Paul H. Nitze, Missile Treaty Negotiator Cold War Strategist, Dies at 97

[seemslikeadream]

Paul H. Nitze, Missile Treaty Negotiator and Cold War Strategist, Dies at 97
By MARILYN BERGER

Published: October 21, 2004
Paul Hosefros/The New York Times
Paul H. Nitze, an expert on military power and strategic arms whose roles as negotiator, diplomat and Washington insider helped shape America’s cold war relationship with the Soviet Union, was 97.


D. Gorton for The New York Times
Paul Nitze meeting with President Reagan during arms talks in 1982.


Paul H. Nitze, an expert on military power and strategic arms whose roles as negotiator, diplomat and Washington insider spanned the era from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan and helped shape America's cold war relationship with the Soviet Union, died Tuesday night at his home in Washington. He was 97.

The cause was pneumonia, said his wife, Elisabeth Scott Porter.

From the beginning of the nuclear age, whether in government or out, Mr. Nitze urged successive American presidents to take measures against what he saw as the Soviet drive to overwhelm the United States through the force of arms. Yet he may be best remembered for his conciliatory role in efforts to achieve two major arms agreements with the Soviet Union.

In one, he was successful in negotiating an agreement that eliminated intermediate-range missiles from Europe. In the other, he hoped to cap his long career with a so-called grand compromise in 1988 that would have severely circumscribed work on President Reagan's cherished strategic missile defense initiative in exchange for deep cuts in the nuclear arsenals of both superpowers. His efforts foundered when the negotiators ran out of time as the Reagan administration came to an end.

In a now legendary moment of the cold war, Mr. Nitze undertook a bold but unsuccessful personal effort to achieve an earlier arms agreement with the Russians. In 1982, acting on his own and, some say, superseding his instructions, Mr. Nitze took a walk with his Soviet counterpart in the Jura Mountains, where he tried to strike a bargain on a package dealing with intermediate-range missiles in Europe.
more
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/21/politics/21nitze.html

Paul Nitze, Nuclear Strategist During Cold War, Dies (Update2)

Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Paul Nitze, the nuclear-arms strategist who played a central role in U.S. planning and negotiations with the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War, died. He was 97.

Nitze died at his home in Washington last night, Defense Department spokeswoman Jane Campbell said in a telephone interview. A memorial service is scheduled for Oct. 23 at the National Cathedral, with a private burial the next day.

Nitze was a fixture in national security debates for half a century. In 1950, he wrote a classified report that was later called ``the blueprint of the Cold War.'' The report -- NSC 68 -- advocated a U.S. military buildup to counter communist designs to impose ``absolute authority over the rest of the world.''

``Paul Nitze was a great public servant who made seminal contributions to American foreign policy, thinking and practice,'' former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said in an e-mailed statement
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aN179XryzpeE&refer=us

[sadiesworld]

1. .

[rooboy]

2. So young...

I've got my tinfoil hat on. :scared: :tinfoilhat:

[President Jesus]

3. Was a BIG Kerry booster

Paul H. Nitze's campaign contributions:
http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=DC&last=Nitze&first=Paul