Posted on 03/21/2005 8:24:33 PM PST by RWR8189
George F. Kennan, who died last week at 101, was a unique figure in American history. I greatly admired him but disagreed with him profoundly on many critical issues, and, in the 35 years I knew him, I often reflected on this strange paradox.
His extraordinary memoirs had made the idea of a life in the Foreign Service seem both exciting and intellectually stimulating to me. He had watched Joseph Stalin at close hand, and sent Washington an analysis of Russia that became the most famous telegram in U.S. diplomatic history. This was followed closely by the most influential article ever written on American foreign policy, the "X" article in Foreign Affairs, which offered an easily understood, single-word description for a policy ("containment") that our nation was to pursue for 40 years -- with ultimate success.
To a young, aspiring diplomat, Kennan's career suggested that good writing and the study of history -- both in short supply in the government -- could really matter. No one in government ever wrote better than Kennan, and this was a critical component of his success; the same ideas expressed less cogently by others did not have the same impact. But Kennan was deeply ambivalent about the writings that had catapulted him to world fame. He felt lonely, conflicted and even anguished over his famous works, which, in retrospect, he felt were simplistic and had been misused by people he deplored. Yet his work inspired the hardheaded power politics that shaped the Cold War.
As editor of Foreign Policy, I once edited Kennan, an experience not easily forgotten. On the 25th anniversary of the X article, I asked him for an interview. He refused because of what he felt was the imprecision of the spoken word, but he offered to answer questions in writing.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
You got that right. Kennan was a giant and one of the few who truly understood the Soviets for what they were.
Holbrooke was and is a Clinton lackey and never had the Intellect that George Kennan had. But he sure thinks he does.
Holbrook has no need for a jockstrap!
Yes, I remember the pompous Holbrooke (Secretary of State in the nonexistent Kerry Administration) airily putting down the notion that Ronald Reagan accomplished anything and saying he didn't belong in the Top 20 US Presidents (elbowed out by such "lights" as Jimmy Carter and LBJ). Holbrooke, who has accomlished nothing that I can think of other than his self-promotion as an "expert" windbag, is like an art critic whose own "talent" can't hold a candle to a five-year old with finger paints.
We studied his writings in "Command and Staff" school. A true genius.
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