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Quotes of the Day for 11 April 2005 - Dean Acheson

Dean Gooderham Acheson was born at Middletown, Connecticut on this day in 1893. He was educated at Harvard, then went on to Yale Law School, and became secretary to Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. He served as Undersecretary of the Treasury under Roosevelt early in his term, and as Assistant Secretary of State during World War II. Truman named him Undersecretary of State in 1945 and Secretary of State in 1949. During this time he created the US policy of containment regarding Communism, he also publicly feuded with Joseph McCarthy. Acheson supported Truman's decision to fire Douglas MacArthur, which incidentally happened on this day in 1951. He returned to private law practice after the 1952 election, but was a close advisor to presidents Kennedy and Johnson.

Time spent in the advertising business seems to create a permanent deformity like the Chinese habit of foot-binding.

The great corrupter of public man is the ego.... Looking at the mirror distracts one's attention from the problem.

The manner in which one endures what must be endured is more important than the thing that must be endured.

I will undoubtedly have to seek what is happily known as gainful employment, which I am glad to say does not describe holding public office.

The most important aspect of the relationship between the president and the secretary of state is that they both understand who is president.

A memorandum is written not to inform the reader but to protect the writer.
     - All from Dean Acheson, 1893 - 1971

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