Dillon Anderson (July 14, 1906 – January 29, 1974) was an official in the

federal government of the United States The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fe ...

during the

Eisenhower administration Dwight D. Eisenhower's tenure as the 34th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1953, and ended on January 20, 1961. Eisenhower, a Republican from Kansas, took office following a landslide victory ...

(1953–61). He served as the 2nd

National Security Advisor A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils. National sec ...

from April 2, 1955, to September 1, 1956. He also was a member of the Draper Committee.

Biography

Anderson was born on July 14, 1906, in

McKinney, Texas McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano and Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about north of Dallas. The U.S. Census Bureau lis ...

, the son of Joseph A. and Bessie Dillon. After attending

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...

, Anderson received his B.S. from the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

(1927) and his LL.B. from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

(1929). He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

(1942–1945) and earned the Army Commendation Ribbon and Legion of Merit. He worked on lend-lease materiel and military government planning, attaining the rank of colonel. Anderson in 1940 was made partner in Houston, Texas, law firm of

Baker Botts Baker Botts L.L.P. is an American law firm of around 725 lawyers. Headquartered in One Shell Plaza in Downtown Houston, Texas, the firm has energy and technology related clients. It is referred to as the second-oldest law firm west of the Mi ...

, before becoming

, Anderson was an official at the National Security Council from 1953 to 1955. He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

in 1959. Mr. Anderson resigned his post as special assistant in August, 1956, to return to his law practice. In 1958 he was elected chairman of the Texas National Bank. He was a director of Westinghouse Electric Corporation and of the Monsanto Chemical Corporation, and a trustee of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, of the Brookings Institution and of the Schlumberger Foundation. He died on January 28, 1974, in Houston, Texas.

External links

Records of the White House Office of the Special Assistant for National Security Affairs, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library

References

1906 births 1974 deaths 20th-century American lawyers United States Army personnel of World War II Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences People from McKinney, Texas Military personnel from Texas Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States National Security Advisors University of Oklahoma alumni Yale Law School alumni People associated with Baker Botts {{Texas-politician-stub