Kennan: A Life between Worlds

648 Pages·2023·15.72 MB·English

by  Frank Costigliola

k enna n

K E N N A N
A Life between Worlds
fr ank costigliola
prince ton university press
princet on & oxford
Copyright © 2023 Frank Costigliola
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Costigliola, Frank, 1946– author.
Title: Kennan : a life between worlds / Frank Costigliola.
Description: Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2023] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022019150 (print) | LCCN 2022019151 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780691165400 (hardback) | ISBN 9780691189307 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Kennan, George F. (George Frost), 1904–2005. |
Ambassadors—United States—Biography. | Historians—United States—
Biography. | United States—Foreign relations—1945–1989. | United States—
Foreign relations—Soviet Union. | Soviet Union—Foreign relations—
United States. | BISAC: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Political |
POLITICAL SCIENCE / History & Theory
Classification: LCC E748.K374 C67 2023 (print) | LCC E748.K374 (ebook) |
DDC 327.73047—dc23/eng/20220623
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022019150
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022019151
British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available
Editorial: Priya Nelson, Barbara Shi
Jacket Design: Heather Hansen
Production: Danielle Amatucci
Publicity: James Schneider, Kate Farquhar- Thomson
Jacket Credit: Photo by Trygves Skramstad, Faedrelandsvennen
This book has been composed in Arno Pro and Kepler Std.
Printed on acid- free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of Amer i ca
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the dear friends who have inspired and improved my work
over the years: Lloyd Gardner, Richard Immerman, Ara Keys,
Mel Leffler, Emily Rosenberg, and Andy Rotter.
That most of them were influenced by Walt LaFeber
is yet another testament to his impact.

table of contents
Acknowl edgments ix
Preface xv
Introduction 1
CHAPTER 1 Not Very Happy People 28
The Kennan F amily, 1904–1925
CHAPTER 2 Seeking Rus sia from Germany, 1926–1933 67
CHAPTER 3 The “Madness of ’34” 100
CHAPTER 4 Stalin’s Terror and Kennan’s Trauma, 1935–1937 148
CHAPTER 5 Kennan and the Descent into War, 1937–1939 197
CHAPTER 6 Kennan and a World at War, 1939–1944 224
CHAPTER 7 Cold War Founder and Skeptic, 1944–1950 264
CHAPTER 8 “Chosen Instrument” 323
Kennan’s Tragedy in Moscow, 1951–1952
CHAPTER 9 Contesting the Cold War, 1953–1966 371
vii
viii table of contents
CHAPTER 10 Kennan Embattled, 1967–1982 426
CHAPTER 11 Almost Unstoppable, 1983–2005 470
CONCLUSION The Limits of Honor 521
Notes 541
Index 593
acknowle dgments
my dilemma is that while George F. Kennan animates this book,
he was lousy at writing acknowl edgments. Creativity came natu ral
to Kennan. Whether he was composing with his precise cursive, the
clickety- click of his stadium- seating typewriter, or a colored pencil in
his sketch pad, Kennan’s imagination sparkled. The glow dulled, however,
when it came to thanking those who had helped him write his many
books. Nor did the wit that conjured playful rhymes on birthdays or
talking-animal stories for children enliven his formulaic thank- yous to
those who had assisted him in vari ous archives. Nevertheless, Kennan
never neglected acknowledging the Institute for Advanced Study in
Prince ton, his intellectual home during his half- century as a historian.
That unique institution lives up to its unofficial motto, “In paradise
there are no excuses.” This book originated in 2009–2010, my idyllic year
at the Institute for Advanced Study. Learning of my curiosity about
Kennan, IAS faculty member Nicola Di Cosmo invited me to give an
“ After Hours Conversation” on the famed diplomat- historian.
It all then came together. The long- sequestered Kennan papers,
housed just a walk away in Prince ton University’s Seeley G. Mudd
library, had recently opened for research by ordinary historians. I
plunged into the voluminous Kennan diary, the letters, and the reveal-
ing interviews done by John Lewis Gaddis, then writing his authorized
biography. I was hooked by the distinction of Kennan’s writing and
thinking, the quirkiness of his personality, and the turmoil of his inner
life. Enhancing the allure were the extant traces of someone who had
died only a few years earlier. I found some of Kennan’s books in a used
book shop in Prince ton. I visited his grave site. The informal seminar
ix
x Acknowledgments
sparked an invitation to write about Kennan’s years at the Institute for
the Institute Letter. I got to talk with his former friends, including the
physicist Freeman Dyson and the historian John Lukacs. Mary Acheson
Bundy, neighbor of George and Annelise, shared not only her own
memories, but also the perspective of her father, Dean Acheson, Ken-
nan’s former boss in the State Department. I walked amid the towering
trees of the 600- acre Institute Woods, where Kennan had spent many
an after noon, striding along the trails or hand sawing firewood. (He was
engrossed in cutting up fallen tree limbs when the blizzard of 1978 hit.)
An invitation by Director Peter Goddard to return to the Institute for a
summer the following year enabled me to put together a proposal to
edit the Kennan diaries. The publication of the Kennan Diaries (2014)
drew me in further, as did an article in the Journal of American History
(2016). A fellowship from the University of Connecticut Humanities
Institute provided needed time for writing. Throughout this journey,
and even down to today, I have remained intrigued by the challenge of
understanding the thoughts, feelings, and actions of a flawed genius
who cared almost too much.
Many people have aided my efforts to comprehend Kennan. As the
dedication of the book attests, Lloyd Gardner, Richard Immerman, Ara
Keys, Mel Leffler, Emily Rosenberg, and Andy Rotter, all brilliant schol-
ars, have read the manuscript and have offered invaluable suggestions.
Often I would send them a snippet or even a w hole chapter and get it
back that very day with incisive comments. David A. Mayers and Dick
Brown also gave me the benefit of their reading.
Multiple interviews with Grace Kennan Warnecke, Joan Kennan,
Christopher Kennan, and Wendy Kennan afforded a deeper look at
their father’s inner world, his daily routines, and their life as a family.
I enjoyed my many lunches and telephone calls with Grace. Joan gra-
ciously invited my wife and me to the Kennan farm in East Berlin, Penn-
sylvania. Th ere I saw the third floor office where Kennan did his writing,
the workshop he had built, and the trees he had planted. Also during
this visit to the farm, Wayne Lau hared memories of East Berlin’s fa-
mous resident. Chris Kennan tooled his motorcycle over to Storrs and,
over a two- day period, we talked about his father. Chris also clarified