Paul Nitze
Paul Henry Nitze was born on the 16th of January 1907 in Amherst, Massachusetts. His parents were both of German descent and his father worked as a professor of Romance linguistics at the University of Chicago. As a young boy he traveled to Germany with his family. They arrived in Munich just as World War I broke out. The city crowds displayed patriotic enthusiasm for the imminent conflict. This early exposure to war shaped his later worldview.
He attended The Hotchkiss School and graduated from there in 1924. He also went to the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. Nitze earned his degree from Harvard University in 1928. He then entered the field of investment banking. In 1928 and 1929 the firm Bacon, Whipple and Company sent him to Europe. Upon his return he heard Clarence Dillon predict the Great Depression. Nitze attained financial independence through the sale of his interest in a French laboratory producing pharmaceutical products. He took an intellectual sabbatical that included graduate study at Harvard in sociology, philosophy, and law.
Nitze entered government service during World War II after being hired by James Forrestal. Forrestal had become an administrative assistant to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1942 Nitze became finance director of the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs. He worked directly for Nelson Rockefeller during this period. The following year he became chief of the Metals and Minerals Branch of the Board of Economic Warfare. Later in 1943 he was named director of the Foreign Procurement and Development Branch of the Foreign Economic Administration.
From 1944 to 1946 Nitze served as director and then Vice Chairman of the Strategic Bombing Survey. President Harry S. Truman awarded him the Legion of Merit for this work. One of his early assignments involved visiting Allied-occupied Japan immediately after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He assessed the damage caused by these events. This experience framed many of his later feelings about nuclear weapons. It also highlighted the necessity of arms control measures.
During the early postwar era Nitze served in the Truman Administration as Director of Policy Planning for the State Department from 1950 to 1953. He was the principal author of National Security Council policy paper NSC 68 in 1950. This document provided the strategic outline for increased US expenditures to counter Soviet armament. The paper proved highly influential yet remained secret at the time.
During the Korean War he advised the Truman administration against blaming the Soviet Union too directly. His goal was to avoid risking an escalation to World War III. From 1953 to 1961 Nitze served as president of the Foreign Service Educational Foundation. He concurrently served as associate of the Washington Center of Foreign Policy Research. He also worked with the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University. In 1956 he attended the Project Nobska anti-submarine warfare conference where discussion ranged from oceanography to nuclear weapons.
Paul Nitze co-founded Team B in the 1970s. This intelligence think tank challenged the National Intelligence Estimates provided by the CIA. The Team B reports became the intellectual foundation for the idea of the window of vulnerability. They also supported the massive arms buildup that began toward the end of the Carter administration. This effort accelerated under President Ronald Reagan.
Team B concluded that the Soviets had developed new weapons of mass destruction. They believed the Soviets held aggressive strategies regarding potential nuclear war. Anne Cahn of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency stated that most specific allegations about weapon systems were wrong when examined one by one. Some still claim their conclusions about Soviet strategical aims were largely proven true. However this hardly squares with the elevation of Gorbachev in 1985.
Nitze served as President Ronald Reagan's chief negotiator of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty from 1981 to 1984. In 1984 he was named Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State on Arms Control. He led negotiations during a critical period of Cold War tensions. His work helped shape the final agreement between the United States and the Soviets.
He later opposed the ratification of SALT II in 1979 due to fears of Soviet rearmament. Nitze served as a member of the US delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks from 1969 to 1973. For more than forty years he remained one of the chief architects of US policy toward the Soviet Union. These efforts defined his legacy in international relations and defense strategy.
In 1985 President Reagan awarded Nitze the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contributions to freedom and security. The ceremony took place in the East Room of the White House on the 7th of November 1985. Albert and Roberta Wohlstetter stood beside him during the presentation. In 1986 he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
Nitze received the US Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official in 1989. This award was given out annually by Jefferson Awards. In 1991 he was awarded the Sylvanus Thayer Award by the United States Military Academy. He earned this honor for his commitment to the Academy's ideals of Duty, Honor, Country. In 1997 Nitze received the Naval Heritage Award by the US Navy Memorial Foundation. He died in Washington, D.C., at age 97 in October 2004.
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Common questions
When was Paul Nitze born and where did he grow up?
Paul Henry Nitze was born on the 16th of January 1907 in Amherst, Massachusetts. He traveled to Germany with his family as a young boy before World War I broke out.
What major policy document did Paul Nitze author during the Truman Administration?
Paul Nitze served as Director of Policy Planning for the State Department from 1950 to 1953. He was the principal author of National Security Council policy paper NSC 68 in 1950 which outlined increased US expenditures to counter Soviet armament.
How long did Paul Nitze serve as Secretary of the Navy under President Kennedy?
President Kennedy appointed Paul Nitze Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in 1961. In 1963 Nitze became the Secretary of the Navy and served until 1967.
Why did Paul Nitze co-found Team B in the 1970s?
Paul Nitze co-founded Team B in the 1970s to challenge the National Intelligence Estimates provided by the CIA. The reports became the intellectual foundation for the idea of the window of vulnerability and supported massive arms buildup efforts.
When did Paul Nitze receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Ronald Reagan?
In 1985 President Ronald Reagan awarded Paul Nitze the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contributions to freedom and security. The ceremony took place in the East Room of the White House on the 7th of November 1985.
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15 references cited across the entry
- 4newsPaul NitzeOctober 22, 2004
- 6newsPaul H. Nitze21 October 2004
- 7bookU.S. Submarines Since 1945: An Illustrated Design HistoryNorman Friedman — United States Naval Institute — 1994
- 8webDDG-94 Nitze7 May 2011
- 9webThe Hard LinerTanenhaus, Sam — November 11, 2003
- 11webGolden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of AchievementAmerican Academy of Achievement
- 12webBen Bradlee Biography Photo1988
- 14webNamesake
- 15newsPaul Nitze, Cold War Strategist, Dies at 97Marilyn Berger — 2004-10-20