Robert L. Beisner – författare

Dean Acheson was one of the most influential Secretaries of State in U.S. history, presiding over American foreign policy during a pivotal era--the decade after World War II when the American Century slipped into high gear. During his vastly influential career, Acheson spearheaded the greatest foreign policy achievements in modern times, ranging from the Marshall Plan to the establishment of NATO. In this acclaimed biography, Robert L. Beisner paints an indelible portrait of one of the key figures of the last half-century. In a book filled with insight based on research in government archives, memoirs, letters, and diaries, Beisner illuminates Acheson's major triumphs, including the highly underrated achievement of converting West Germany and Japan from mortal enemies to prized allies, and does not shy away from examining his missteps. But underlying all his actions, Beisner shows, was a tough-minded determination to outmatch the strength of the Soviet bloc--indeed, to defeat the Soviet Union at every turn. The book also sheds light on Acheson's friendship with Truman--one, a bourbon-drinking mid-Westerner with a homespun disposition, the other, a mustachioed Connecticut dandy who preferred perfect martinis. Over six foot tall, with steel blue, "merry, searching eyes" and a "wolfish" grin, Dean Acheson was an unforgettable character--intellectually brilliant, always debonair, and tough as tempered steel. This lustrous portrait of an immensely accomplished and colorful life is the epitome of the biographer's art.

This outstanding collection of essays is the product of a symposium on peacemaking and peacekeeping, sponsored by the National Committee for the Bicentennial of the Treaty of Paris. The original papers included in this volume were written by leading scholars from the United States, Great Britain, and Canada to assess themes related to the prerequisites and consequences of peace. The emphasis is on peaceful outcomes and the preservation of peace, rather than the causes of war, and the writings reflect a penetrating awareness of the many facets of peacemaking and peacekeeping. Included are thought-provoking discussions on the impact of war and promise of peace on women, the American perception of peace as an opportunity for profit and as a private political issue, the avoidance of war, and the possible obsolescence of war in our own era.