Nitze, Paul H. (1907–2004)

Leading strategist, arms control expert, and eminent public figure of the U.S. strategic and foreign policy [Page 517]establishment during the years spanning the Cold War. Born on January 16, 1907, in Amherst, Massachusetts, Paul H. Nitze was German by descent; his grandfather immigrated to the United States from Germany after the Civil War.

After graduation from Harvard University and a decade working as an investment banker, Nitze joined the U.S. government in 1940 and advised every president from Franklin Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan (with the exception of Jimmy Carter). In 1950, while at the state department, Nitze was responsible for the formulation of NSC-68—the document that provided the framework for the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union. Nitze also served as director of the department of state policy planning staff, as deputy secretary of defense, and as a member of the U.S. delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) from 1969 to 1974. In 1962, he was a member of the group of top officials who met daily with President John F. Kennedy to advise him during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

As head of the U.S. negotiating team at the arms control talks in Geneva from 1981 to 1984, Nitze took a now famous walk in the woods with Soviet negotiator Yuli Kvitsinsky in an effort to break the deadlock between the superpowers on the issue of missiles in Europe. From 1984 to 1989, he was ambassador-at-large and special adviser to the president and secretary of state on arms control matters, playing a crucial role in negotiating the Immediate-Range Nuclear Force (INF) and strategic arms treaties. President Reagan awarded Nitze the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 for his contributions to the freedom and security of the United States.

Nitze founded the School of Advanced International Relations (SAIS) in 1943, along with Christian Herter and other leading statesmen. In 1989, the school, which became a division of the Johns Hopkins University in 1950, was renamed in his honor to recognize his distinguished private and public career and exceptional service to SAIS and the university for five decades.