The Foreign Service Journal, November 2012

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2012 89 REFLECTIONS Nicholas Katzenbach’s Enduring Service BY RENN I E A . S I LVA F ormer Under Secretary of State Nicholas Katzenbach, who died in May at the age of 90, stood near the center of presidential power throughout some of the tensest moments in his country’s history. What lessons does his public service offer to Americans joining the ranks of the State Department today? An accomplished lawyer, deco- rated World War II veteran and Rhodes Scholar, Katzenbach guided foreign policy decision-making at the highest levels in Washington with exceptional precision and prescience. While serving at the Justice Department, he advised President John F. Kennedy as the Cuban Missile Crisis unfolded and drafted a memo supporting a naval blockade of Cuba. Following Katzenbach’s advice, the president averted nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Katzenbach later relinquished his Cabinet-level position leading the Justice Department in 1966 to fill the sub-Cab- inet-level position of under secretary at the Department of State. He moved to Foggy Bottom at the behest of Lyndon Johnson, who was eager to find a replace- ment for outgoing Under Secretary George Ball—someone who would be capable of bringing American involve- ment in Vietnam to a close. Ever loyal to the leaders he served, Katzenbach stayed on as the deputy to Secretary of State Dean Rusk through the end of the Johnson administration, even as the war consumed the energies of both men and irreversibly diminished the public support of the president. Dur- ing his tenure, he identified a handful of young Foreign Service officers to work on his staff, including Lawrence Eagleburger, Anthony Lake and Richard Holbrooke. Each went on to fill senior-level posi- tions in the department and at the White House over the ensuing four decades. Despite his contributions to foreign policy, Nicholas Katzenbach is most often remembered for his work at home to advance the cause of civil rights, such as confronting recalcitrant Alabama Gov- ernor George Wallace during his defiant 1963 “stand in the schoolhouse door.” Kat- zenbach’s symbolic triumph over steadfast and often violent resistance to desegrega- tion in the South was accompanied by long hours of work behind closed doors on Capitol Hill to pass groundbreaking legislation of the Great Society era. After helping to secure the landmark victories of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, he success- fully defended the constitutionality of the latter before the Supreme Court. “Leadership in a democracy does not equate with the power to decide, but the power to persuade,” Katzenbach reflected in his memoirs, published in 2008. His departure from the scene comes at a time when those joining the U.S. gov- ernment agencies that he once helped lead, this author included, face signifi- cant challenges around the world. At the same time, widening political, socioeco- nomic and cultural divisions at home exert an increasingly negative influence on the ability of public institutions to formulate and implement solutions. Nicholas Katzenbach’s career reminds us that these challenges are neither unprecedented nor insurmountable. His remarkable intellect, unwavering patrio- tism and persistent pragmatism allowed him to shape the events during an equally tumultuous era—from the civil rights movement to the Cuban Missile Crisis and the war in Vietnam—and have a lasting positive impact on the values and future of his country. His life should inspire new generations of American dip- lomats to aspire to achieve the same. n An accomplished lawyer, decorated WorldWar II veteran and Rhodes Scholar, Nicholas Katzenbach guided foreign policy decision-making at the highest levels inWashington with exceptional precision and prescience. Rennie A. Silva is a Presidential Management Fellow in the Office of eDiplomacy at the State Department. The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. government.