Editing Dean Acheson (section)

==Early Career and Military Service==
During World War I, Acheson briefly served in the U.S. Navy (1917–1918) as an ensign, overseeing ship repairs in Brooklyn. After the war, he clerked for Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis (1919–1921), a progressive icon whose influence deepened Acheson’s interest in law. In 1921, he joined the Washington, D.C., law firm Covington & Burling, becoming a partner and specializing in international law, which honed his understanding of global economic issues. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him Under Secretary of the Treasury, but Acheson resigned after seven months, objecting to FDR’s decision to devalue the dollar by manipulating gold prices.