Dean Gooderham Acheson

Acheson, Dean Gooderham (1893–1971), U.S. diplomat who helped rebuild Europe's economic and military strength after World War II. He served Presidents Roosevelt and Truman in the State Department (1941–53), becoming secretary of state in 1949. After the war he promoted the recovery of Europe through the Marshall Plan and worked to curb Soviet expansion through the Truman Doctrine (both 1947). In 1949 he helped to formulate the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He received the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for history for his book Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department.

See also: Marshall Plan; North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Truman, Harry S.