tells his story with intelligence and grace. Washington Post Book World
Review
An engrossing biography of a public servant whose vision, self-confidence, and personal integrity are still enshrined in international institutions and American attitudes. New York Times Book Review
Review
Dean Acheson was both a great secretary of state and a brilliant, elegant, imperious, irascible gentleman. James Chace's absorbing biography does justice to all aspects of a fascinating man. Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., author of < i=""> The Disuniting of America <>
About the Author
James Chaceis Paul W. Williams Professor of Government and Public Law at <>Bard Collegeand the editor ofWorld Policy Journal.
Table of Contents
Prologue: The Custom of the Country
PART 1: A BOY'S LIFE
1. Et in Arcadia Ego
2. A World Apart
3. The Most Dashing of Yak Men
4. "This Wonderful Mechanism, the Brain"
PART 2: THE IMPERATIVES OF ACTION
5. The Heroes
6. "The Regular Connection of Ideas"
7. "A Low Life but a Merry One"
8. "Forces Stronger Than Reason"
9. Most Unsordid Acts
10. The New Economic World Order
11. "The Good Life Is Very Hard"
PART 3: FROM ALLIANCE TO COLD WAR
12. "An Armament Race of a Rather Desperate Nature"
13. No Grand Strategy
14. "A Graceful Way Out"
15. Risking War
16. "Clearer Than Truth"
17. Reveille in Mississippi
18. The Habit-Forming Drug of Public Life
PART 4: THE SECRETARY OF STATE
19. In Marshall's Chair
20. Letting the Dust Settle
21. "That Moment of Decision"
22. The German Question, the British Connection, and the French Solution
23. Putting Our Hand to the Plow
24. Situations of Strength
25. "An Entirely New War"
26. The Substitute for Victory
27. Entangling Alliances
28. Endgame
29. "That Candles May Be Brought"
PART 5: THE WARRIOR IN EXILE
30. Rejoining the Fray
31. "A Sort of Ancient Mariner"
32. "The Survival of States"
33. Contending with LBJ
34. Into the Quagmire
35. Seductions and Betrayals
Coda: "A Blade of Steel"
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index