George F. Kennan: An American Life
by John Lewis Gaddis, 2010, Penguin Books
This book was on my dad’s Kindle which I inherited after he passed away. Dad always had an interest in George Kennan’s career and had read many of his books. Since I already had the book, I decided I should read it.
The biography was fairly well-written but it was a bit repetitious at times, continually returning to the same points the author was emphasizing.
What I didn’t realize prior to reading this book was how strange an individual Kennan was. As an employee of the State Department, he knew more about the Soviet Russians than probably any other American. He was able to articulate a foreign policy for the U.S. toward the Soviet Union that served us very well in the Cold War. On the other hand, there were several instances when his tunnel vision caused him to get things totally wrong. His personal issues, which included depression, marital problems, poor health, and an insatiable desire for recognition, caused him quite a few problems, both in his life and his career. Despite this, he managed to live to a ripe old age of 95 before he died. On the whole, his contributions to U.S. foreign policy were substantial.
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