Dean Rusk
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| Dean Rusk | |
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| In office January 20, 1961 – January 20, 1969 |
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| President | John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Preceded by | Christian Herter |
| Succeeded by | William P. Rogers |
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| In office February 8, 1949 – May 26, 1949 |
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| President | Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | Post created |
| Succeeded by | John D. Hickerson |
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| Born | February 9, 1909 Cherokee County, Georgia |
| Died | December 20, 1994 (aged 85) |
| Profession | Professor, Soldier, Politician |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
David Dean Rusk (February 9, 1909 – December 20, 1994) was the United States Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He was the second-longest serving Secretary of State, behind Cordell Hull. Dean Rusk Middle School in Canton, Georgia is named in his honor.
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[edit] Childhood and Education
Dean Rusk was born a poor farm boy[1] in Cherokee County, Georgia. He was educated in Atlanta's public schools. After graduation from Boys High School in 1925[2] he worked two years for an Atlanta lawyer. Rusk then worked his way through Davidson College. He was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order Sigma chapter,[3], Cadet Lieutenant Colonel commanding the ROTC battalion, and was graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1931.[2] While attending St. John's College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, he received the Cecil Peace Prize in 1933.[4][2]
From 1934 to 1940 he taught at Mills College in Oakland, California. He earned his law degree at the University of California, Berkeley in 1940.
He married Virginia Foisie [1937-06-19][2] and they had three children.[5]
[edit] Career Prior to 1961
In World War II he joined the infantry as a reserve captain, and served as a staff officer in the CBI Theater. At war's end he was a colonel, decorated with the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster.[2]
He returned to America to work briefly for the War Department in Washington. He joined the Department of State in February 1945 working for the office of United Nations Affairs. In the same year, he suggested splitting Korea into a sphere of U.S. and one of Soviet influence at the 38th parallel north. He was made Deputy Under Secretary of State in 1949. He was made Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs in 1950 and played an influential part in the US decision to become involved in the Korean War, and also Japan's postwar compensation for victorious countries, such as the Rusk documents. However he was a cautious diplomat and always sought international support.
Rusk was a Rockefeller Foundation trustee from 1950 to 1961. In 1952 he succeeded Chester L. Barnard as president of the Foundation.[2]
[edit] Secretary of State
On 1960-12-12, President Kennedy appointed Rusk Secretary of State. He was sworn in January, 1961.[2]
As Secretary of State he was consistently hawkish, a believer in the use of military action to combat Communism. During the Cuban missile crisis he initially supported an immediate military strike, but he soon turned towards diplomatic efforts. Early in his tenure, he had strong doubts about US intervention in Vietnam,[6] but later his vigorous public defense of US actions in the Vietnam War made him a frequent target of anti-war protests. Outside of his work against communism, he continued his Rockefeller Foundation ideas of aid to developing nations and also supported low tariffs to encourage world trade. Rusk also drew the ire of supporters of Israel after he let it be known that he believed the USS Liberty incident was a deliberate attack on the ship, rather than an accident.
As he was to recall in his autobiography, As I Saw It, Rusk didn't have a good relationship with Kennedy and repeatedly offered to resign. Just after the president was assassinated, Rusk followed the customary procedure of offering the new president, Lyndon Baines Johnson, his resignation. However, Johnson told him to stay on and the two became friends. When Johnson died in 1973, he eulogized the former president when he lay in state.
He saw Communist influence among anti-war protesters, and suffered bitter anti-war criticism from his "pseudo-intellectual" former colleagues in the administration. He complained of their attacks and their anti-Southern prejudice.[7]
[edit] Retirement
Rusk received both the Sylvanus Thayer Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969.
Following his retirement, he taught international law at the University of Georgia School of Law in Athens, Georgia (1970-1984).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ MORRISON, DONALD. "Ghost Dad (bk rvw of AS I SAW IT by Dean Rusk, as told to Richard Rusk)", Time, 1990-07-30. Retrieved on 2008-02-04. ""I won't be around for history's verdict," says Rusk, now 81 and ailing in his Georgia retirement, "and I am perfectly relaxed about it.""
- ^ a b c d e f g Anonoymous. Biography of Dean Rusk. Davidson College. Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
- ^ Famed Fraternity Members. Kappa Alpha Order. Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
- ^ Turner, Arthur Campbell; Francis Carney and Jan Erickson (2005-04-05). [http://www.ucrhistory.ucr.edu/pdf/turner2.pdf Transcription of Oral History Audio Interview with ARTHUR CAMPBELL TURNER April 6 and May 28, 1998] (PDF) p.8. University of California, Riverside. Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
- ^ Parks Rusk Collection of Dean Rusk Papers. Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies Biographical Note. University of Georgia. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ Henry II, John B.; William Espinosa. "The Tragedy of Dean Rusk" (fee), Foreign Policy, No. 8,, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Autumn, 1972, pp. pp. 166-189. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ Novak, Robert D. (2007). "Ch 15-Great Society in Descent", The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington. New York: Crown Forum, pp 147-150. ISBN 978-1-4000-5199-1. “Have you ever noticed how these people react to a Southern accent?...Almost any other -- British, New England, Hungarian, French -- is acceptable to them. But not Southern.”
- Rusk, Dean (1963). The winds of freedom; selections from the speeches and statements of Secretary of State Dean Rusk, January 1961- August 1962. Boston: Beacon Press. OCLC 1106835.
- Rusk, Dean (1990). As I Saw It. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393026507.
[edit] External links
- Interview for WGBH series, War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
- Dean Rusk at Find A Grave Retrieved on 2008-02-05
- Entry in New Georgia Encyclopedia
| Preceded by Christian Herter |
United States Secretary of State 1961–1969 |
Succeeded by William P. Rogers |
| Preceded by Bob Hope |
Sylvanus Thayer Award recipient 1969 |
Succeeded by Ellsworth Bunker |
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| Vice President | Lyndon B. Johnson (1961-1963) |  |
| Secretary of State | Dean Rusk (1961-1963) | |
| Secretary of the Treasury | C. Douglas Dillon (1961-1963) | |
| Secretary of Defense | Robert McNamara (1961-1963) | |
| Attorney General | Robert F. Kennedy (1961-1963) | |
| Postmaster General | J. Edward Day (1961-1963) • John A. Gronouski (1963) | |
| Secretary of the Interior | Stewart Udall (1961-1963) | |
| Secretary of the Agriculture | Orville Freeman (1961-1963) | |
| Secretary of Commerce | Luther H. Hodges (1961-1963) | |
| Secretary of Labor | Arthur Goldberg (1961-1962) • W. Willard Wirtz (1962-1963) | |
| Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare | Abraham A. Ribicoff (1961-1962) • Anthony J. Celebrezze (1962-1963) | |
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