David Campion Acheson | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1921-11-04)November 4, 1921 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Died | August 16, 2018(2018-08-16) (aged 96) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Education | Yale University (BA) Harvard University (LLB) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Eleanor D. Acheson David C. Acheson Jr. Peter W. Acheson |
| Parent(s) | Dean Gooderham Acheson Alice Stanley |
| Relatives | Edward Campion Acheson(grandfather) William Gooderham(2x great grandfather) William Bundy(brother-in-law) Emily C. Hewitt(daughter-in-law) |
David Campion Acheson (November 4, 1921 – August 16, 2018) was an American attorney. Son of pastUnited States Secretary of StateDean Acheson, he worked for theUnited States Atomic Energy Commission and served as an assistant to formerTreasury SecretaryHenry H. Fowler.
David Campion Acheson was born in Washington, D.C., on November 4, 1921, toDean Acheson (1893–1971) and Alice Caroline Stanley (1895–1996). At the time of his birth, Acheson's father was a clerk forSupreme Court JusticeLouis Brandeis.[1] His parents had three children: (1) Jane Acheson (1919–2003), who married Dudley Brown (?-1975),[2] (2) David Campion Acheson, and (3) Mary Eleanor Acheson (born 1924), who marriedWilliam Bundy (1917–2000), an attorney, analyst with theCIA, and foreign affairs adviser topresidentsJohn F. Kennedy andLyndon B. Johnson[3][4]
Acheson attended theGroton School, graduating in 1939.[5] That fall, Acheson enteredYale University and joined the NavalROTC. While he was at Yale, he was inducted in the honor society ofSkull and Bones,[6] ultimately graduating in 1942. In 1948, Acheson received aLL.B. fromHarvard Law School.[7]
Acheson's paternal grandfather wasEdward Campion Acheson (1858–1934), an English-bornChurch of England priest who, after several years in Canada, moved to the U.S. to become Episcopal Bishop of Connecticut. Acheson's paternal grandmother was Eleanor Gertrude Gooderham, the Canadian-born granddaughter of prominent Canadian distillerWilliam Gooderham (1790–1881), who was a founder of theGooderham and Worts Distillery.[8]
Acheson's mother,Alice, was a painter, and his maternal grandparents were Louis Stanley, a railroadlawyer, and Jane C. Stanley, a watercolorist. His great-grandfather wasJohn Mix Stanley (1814–1872), a renowned painter ofAmerican Indian life in theWild West.[9] Alice graduated fromWellesley College and over the years exhibited her oil paintings and watercolors atNew York'sWildenstein and Washington's Franz Bader Gallery, and in such museums as theCorcoran and thePhillips Collection.[10] Her subjects included scenes of Washington, portraits and landscapes of exotic lands she visited over the years.[9]
In 1942, Acheson was commissioned in theUnited States Naval Reserve and served until 1946 in thePacific theater, seeing action in theSolomon Islands,New Guinea and thePhilippines. He served on destroyer escorts from 1943 through 1945 and rose from ensign to lieutenant. For his service, he was awarded four battle stars.[7]
From 1948 until 1950, worked as an attorney for theUnited States Atomic Energy Commission. From 1961 until 1965, he was theUnited States Attorney for the District of Columbia.[11] In 1965, PresidentLyndon B. Johnson announced that Acheson was resigning from the U.S. Attorney's office to become a special assistant in theUnited States Secretary of the Treasury, underHenry H. Fowler.[11] From 1965 until he left the Treasury in 1967, Acheson was responsible for coordinating the Treasury's law enforcement activity.[12] The job included overseeing theSecret Service and theBureau of Narcotics as well as providing technical guidance for enforcement activities of theBureau of Customs,Coast Guard andInternal Revenue Service.
After he left the Treasury Department, he served as senior vice president ofCommunications Satellite Corporation, until he left for the law firm ofJones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in 1974.[12] From 1989 until 1991, he was a director of the Institute for Technology and Strategic Research withGeorge Washington University.[7] From 1991 until 1992, Acheson was a consultant to theAtlantic Council and in 1993, through 1999, he served as its president and chief executive officer, as well as serving its board of directors.[7]
Acheson practiced law for many years at various firms in Washington, DC.[7]
Acheson was also selected to serve on theRogers Commission that investigated the cause of theSpace Shuttle Challenger disaster.
In 1943, Acheson married Patricia James Castles who was from New York and a graduate ofBryn Mawr College.[13] Together they had 3 children:[13]
Patricia taught at theCathedral School from 1959 until the mid-1960s and had earlier taught at thePotomac andMadeira Schools. She wrote books for students of American history includingAmerica's Colonial Heritage,Our Federal Government, andThe Supreme Court.[13] She died ofemphysema on March 7, 2000.[13]
Acheson resided in theFoggy Bottom section ofWashington, D.C., and served on many government committees including thePresidential Commission on the space shuttleChallenger accident.[7]
Acheson died at home in Washington, D.C., on August 16, 2018, at the age of 96.[18]
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