David Hackett

David Low Hackett was an American official born in Dedham, Massachusetts.

Biography

Hackett served in the United States Army in Europe during World War II. He attended McGill University, completing a B.A. in 1950.
He was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to head the President's Committee on Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Crime. Later, Hackett headed a study group for the establishment of a domestic peace corps organization, which later became AmeriCorps Vista. A friend of Robert F. Kennedy, Hackett assisted with Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1968.
Hackett lived in Bethesda, Maryland. He was the inspiration for the character Phineas in A Separate Peace by John Knowles. "It's clear that Phineas' house was 848 High Street," across from the Dedham Common.