Nitze's Legacy. |
Nitze's Legacy. |
President Ronald Reagan presents Albert and Roberta Wohlstetter and Paul Nitze with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for their work in Nuclear Arms Control (7/11/1985)
Peter J. Souza via Ronald Reagan Presidential Library |
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International StudiesPaul Nitze founded SAIS back in 1943 and here in 1996 he is interviewed by SAIS, which was later renamed after him.
Johns Hopkins University YouTube |
The USS Nitze is a guided missile destroyer named for former Secretary of the Navy Nitze
U.S. Navy via Timothy M. Bensken |
Nitze’s Impact in the Nuclear World
The Cold War marked the end of the policymakers’ traditional approach to U.S. foreign policy, as after World War II, the U.S. sought to mark itself as a global leader instead of retreating back across the Atlantic. This transition required the creative, devoted elite minds of those who had been educated in the arts of international politics and service. Nitze was a part of this group of public servicemen referred to as the American Establishment. According to the revisionist historian George Herring, “They drew from Root and Stimson a devotion to public service that transcended partisan politics, an unswerving loyalty to their presidents, a firm commitment to internationalism, and a passionate belief in the nation’s destiny to reshape a war-torn world.”[1] Nitze was the epitome of this description as he was continually employed by Presidents from Truman to Bush ’41. However, his ultimate loyalty resided in his morals and the American public, and Nitze was willing to criticize the Presidential administration if he felt it placed the country at risk.
Nitze is underappreciated for his efforts to safeguard the U.S. from a nuclear USSR throughout the entirety of the Cold War. By the time Nitze retired, he was essentially the last man remaining from the original architects of the Cold War. His most well-known accomplishment is his authorship of NSC-68. While this set the tone for his beliefs during the Cold War it would be a dishonor to his memory not to know all of his pursuits, especially in the realms of arms control negotiations for SALT, INF, and START despite the repeated frustrations born from both the Soviets’ and his own government’s unwillingness to compromise. Overall, Paul Nitze proved himself dedicated to ensuring U.S. security by tirelessly working both in government and as a private citizen from the atomic bombing of Nagasaki to his retirement at the end of the Cold War. |