James Chace, 72; Historian Wrote Books on Foreign Policy

James Chace, 72, a historian and author of several influential books on foreign policy, died Oct. 8 in Paris of a heart attack.

Chace is best-known for his book “Acheson: The Secretary of State Who Created the American World,” about the Truman administration Cabinet secretary who became a target of Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist crusade.

Much of Chace’s work on statesmanship became a respected resource on foreign policy thinking. The Acheson book was used in the Clinton White House when a Chace quote -- “America, the indispensable nation” -- became commonplace among the administration’s advocates of intervention in Bosnia.

Born in Falls River, Mass., Chace graduated from Harvard. He worked for the CIA in Paris in the 1950s, translating French newspapers.

He was later the managing editor of several foreign policy publications, including East Europe, which dealt with Soviet Bloc affairs, Interplay and Foreign Affairs.