"Present at the Creation" Dean Acheson. West. Civ. Series.

I'm going to go down a different path this year on this blog,  but its something I've been thinking of doing for a while...if I weren't such a shy guy.

The book below would be a appropriate start on this new path because it's title is appropriate,   Dean's  last name begins with an 'A",  its his 'creation' that is being scrutinized in the world as I write this, and it genre is basically the genre of my intellectually curiosity that's gotten the most time and efforts out of me -- foreign policy.

What I wish to accomplish is a sort of thread of my readings that has gotten me to my thinking today.  By no means will it be a linear journey from WWII to present, and I can't promise to be coherent in my logic, but I'll give it a try.   What I can promise is, it won't be constrained by any time period, it won't be limited to politics, and it won't be comprehensive of why I think the way I do.

But I hope to make it worthwhile for reading.

So, what do we have here?

"Present at the Creation, My Years in the State Department."

Dean Acheson was Secretary of State under Harry Truman back in the day.   Right after WWII.

This is large memoir, about 780 pages,  and it covers Mr. Acheson's entire career, and most importantly to note, they are his own words.

There are 76 chapters in this book, covering the beginning of the modern U.S.-dominated world order since WWII.  Up til the early 1950's when Eisenhower won the Presidency and brought in his own man.

You will read about the origins of organizations like NATO, the E.U., and the World Bank.

Its full of candid comments with his contemporaries --  his opponents both foreign and domestic.  Its full of decisions that shaped the world as we know it still today.

If you ever thought about the structure of the world, or how it all began,  and I'm sure its not a common curiosity, but if it were a curiosity this is the place to start.

When talk is mentioned about making America great again, and its from a crowd that wants to honor Confederate Generals more than some of our most recent patriots, I think Acheson and a slew of others from his era should have statues to protect, but most of us don't even know who they were.

Next time I'll have another book that I read that I can connect to this book.

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