Diplomatic Ramble

SKETCHES FROM LIFE OF MEN I HAVE KNOWN (206 pp.)--Dean Acheson--Harper ($4).

Few public officials have seen more trouble, at home or abroad, than Dean Acheson, President Harry Truman's Secretary of State from 1949 to 1953. But no one would ever know it from this casual, rambling book of personal reminiscences, the kind of memories the wise diplomat "will cherish in his heart against the evil hours when no man may smile." He provides no new insights into the men and incidents he describes but displays the gossipy skill of an international name dropper who is entitled to be casual about the game. The name dropped most fondly turns out to be that of British Foreign Secretary Ernie Bevin, who used to rumble when Acheson was under at tack at home: "Don't give it a thought, me lad. If those blokes don't want yer, there's plenty as does."

One whom Acheson seems to want, or at least admire, is Portugal's Dictator Antonio Salazar, whom Acheson calls "a man unique in his time, the possessor of a rare mind and even rarer charm. A libertarian may properly disapprove of Dr. Salazar, but I doubt whether Plato would--though he might worry as to what may happen when the doctor's great abilities are no longer available."

Acheson has a tendency to make himself the hero of most brief encounters and the originator of lightning ripostes. About the only serious note in the book concerns today's passionate advocates of negotiations with the Russians at all costs; Acheson warns them that to the Russians, even negotiation is only a tactic in an unceasing war.

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