David Campion Acheson

Acheson's paternal grandfather was Edward Campion Acheson (1858–1934), an English-born Church 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 distiller William Gooderham (1790–1881), who was a founder of the Gooderham and Worts Distillery.[8]

Acheson's mother Alice was a painter, and his maternal grandparents were Louis Stanley, a railroad lawyer and Jane C. Stanley, was a watercolorist. His great-grandfather was John Mix Stanley (1814–1872), a renowned painter of American Indian life in the Wild West.[9] His mother graduated from Wellesley College and over the years exhibited her oil paintings and watercolors at New York's Wildenstein and Washington's Franz Bader Gallery, and in such museums as the Corcoran and the Phillips Collection.[10] Her subjects included scenes of Washington, portraits and landscapes of exotic lands she visited over the years.[9]

In 1942, he was commissioned in the Navy and served until 1946 in the Pacific theater. He saw action in the Solomon Islands, New Guinea and the Philippines. He was ensign to Lieutenant and served on destroyer escorts from 1943 through 1945. For his service he was awarded 4 battle stars.[7]

From 1948 until 1950, worked as an attorney for the United States Atomic Energy Commission. From 1961 until 1965, he was the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.[11] In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced that Acheson was resigning from the U.S. Attorneys office to become a special assistant in the United States Secretary of the Treasury, under Henry 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 the Secret Service and the Bureau of Narcotics as well as providing technical guidance for enforcement activities of the Bureau of Customs, Coast Guard and Internal Revenue Service.

After he left the Treasury Department, he served as senior vice president of Communications Satellite Corporation, until he left for the law firm of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in 1974.[12] From 1989 until 1991, he was a director of the Institute for Technology and Strategic Research with George Washington University.[7] From 1991 until 1992, Acheson was a consultant to the Atlantic 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]

• 1950–1958 - Covington & Burling (Associate)
• 1958–1961 - Covington & Burling (Partner)
• 1974–1978 - Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue (Partner)
• 1978–1988 - Drinker Biddle & Reath (Partner)