Like his father, Douglas Dillon graduated from Harvard.

In 1931, he became a member of the New York Stock Exchange and in 1938, director of Dillon, Read.

From 1953 to 1957, he was U.S. ambassador to France, and then served as Undersecretary of State from 1957 to 1959. He was Treasury Secretary for the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, from 1960 to 1965. Like the Prince de Talleyrand did in Europe in his day, Douglas Dillon employed the wines of Haut-Brion to promote American diplomacy around the world.

After twelve years of distinguished government service, Douglas Dillon returned to New York in 1965 and became President of the Metropolitan Museum.

Douglas Dillon passed away on January 10, 2003 at the age of 93.