C. Douglas Dillon | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Dillon in 1955 | |
| 57thUnited States Secretary of the Treasury | |
| In office January 21, 1961 – April 1, 1965 | |
| President | John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Preceded by | Robert B. Anderson |
| Succeeded by | Henry H. Fowler |
| 21stUnited States Under Secretary of State | |
| In office June 12, 1959 – January 4, 1961 | |
| President | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Preceded by | Christian Herter |
| Succeeded by | Chester Bowles |
| 2ndUnder Secretary of State for Economic Affairs | |
| In office July 1, 1958 – June 11, 1959 | |
| President | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Preceded by | William L. Clayton |
| Succeeded by | George Ball |
| United States Ambassador to France | |
| In office March 13, 1953 – January 28, 1957 | |
| President | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Preceded by | James C. Dunn |
| Succeeded by | Amory Houghton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Clarence Douglass Dillon (1909-08-21)August 21, 1909 |
| Died | January 10, 2003(2003-01-10) (aged 93) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2, includingJoan |
| Parent(s) | Clarence Dillon Anne McEldin (née Douglass) |
| Education | Groton School |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (BA) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1941-1946[1] |
| Rank | Lieutenant Commander[2] |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| [3] | |
Clarence Douglas Dillon (bornClarence Douglass Dillon; August 21, 1909 – January 10, 2003) was an American diplomat and politician who served as theUnited States ambassador to France from 1953 to 1957 and as the 57thUnited States secretary of the treasury from 1961 to 1965. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of theNational Security Council (ExComm) during theCuban Missile Crisis. His conservative economic policies while Secretary of the Treasury were designed to protect the U.S. dollar.
Dillon was born on August 21, 1909, inGeneva, Switzerland, the son of American parents, Anne McEldin (née Douglass) and financierClarence Dillon. Although Dillon grew up as apatrician, his paternal grandfather, Samuel Lapowski, was a poorJewish emigrant fromPoland.[4] After leaving Poland, his grandfather settled in Texas after theAmerican Civil War and married Dillon's Swedish-American grandmother. Dillon's father later changed his family name to Dillon, an Anglicization of "Dylion", his grandmother's maiden name.[4] Dillon's mother was descended from the Graham family, Lairds of Tamrawer Castle at Kilsyth,Stirling, Scotland.[citation needed]
Dillon began his education at Pine Lodge School inLakehurst,New Jersey. He continued atGroton School in Massachusetts, then atHarvard College,A.B.magna cum laude 1931 in American history and literature.[4][5] Dillon earned a varsity letter for football his senior year.[6]
In 1938, he becameVice-President andDirector ofDillon, Read & Co., a firm that bore his father's name (Clarence Dillon). After hisWorld War II service onGuam, onSaipan, and in thePhilippines, he left theUnited States Navy asLieutenant Commander decorated with theLegion of Merit andAir Medal. In 1946 he became chairman of Dillon, Read; by 1952 he had doubled the firm's investments.[3]
Dillon had been active in Republican politics since 1934. He worked forJohn Foster Dulles inThomas E. Dewey's1948 presidential campaign. In 1951 he organized the New Jersey effort to secure the1952 Republican nomination forDwight D. Eisenhower. He was also a major contributor to Eisenhower'sgeneral election campaign in 1952.[3]
President Eisenhower appointed himUnited States Ambassador to France in 1953.[7] Following his return he becameUnder Secretary of State for Economic Affairs in 1958 before becomingUnder Secretary of State the following year.[8]TIME reported that ifRichard Nixon had won thepresidential election of 1960 that Dillon was to be chosen as Secretary of State.[9]
In 1961,John F. Kennedy, appointedRepublican DillonTreasury Secretary. Dillon remained Treasury Secretary under PresidentLyndon B. Johnson until 1965.According to Richard Dean Burns and Joseph M. Siracusa, Dillon's leadership of the economic policy team, exerted significant conservative influence on the overall direction of the administration. He effectively convinced the president that the nation's main economic challenge was the balance of payments deficit, leading to the adoption of a moderate approach and the dismissal of more radical liberal solutions to domestic issues. President Kennedy's choice of Dillon as Secretary of the Treasury reflected a deep concern about the balance of payments deficit and the resulting "gold drain." By choosing Dillon, a Wall Street figure with strong Republican connections and a reputation for advocating sound monetary policies, Kennedy aimed to reassure the financial community, which was apprehensive about the potential loose monetary policies of the incoming Democratic administration. According to Theodore Sorensen, the president's choice was primarily influenced by the need to maintain global confidence in the dollar and prevent a massive conversion of dollars into gold. Kennedy shared Dillon's moderately conservative economic perspectives at the time of his appointment, and Dillon enjoyed close access to the president throughout his presidency. He was one of the few political associates who socialized with Kennedy as well.
The emphasis placed by Kennedy and Dillon on addressing the balance of payments issue had a substantial impact on the administration's overall economic policy, steering it toward conservatism. The growing annual deficits in dollar payments had led to a significant accumulation of dollars in the hands of foreign banks and governments. The recurring loss of confidence in the value of the dollar prompted foreign holders to exchange their dollars for American gold, which had a fixed value relative to the dollar. This "gold drain" raised concerns within the financial community and remained a prominent issue during both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. In an effort to stabilize the status of the dollar and halt the outflow of gold, the Kennedy administration avoided economic measures that could potentially increase inflation and undermine foreign confidence in the dollar. During the initial years of Kennedy's presidency, Dillon's success in prioritizing the payments deficit prevented more aggressive fiscal and monetary interventions in the economy or increased spending on social programs.[10]
On tariff policy, Dillon proposed the fifth round of tariff negotiations under theGeneral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), conducted in Geneva 1960–1962; it came to be called the "Dillon Round" and led to substantial tariff reduction. Dillon was important in securing presidential power for reciprocal tariff reductions under theTrade Expansion Act of 1962. He also played a role in crafting theRevenue Act of 1962, which established a 7 percentinvestment credit to spur industrial growth. He supervised revision ofdepreciation rules to benefit corporate investment.
Dillon supervised the development of a reform package. He made a case before Congress to withhold taxes on interest and dividend income. The goal was to combat widespread tax evasion. Additionally, he advocated for the closure of loopholes utilized by foreign "tax haven" corporations and businessmen who deducted entertainment expenses. Although Congress rejected most of the administration's reform program during the summer of 1962, Dillon nevertheless endorsed the final package because it included a 7 percent investment tax credit.[12]
Kennedy also made use of Dillon's diplomatic skills. He was made the leader of the American delegation dispatched to Punta del Este, Uruguay, in August 1961 to commence theAlliance for Progress. Dillon committed the U.S. to provide $20 billion in low-interest loans over the next decade to enhance the living conditions in Latin America. He endorsed the "revolution of rising expectations" and aimed to convert it into a "revolution of rising satisfactions." Additionally, Dillon served on the National Security Council and actively participated in the intense discussions surrounding theCuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.[12][13]
A close friend ofJohn D. Rockefeller III, he was chairman of theRockefeller Foundation from 1972 to 1975. He also served alongside John Rockefeller on the 1973Commission on Private Philanthropy and Public Needs, and under Nelson Rockefeller in theRockefeller Commission to investigate CIA activities. He served as president ofHarvard Board of Overseers, chairman of theBrookings Institution, and vice chairman of theCouncil on Foreign Relations.[4]
With his first wife, Dillon collectedImpressionist art. He was a longtime trustee of theMetropolitan Museum of Art, serving as its President (1970–1977) and then chairman.[4] He built up itsChinese galleries and served as a member of theMuseum's Centennial committee.[14] He personally donated $20 million to the museum and led a fundraising campaign, which raised an additional $100 million.[15]
In 2004, the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibitedThe Douglas Dillon Legacy: Chinese Painting for the Metropolitan Museum,[16] celebrating Dillon’s gifts and the establishment of The Dillon Fund in the field of Chinese art. The exhibit displayed more than 50 Chinese masterworks. The Dillon Fund supported the creation of the Douglas Dillon Galleries for Chinese Painting and Calligraphy and “endowed a departmental chairmanship in Chinese art, and a position in Chinese painting conservation, and provided funding for several important publications on the collection.”
He received theMedal of Freedom in 1989.
On March 10, 1931, Dillon married the former Phyllis Chess Ellsworth (1910–1982)[a] inBoston, Massachusetts. Phyllis was the daughter of John Chess Ellsworth[17] and Alice Frances Chalifoux. The couple had two daughters:
In 1983, the widowed Dillon married the former Susan "Suzzie" Slater (1917–2019). She had first been married to Theodore "Ted" Sheldon Bassett (1911–1983) in 1939 (div.). In 1949 she married British entertainer Jack Buchanan (1891–1957). In 1961 she wed DeWitt Linn Sage (1905–1982), who again left her a widow.
Dillon died of natural causes on January 10, 2003, at theNew York-Presbyterian Hospital inNew York City at the age of 93.[15]
Through his daughter Joan's first marriage, he was a grandfather of Joan Dillon Moseley (b. 1954), and through his daughter Joan’s second marriage toPrince Charles of Luxembourg,[18] he was a grandfather to Princess Charlotte (b. 1967) andPrince Robert (b. 1968) followed. After Prince Charles' death in 1977, Joan marriedPhilippe, 8th duc de Mouchy in 1978, without further issue.[19]
In theBrendan DuBois novelResurrection Day (1999), theCuban Missile Crisis erupts into a full-scale nuclear war and Washington, D.C., is destroyed. PresidentJohn F. Kennedy is killed, as is Vice PresidentLyndon Johnson, most of the Senate and Congress, and most members of theKennedy administration. Dillon, the Secretary of the Treasury, is eventually found to have survived the war and becomes the 36th President of the United States.
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | U.S. Ambassador to France March 13, 1953 – January 28, 1957 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs July 1, 1958 – June 11, 1959 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Under Secretary of State June 12, 1959 – January 4, 1961 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Served under:John F. Kennedy,Lyndon B. Johnson January 21, 1961 – April 1, 1965 | Succeeded by |
| Cultural offices | ||
| Preceded by |  President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 1970-1977 | Succeeded by |
| Non-profit organization positions | ||
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Brookings Institution 1968 — 1975 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation 1971 — 1975 | Succeeded by |
| Envoys to France (1776–1779) |  | |
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| Ministers Plenipotentiary to France (1778–1815) | ||
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to France (1816–1893) | ||
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to France (1893–present) | ||
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
