 Thomas J. Schoenbaum Collection of Dean Rusk Files
Collection DescriptionBiographical NoteDean Rusk was born on February 9, 1909 in Cherokee County, Georgia. He attended Lee Street Elementary and Boys' High School in Atlanta, Georgia. Rusk obtained an A.B. degree from Davidson College, North Carolina in 1931, and a B.S. (Rhodes Scholar) and M.A. in 1933 and 1934 from St. John's, Oxford, England. He returned to the United States to become Associate Professor of Government and Dean of Faculty at Mills College, Oakland, California, from 1934 to 1940 and studied law at the University of California, Berkeley, class of 1940. Rusk served in the United States Army from 1940 to 1946 in the China-Burma-India theater. At first he served with the Third Infantry Division, then later with the Military Intelligence Service. Rusk was released from duty with the rank of colonel. After his military career ended, Rusk joined the Department of State from 1947 to 1952, as Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs and for Far Eastern Affairs. From 1952 to 1960 he was president of the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Rusk to the office of Secretary of State. He remained in this position until 1969, through the administrations of Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Rusk was in office during the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion, when East Germany began constructing the Berlin Wall, and as the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was also Secretary of State during the height of the Vietnam Conflict. In 1970, Rusk came to the University of Georgia's School of Law as the Samuel H. Sibley Professor of International Law, and he later established the Dean Rusk Center for International and Comparative Law. Rusk served the University of Georgia until his death on December 20, 1994. Rusk married Virginia Foisle in June, 1937. They had three children together, David Patrick, Richard Geary and Margaret Elizabeth. In 1990, As I Saw It, the book he co-authored with his son, Richard, was published. Thomas J. Schoenbaum currently serves a Professor of International Studies at the International Christian University in Japan. He has taught at the law schools of the University of North Carolina, Tulane University, and the University of Georgia. At Tulane he served as associate dean and at Georgia he was executive director of the Dean Rusk Center of International and Comparative Law. He has practiced law extensively as special counsel for several law firms and has litigated corporate, environmental, and admiralty cases in the federal courts. Professor Schoenbaum has received six Fulbright awards and has held teaching posts in many countries, including Germany, Belgium, the UK, South Africa, Austria, Russia, and Japan. He has served as visiting fellow at St. John's College, Oxford and as principal fellow of the Lauterpacht Research Centre of International Law at Cambridge. Professor Schoenbaum specializes in international commercial and environmental law. He is the author of many articles and books, including The World Trade Organization: Law, Policy and Practice (2003), Admiralty and Maritime Law (3d ed. 2001), and Environmental Policy Law (2002). He is currently working on new books in the areas of international environmental law and international business transactions. (Courtesy of the George Washington University Law School website, 2007) Scope and ContentThe Thomas J. Schoenbaum Files consists of research materials collected for use by Dr. Schoenbaum in writing a book on Dean Rusk. They deal mainly with Mr. Rusk's service as a Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, 1961-1969. Documents originating in the office of the secretary of state during those years are located in the Kennedy and Johnson presidential libraries, the National Archives, and the Department of State files. Copies of selected documents were made and brought together by Dr. Schoenbaum's research assistant, Ms. Savanna Jackson. The papers were arranged according to their intended usage, and that arrangement has been retained. Headings from government files as used in the presidential libraries have been kept. Guides to the Kennedy and Johnson libraries are included. Documents from the presidential libraries and National Archives, speeches of Dean Rusk, State Department bulletins and correspondence, although copies of the originals, are treated as primary sources. Selected secondary sources, made up of printed materials not easily available elsewhere, provide additional information on Mr. Rusk's career and the times. Organization and ArrangementThe papers are divided into seven series. Series I, Personal/Family, pertains to childhood and school days, including some family letters and references to military service. Mr. Rusk's 75th birthday celebration, held at the Department of State, is documented here. The other six series deal with Mr. Rusk's years of public service. Some original photographs are located in Box 3. Portions of Dr. Schoenbaum's manuscript are included in the last three boxes. There is a transcript of an interview with Mr. Rusk by Richard Holbrooke and Brian van DeMark on Israel, Robert Lovett, and Vietnam. Administrative InformationPreferred CitationThomas J. Schoenbaum Collection of Dean Rusk Files, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641. Processing NotesDocuments copied from the National Archives and some presidential libraries are included in Series IV. User RestrictionsLibrary acts as "fair use" reproduction agent. Copyright InformationBefore material from collections at the Richard B. Russell Library may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permission. Persons wishing to quote from materials in the Russell Library collection should consult the Director. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original. Finding Aid PublicationFinding aid prepared on: 2008. Related Materials and SubjectsSubject TermsRelated Collections in this Repository
Richard B. Russell, Jr. Collection William Tapley Bennett, Jr. Collection Related Collections in Other RepositoriesDean Rusk Oral Histories, Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, Austin, Texas Dean Rusk Papers, Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, New York Dean Rusk Files, Department of State Records, National Archives | ||||||||||||||||||||||