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Rusk 7O, Dean Rusk autobiographical sketch, Part 1, circa 1985

Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia
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00:00:21 - Childhood in Cherokee County, GA

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Partial Transcript: I was born February 9, 1909 in Cherokee County, Georgia.

Segment Synopsis: Dean Rusk shares about his early childhood in Cherokee County. The topics he discusses include his ancestry, his home life, his diet, and the local area.

Keywords: Davidson College; Justice of the Peace; Presbyterian; Scotch-Irish; malnutrition

00:11:10 - Attending grammar school in Atlanta

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Partial Transcript: In 1912, my father, realizing that this was a man-killing little farm and it was almost destroying my mother physically...

Segment Synopsis: Dean Rusk talks about his time at Lee Street School in Atlanta, GA. He discusses the quality and type of education he received there.

Keywords: Atlanta Public School System; Carpenter's Geographic Readers; Georgia Board of Education; open air classrooms

00:16:30 - Studying at Boys' High School

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Partial Transcript: After seventh grade, I went straight to high school.

Segment Synopsis: Dean Rusk discusses his experiences at Boys' High School. He shares about his favorite teacher, Preston Epps, and the quality of the school.

Keywords: Alciphronian Yearbook; Atlanta Public School System; Boston Latin School; Greek literature; ROTC; Reserve Officers' Training Corp; Rockefeller Foundation

00:25:05 - Preparation for Davidson College

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Partial Transcript: I had always dreamed about going to Davidson College.

Segment Synopsis: Dean Rusk talks about the two years he spent after high school saving money to attend Davidson College. He shares about his time in a law firm and working for the Atlanta Journal newspaper.

Keywords: City Editor Harlee Branch, Sr.; ROTC; YMCA; Young Men's Christian Association

00:30:34 - Obtaining the Rhodes Scholarship

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Partial Transcript: I knew when I first entered Davidson that I was going to try for a Rhodes scholarship...

Segment Synopsis: Dean Rusk speaks about his collegiate preparations for applying for the Rhodes Scholarship. He also discusses the application process.

Keywords: Cecil Rhodes; Davidson College; Former Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels; North Carolina poll tax; Professor Guy Vowles; YMCA

00:36:33 - Time at Oxford University / Time in Germany during the rise of the Nazi Party

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Partial Transcript: Anyhow, I was accepted at St. John's College, Oxford, one of the smaller but one of the richer colleges there.

Segment Synopsis: Dean Rusk talks about his studies and leisure time at St. John's College, Oxford. Later, he discusses studying abroad in Germany during Adolf Hitler's rise to power. He shares about the changes to Germany and the university system.

Keywords: Mein Kampf; Hochshule fur Politik; Nazism; Professor Viktor Bruns; The Lakes District, England; The Modern Greats; Treaty of Versailles; University of Berlin

00:45:31 - Visit by Mohandas Gandhi / The King and Country debate

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Partial Transcript: One of the delights at Oxford was the fact that some of your professors would have open house every Sunday afternoon...

Segment Synopsis: Dean Rusk describes the time he heard Gandhi speak to a group of students at Oxford. Later, he talks about the King and Country debate he attended in the Oxford Union.

Keywords: Adolf Hilter; C.E.M. Joad; Indian Nationalists; Oxford Lotus Club; Oxford Movement; Resolve that this House will not fight for King and Country; St. John's College; United States Army; WW2; WWII; World War 2; World War II; colonialism; pacifism

00:51:49 - Professor at Mills College

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Partial Transcript: But when I was finishing up at Oxford in 1934, the United States was still in a very deep depression...

Segment Synopsis: Dean Rusk speaks about his time teaching at Mills College. He focuses on his admiration for Mills College President, Aurelia Henry Reinhardt, and recalls meeting his wife.

Keywords: Association of American University Woman; Cecil Rhodes; Republican Party; Rhodes Trust; United States Army Reserves

00:59:39 - Law school at Berkeley / Captain in the Army Reserves

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Partial Transcript: Part of that period, beginning about 1936, I began to study law at Berkeley.

Segment Synopsis: Dean Rusk shares about his experiences in law school at the University of California, Berkeley in the 1930's. Later, he discusses his transition to active duty as a captain in the Army Reserves.

Keywords: Boalt Hall; Law Review; U.S. Military; WW2; WWII; World War 2; World War II

01:08:28 - Organizing a new section of G-2, the army intelligence organization

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Partial Transcript: Then in October 1941, I received orders to report to the War Department General Staff in Washington for a G-2...

Segment Synopsis: Dean Rusk talks about his move from California to Washington, D.C. to organize a new section of G-2 (the military intelligence staff in the U.S. Army) to cover Afghanistan, India, Burma, Malaya, Australia, New Zealand, and the British Pacific Islands.

Keywords: Murray's Tourist Handbook on India and Ceylon; WW2; WWII; War Department; World War 2; World War II

01:14:02 - Staff officer for General Joseph Stilwell

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Partial Transcript: After being in G-2 for over a year and a half, I was then sent to Commander General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.

Segment Synopsis: Dean Rusk discusses going to India to serve as a staff officer for General Stilwell in the China-Burma-India Theater. He focuses on the command structure in this theater and their operations.

Keywords: Burma Road; CBI; Merill's Marauders; Vinegar Joe Stillwell; WW2; WWII; World War 2; World War II

01:24:12 - Chief of War Plans for General Joseph Stilwell

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Partial Transcript: My job as Chief of War Plans for General Stilwell was as much political as military.

Segment Synopsis: Dean Rusk speaks about his job as Chief of War Plans in the China-Burma-India Theater. He describes their mission and the barriers to success.

Keywords: Chiang Kai-shek; General Clair Lee Chennault; Indian National Movement; WW2; WWII; World War 2; World War II; communism