Extra Credit Paper - John Lewis Gaddis Book Talk

Jonathan Beatty

Professor Craig

World Politics 001H

Date of Submission: 10 December 2011

Extra Credit Paper – John Lewis Gaddis Book Talk

On December 8^th, 2011 I attended a book talk by John Lewis Gaddis’ on his new book George F. Kennan: An American Life hosted in the School of International Service’s Atrium. The last School of International Service event was heavily attended by students and professors alike.

John Lewis Gaddis was named the “Dean of Cold War Historians” by the New York Times. He is the author of Strategies of Containment, The Long Piece: Inquiries into the History of the Cold War, and The United States and the End of the Cold War. As the Robert A. Lovett Professor of History at Yale University, he has also received the National Humanities Award in 2005. The author of over seven books, Gaddis has incredible insights into the Cold War.

George F. Kennan: An American Life is the authorized biography of the creator of the containment policy, George F. Kennan. After an introduction by the Dean of the School of International Service on how Gaddis is one of few historians able to walk the fine line between political science and history, John Lewis Gaddis began a quick summary on how the biography came about and contradictions in George F. Kennan’s life.

When John Lewis Gaddis published Strategies of Containment, he sent the first few chapters of the book to George F. Kennan to review. George remarked, after reading the chapters, that no one understood his ideas like Gaddis. Kennan sent Gaddis three letters remarking that no one understood his ideas better. After the three letters, John Lewis Gaddis asked if Kennan would like him to write his biography. George Kennan was finally glad that Gaddis had finally caught on.

Gaddis revealed that the reason the biography was that Kennan had not passed until 2005. One of the terms of the biography was that the biography would not be released until after Kennan had passed. In relation to this, Gaddis told the crowd a story in which around 2000 he visited Kennan and Kennan commented jokingly, “I’m sorry I’m still alive!”

Gaddis stated that Kennan gave him full access, including his dream diary and papers. The papers were extremely detailed and had notes to the biographer as to what to include. Kennan was extremely hard on himself and his country. That is why many mistake his criticisms of the United States for hatred of the United States.

Kennan’s criticisms first came to light in the Long Telegram after he expressed his distaste at Roosevelt’s relationship with Russia. A common myth of the Long Telegram is that it has 8,000 words. In reality, it only contains 5,200 words. Along with his infamous “X Article,” Kennan laid out the middle path between another World War this time with Russia and Appeasement; Containment. Containment allowed the Soviet Union to die from the seeds of its own destruction. As many did not realize, the idea for containment came from 19^th Century Russian writers such as Tolstoy and Gogol. Gaddis mentioned that Kennan mentioned a Russian story that Kennan used during a lecture. The story was about a mistress who wanted to build a school, but the peasants, while being paid for the task, did not want to build the school. A townsman told her that more importantly than clearing rocks away was changing the peasant’s thinking so they respect the mistress. Kennan used Russian ideas to reinforce his idea of containment.

Another reason for Kennan’s perceived hatred of the United States was his time spent away from the United States, Gaddis explained. After reading Kennan’s memoirs, Gaddis was able to deduce that because Kennan spent extended periods of time away, i.e. 10 years, from the United States; Kennan saw slow changes from the perception of the American people as drastic changes. This coupled with his loneliness caused Kennan to have such a critical eye towards the United States.

Another topic he mentioned was Kennan’s hatred of Reagan. Even though Reagan was a nuclear abolitionist as well and implemented some of Kennan’s policies, Kennan still hated Reagan. Gaddis explained that Kennan hated that Reagan was a movie star who waned into a television star who waned into the Governor of California, a state he despised and hated. Kennan also hated that Reagan had no formal academic training.

Then, there was a question and answer segment. Here are some of them:

Question: Why can’t anyone have an idea as big of an impact as the containment idea? (Phrased as, ”Why can’t anyone win the Kennan lottery?”)

Answer: Gaddis stated it was all timing. He also said that it was not the best of fates though. Kennan would always be remembered for things he did on a whim. For him, anonymity equals victories happened on accident. When he spent time on things such as his 70-page critique on nuclear weapons, no one paid attention.

Question: What would his thoughts be on Afghanistan and the insurgency?

Answer: Gaddis stated Kennan was a first and second world man. He did not pay much attention to the third world. He did state in 1944 while going through Baghdad that Baghdad was a dreadful place and the Americans will probably go through in the future and try to fix it. He related the Afghanistan situation to his opinion of the United States during the Vietnam War. Kennan disapproved of the Vietnam War and states that the United States was an elephant being scared by mice.

Question: What did Kennan think of his profession, International Diplomacy?

Answer: Gaddis stated that Kennan viewed his profession with respect and sympathy. Kennan thought diplomats had been given impossible tasks, however.

Question: Did Kennan think any president did anything right?

Answer: Gaddis stated that Kennan had a grudging respect for Eisenhower, loved JFK, and loathed LBJ. Kennan respected Nixon, but he disagreed with Nixon’s opening of relations with China.

Question: Did Kennan ever admit he was wrong on anything?

Answer: Once. He once admitted during an interview that Reagan might have had a role in ending the Cold War.

I thought the event was extremely interesting. I had known of the Long Telegram and the “X Article,” but I had never known the motivations behind them. The book talk proved to be revealing and enlightening. It was a great end to the SIS events this semester.