Surprises in the Kennan Legacy
The cover photo of George Kennan on the paperback edition of John Lewis Gaddis’ biography shows a man of ease and erudition – an approachable professor. By contrast, the initial hardcover edition shows an expressionless man in hat and overcoat, stoic and still as a bronze statue. Gaddis writes a life of Kennan that illuminates these two distinct sides of his character. The leading Cold War historian provides detailed context for the achievements that made Kennan’s reputation, principally spearheading the policy of ‘containment” that became the foundation for U.S. Cold War strategy. He also demonstrates the continuing value of Kennan’s legacy in some unexpected ways. Kennan recognized the vagaries of the foreign policy world while weighing a career in the diplomatic service. In 1931, “The United States had no foreign policy,” Gaddis writes, “only the reflections of domestic politics internationally.” Nearly two decades later, as the first director of the State Department’s Pol...