Background
David Dean Rusk was born on February 9, 1909 in a rural district of Cherokee County, Georgia, to Robert Hugh Rusk and Frances Elizabeth (née Clotfelter) Rusk.
David Dean Rusk was born on February 9, 1909 in a rural district of Cherokee County, Georgia, to Robert Hugh Rusk and Frances Elizabeth (née Clotfelter) Rusk.
He was educated in Atlanta's public schools, graduated from Boys High School in 1925, and spent two years working for an Atlanta lawyer before working his way through Davidson College.
He worked his way through Davidson College in North Carolina and won a Rhodes scholarship for study at Oxford University.
After a brief period at the University of Berlin, in 1934 he was appointed associate professor of government and dean of faculty at Mills College, Oakland, California, a post he held until 1940. Joining the infantry reserve as a captain, he served in two campaigns in the China-Burma-India theater, rising to the rank of colonel.
He joined the State Department in 1945 and again in 1947, to direct the Office of United Nations Affairs.
In 1949 President Harry S. Truman promoted him from deputy under secretary of state in charge of operations to assistant secretary for Far Eastern affairs. In the major decisions of the Korean war and particularly the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur as United States commander in the Far East, Rusk was an active supporter of President Truman.
Rusk became president of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1951, and under his direction the foundation expanded its operations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. On several occasions he served as adviser to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
On December 12, 1960, Rusk was chosen by President-elect John F. Kennedy to be secretary of state in the new cabinet. He continued as secretary of state under President Lyndon B. Johnson.
From 1970 to 1984 he taught international law at the University of Georgia. He died on December 20, 1994, in Athens, Georgia.
He supported diplomatic efforts during the Cuban Missile Crisis and expressed doubts about the escalation of the United States role in the Vietnam War.
As Secretary of State he believed in the use of military action to combat communism.
He was a member of the Rockefeller Foundation from 1950 to 1961.
Rusk married the former Virginia Foisie (October 5, 1915 – February 24, 1996) on June 9, 1937. They had three children: David, Richard and Peggy Rusk.