Rusk, Dean, 1909-1994

Dean Rusk (1909-1994), U.S. Secretary of State, born in Cherokee County, Georgia.

Dean Rusk was born in Cherokee County, Ga., on February 9, 1909. He attended Davidson College, graduating in 1931 as a Rhodes Scholar. He then attended St. John's College, Oxford. In 1946 he became assistant chief of the Division of International Security Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, and later served as Special Assistant Secretary of War. From 1947 to 1949 he was the Director of the Office of United Nations Affairs of the U.S. Dept. of State. In 1969 he left Washington to become a professor of law at the Univeristy of Georgia. Rusk died on December 20, 1994. He received numerous honors, including the Cecil Peace Prize, 1933; the Legion of Merit; the Oak Leaf Cluster; membership in the American Society of International Law; and almost 20 honorary degrees.

Dean Rusk (1909-1994), attorney, U.S. Secretary of State, born in Cherokee County, Georgia. Rusk joined the Department of State from 1947-1952 as Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs and for Far Eastern Affairs. From 1952-1960 he was president of the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1961, President Kennedy appointed Rusk to the office of Secretary of State. He remained in this position until 1969. In 1970, he became the Samuel H. Sibley Professor of International Law at the University of Georgia, a position he held until his death in 1994.

Diplomat.

Dean Rusk (1909-1994), attorney, U.S. Secretary of State, born in Cherokee County, Georgia. Rusk joined the Dept. of State from 1947-1952 as Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs and for Far Eastern Affairs. From 1952-1960 he was president of the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1961, President Kennedy appointed Rusk to the office of Secretary of State. He remained in this position until 1969. In 1970, he became the Samuel H. Sibley Professor of International Law at the University of Georgia, a position he held until his death in 1994.

Dean Rusk was born on February 9, 1909 in Cherokee County, Georgia. He attended Lee Street Elementary and Boys' High School in Atlanta, Georgia. Rusk obtained an A.B. degree from Davidson College, North Carolina in 1931, and a B.S. (Rhodes Scholar) and M.A. in 1933 and 1934 from St. John's, Oxford, England. He returned to the United States to become Associate Professor of Government and Dean of Faculty at Mills College, Oakland, California, from 1934 to 1940 and studied law at the University of California, Berkeley, class of 1940. Rusk served in the United States Army from 1940 to 1946 in the China-Burma-India theater. At first he served with the Third Infantry Division, then later with the Military Intelligence Service. Rusk was released from duty with the rank of colonel. After his military career ended, Rusk joined the Department of State from 1947 to 1952, as Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs and for Far Eastern Affairs. From 1952 to 1960 he was president of the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Rusk to the office of Secretary of State. He remained in this position until 1969, through the administrations of Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Rusk was in office during the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion, when East Germany began constructing the Berlin Wall, and as the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was also Secretary of State during the height of the Vietnam Conflict. In 1970, Rusk came to the University of Georgia's School of Law as the Samuel H. Sibley Professor of International Law, and he later established the Dean Rusk Center for International and Comparative Law. Rusk served the University of Georgia until his death on December 20, 1994. Rusk married Virginia Foisle in June, 1937. They had three children together, David Patrick, Richard Geary and Margaret Elizabeth. In 1990, As I Saw It , the book he co-authored with his son, Richard, was published.

David "Dean" Rusk (1909-1994) was born in Cherokee County, Georgia. After graduating from Davidson College in North Carolina in 1931, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, earning his B.S. at St. John's College, Oxford in 1933. The following year he earned his M.A. and went to Mills College where he worked until 1940 in the capacities of Associate Professor of Government and Dean of the Faculty. In 1940, he entered the United States Army, serving for six years. Following his military service, Rusk first entered the political sphere as the chief of the U.S. State Department's Division of International Security Affairs. Between 1946 and 1952 he held the following appointive positions: Special Assistant to the Secretary of War from 1946 to 1947; Director of the U.S. State Department's Office of United Nations Affairs; Deputy Undersecretary of State from 1949 to 1950; and Assistant Secretary of state for Far Eastern Affairs from 1950 to 1951. During the Eisenhower administration, Rusk left politics and became president of the Rockefeller Foundation. When Kennedy was elected president, Rusk reentered public life as Secretary of State, a position he held throughout the entire Kennedy and Johnson Administrations. Following Nixon's inauguration in 1969 Rusk returned to academia, teaching international law at the Law School of the University of Georgia from 1970 until his death in 1994.

Dean Rusk was born on February 9, 1909 in Cherokee County, Georgia. He attended Lee Street Elementary and Boys' High School in Atlanta, Georgia. Rusk obtained an A.B. degree from Davidson College, North Carolina in 1931, and a B.S. (Rhodes Scholar) and M.A. in 1933 and 1934 from St. John's, Oxford, England. He returned to the United States to become Associate Professor of Government and Dean of Faculty at Mills College, Oakland, California, from 1934 to 1940 and studied law at the University of California, Berkeley, class of 1940. Rusk served in the United States Army from 1940 to 1946 in the China-Burma-India theater. At first he served with the Third Infantry Division, then later with the Military Intelligence Service. Rusk was released from duty with the rank of colonel. After his military career ended, Rusk joined the Department of State from 1947 to 1952, as Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs and for Far Eastern Affairs. From 1952 to 1960 he was president of the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Rusk to the office of Secretary of State. He remained in this position until 1969, through the administrations of Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Rusk was in office during the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion, when East Germany began constructing the Berlin Wall, and as the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was also Secretary of State during the height of the Vietnam Conflict. In 1970, Rusk came to the University of Georgia's School of Law as the Samuel H. Sibley Professor of International Law, and he later established the Dean Rusk Center for International and Comparative Law. Rusk served the University of Georgia until his death on December 20, 1994. Rusk married Virginia Foisle in June, 1937. They had three children together, David Patrick, Richard Geary and Margaret Elizabeth. In 1990, As I Saw It, the book he co-authored with this son, Richard, was published.

Cyrus Roberts Vance was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia on March 27, 1917. He attended Yale University, receiving his B.A. in 1939 and his law degree in 1942. After serving in the Navy during World War II, Vance practiced law at the Wall Street firm of Simpson, Thatcher & Bartlett, becoming a respected international lawyer. Vance entered government service as Senate committee counsel in 1957 and later served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations as secretary of the army (1961-62), deputy secretary of defense (1964-67), and U.S. negotiator to the Paris Peace Conference on the Vietnam War (1968-69). He also served as special envoy to Cyprus (1967) and Korea (1968). As President Carter's Secretary of State, Vance opposed the 1980 attempt to rescue the American hostages in Iran and resigned after the mission failed. "I knew I could not honorably remain as secretary of state when I so strongly disagreed with a presidential decision that went against my judgement as to what was best for the country and hostages," Vance later explained. He subsequently served on several diplomatic missions, in particular as head of the United Nations' efforts to negotiate an end to the violence following the dissolution of Yugoslavia (1991-92). At various times Vance also served on the boards of corporations, universities, foundations, and other organizations, and was chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (1988-1990). In 1947, he married Grace Sloane Vance, with whom he had five children. Cyrus Roberts Vance died on January 12, 2002 after a lengthy struggle with Alzheimer's disease. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.