Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Richard Holbrooke was an almost-great. Barack Obama, and Vice Pres. Eventually, Holbrooke torpedoed Washington’s relationship with Kabul. He left government in 2001 to serve as vice president of Perseus LLC, a private equity fund. George Packer tells this parable in his strange new biography, “Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century.” In some ways, the author hero-worships the world-bestriding personality who, at times, bent huge forces to his will. This is the kind of biography (massive, detailed) by the kind of author (respected, experienced) reserved for great books on great men. Richard Holbrooke (left), Pres. And he assembled one of the most brilliant, iconoclastic teams in diplomatic history as President Barack Obama’s envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan — a catastrophic performance in which he elicited, through no fault of his staff, the enmity of Afghanistan’s president. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the 1970 series The Bold Ones: The Senator. He died on December 13, 2010 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He had to persuade the U.S. armed forces to bomb Serb troops at a time when Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell was advancing his eponymous doctrine: Use only overwhelming force, including ground troops, or else stand down. But, redeemingly, Packer truly shows Holbrooke’s ugliness. “He is the most viperous character I know around this town,” Henry Kissinger, the greatest operator of them all, once said of Holbrooke. Holbrooke’s early promise propelled a rapid ascent in his first Foreign Service posts in Vietnam. He did it by cajoling, drinking with, shouting at and threatening all of them. In Bosnia, he “devoted three years of his life to a small war in an obscure place with no consequences in the long run beyond itself.” Richard Holbrooke, in full Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke, (born April 24, 1941, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Dec. 13, 2010, Washington, D.C.), American diplomat who brokered the Dayton Accords (1995) to end the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (UN; 1999–2001), and was the special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan … His experience there and in Washington, D.C., on Pres. Richard Holbrooke and the end of the American Century. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Richard Holbrooke was often America's man on the ground, but he also embodied America's approach to foreign policy in the 20th century, and … By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. James Walton reviews Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century by George Packer. Richard Holbrooke was born on April 24, 1941 in New York City, New York, USA as Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke. Richard Holbrooke was a rare creature — a figure from Greek tragedy contained within America’s foreign policy bureaucracy. “The phrase ‘great man’ now sounds anachronistic, but as an inspiration for human striving maybe we shouldn’t throw out the whole idea.” And, sure, let’s give Holbrooke his due: He apprehended the folly of Vietnam at an absurdly early date. Corrections? I disagree. Behind all of it was a desperate, gnawing ambition that drove him to behave monstrously toward both his colleagues and the people he ostensibly loved. He died in office, trying to get the negotiations started. His hyperactive bullying brought the mini-despots of the former Yugoslavia into a peace that ended Bosnia’s ethnic cleansing. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Updates? Biography. Egotism and idealism “need each other to do any good. Richard Holbrooke’s story is well known – he was the larger-than-life diplomat and idealist who never achieved the Secretary of State job he craved, in part because of his tragic flaws of egotism and self-promotion. After his son Anthony was born, he kept a lunch appointment with George Kennan before going to visit his wife and meet the baby in the hospital. Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke (April 24, 1941 – December 13, 2010) was an American diplomat, magazine editor, author, professor, Peace Corps official, and investment banker. “If you cut out the destructive element, you would kill the thing that made him almost great,” Packer argues. Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke (April 24, 1941 – December 13, 2010) was an American diplomat, magazine editor, author, professor, Peace Corps official, and investment banker. Richard Holbrooke, in full Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke, (born April 24, 1941, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Dec. 13, 2010, Washington, D.C.), American diplomat who brokered the Dayton Accords (1995) to end the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (UN; 1999–2001), and was the special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan (2009–10) in the administration of Pres. But his own flaws undid him. When several diplomats in his retinue died on a treacherous mountain road they’d taken to evade Serb snipers, Holbrooke cast himself as the hero of the aftermath, coordinating the rescue effort. Holbrooke “was an absent husband and an indifferent father.” He cheated frequently over his three marriages and propositioned his best friend’s wife. Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century. When Holbrooke became assistant secretary of state, he told the deputies he’d inherited that their offices needed repainting — and then replaced them while they were out. Richard Holbrooke, better known by the Family name Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke, was a popular Actor. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). He was married to Kati Marton, Blythe Babyak and Larrine Elizabeth Sullivan. These are usually Holbrooke’s sexual conquests, but still. Holbrooke had to make Milosevic halt Serbia’s military advance and, even harder, take responsibility for the Bosnian Serbs slaughtering people in Serbia’s name — war criminals whom Milosevic claimed he didn’t control. Jimmy Carter appointed him assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. O n the day Richard Holbrooke died, in 2010, he went to the White House in a last desperate attempt to meet Barack Obama. Richard Holbrooke’s most popular book is Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World. The late diplomat possessed heroic talents, achieved feats of strength and rose high. Holbrooke served in the administration of Pres. We don’t need to leer at everything through Holbrooke’s eyes. When a mentor, Averell Harriman, died, Holbrooke harangued his widow into letting him give a eulogy; then he shuffled the name cards at a meal after the service so he could “chat up the right dinner guest.” Packer thinks Holbrooke never interested himself in Middle East peace because “it was too easy to piss off American Jewish organizations and hurt himself on his climb.” Holbrooke begged Pakistan’s foreign minister to tell Secretary of State Hillary Clinton what a good job he was doing. Richard Holbrooke was a rare creature — a figure from Greek tragedy contained within America’s foreign policy bureaucracy. “If Holbrooke had tried to repel him in their first minute together he couldn’t have done a better job,” Packer writes. It is everywhere, and it’s revolting. I must.) “Sometimes the two instincts got out of whack.” But they combined beautifully when President Bill Clinton sent Holbrooke to end the Bosnian war, a task at which nobody else could have succeeded. Born Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke, he graduated from Brown University in 1962, entered the Foreign Service, and served in South Vietnam for more than six years. He told friends he’d stay on the job “as long as I can make a difference,” even though it wasn’t clear he was making one. “He lets us ogle ambition in the nude.”, Packer believes one needn’t be good to do good things, and he is openly romantic about it. Holbrooke was born in New York City to a European Jewish couple who had fled the Nazis in the 1930s. Mini Bio (1) Richard Holbrooke was born on April 24, 1941 in New York City, New York, USA as Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke. Suppose the mess they leave is inseparable from their reach and grasp? The diplomat had the courageous and ultimately correct idea to begin talking to the Taliban — they would have to be part of any peace deal — but he was having heart trouble. In that role, he spent much of his time focused on the Balkans, and he was the chief U.S. negotiator between belligerent parties in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Holbrooke’s name became a Serbian verb: holbrukciti, “to get your way through brute force.”. In 1998 Holbrooke returned to the Balkans to attempt to negotiate a cease-fire between Serbs and the ethnic Albanian majority in the ongoing Kosovo conflict. He died on December 13, 2010 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. (“Maybe they deserved it,” Packer offers.) There’s something telling about the fact that “Our Man,” George Packer’s hefty, dishy biography of the American diplomat Richard Holbrooke, clocks in … The real tragedy of greatness is the myth that it turns decency and efficacy into enemies. Richard Holbrooke was brilliant, utterly self-absorbed, and possessed of almost inhuman energy and appetites. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Democratic congressman Steny Hoyer of Maryland (left) and Richard Holbrooke (second left), the chief U.S. negotiator of the Dayton Accords, with Miodrag Pajić (centre), mayor of Brčko, Bosnia, 1996. Omissions? Richard Holbrooke began his diplomatic career as a foreign service officer in Vietnam during the early years of the U.S. involvement there. This is how we bid farewell to Important People. Holbrooke, a longtime U.S. diplomat who wrote part of the Pentagon Papers, was the architect of the 1995 Bosnia peace plan. And Holbrooke had to get the Croat and Bosnian leaders to accept the loss of some prewar territory after their people had been massacred. (And I do. Then our judgment depends on what they’re ambitious for — the saving glimmer of wanting something worthy.” Hate the artist, love the art. (This, his greatest achievement, was a fleeting one; Slobodan Milosevic soon launched another genocide in Kosovo.) “His defects of character cost him his dream job as secretary of state, the position for which his strengths of character eminently qualified him.” (Debatable.) He was married to Kati Marton, Blythe Babyak and Larrine Elizabeth Sullivan. No wonder mourners descended on Holbrooke’s funeral service and eulogists blanketed the op-ed pages. His genius is an article of faith. Writers are supposed to show, not tell. A career diplomat well known within the Washington Beltway, Holbrooke became a familiar face to the rest of the country when he brokered a peace agreement among the warring factions in Bosnia, leading to the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995. On the other hand, Packer’s brilliant reporting shows that Holbrooke also used a tragic car accident during those negotiations to dramatize his own importance. Packer, a staff writer at The Atlantic, has written a biography of the late diplomat Richard Holbrooke, a fixture in the foreign policy camps of Democratic administrations spanning almost 50 years, and the man most credited with fashioning the 1995 Dayton Accords, which ended a brutal war in Bosnia and outlined a framework for peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Brilliant, ambitious, arrogant and committed, Holbrooke, who died suddenly in 2010, is a mesmerizing subject, and friends and enemies alike helped Packer craft this biography. (He strategized so often with his deputy in the nearest men’s room that “the Croatians finally switched off all the lights in the bathroom except one above the urinals, which illuminated a sign that said, ‘Welcome, Mr. Ambassador.’ ”) The result was the Dayton Accords. Know Richard Holbrooke, Estimated Net Worth, Age, Biography Wikipedia Wiki December 27, 2020 (Holbrooke told Karzai that the British were the ones who wanted to get rid of him.) But the real reckoning finally landed during the Obama years, when the new president’s “no drama” credo seemed to hold Holbrooke as its human antithesis. One young official, who actually liked the old windbag, “imagined Holbrooke as a diplomat from a foreign country — the past — who thought he was speaking eloquently when he was barely fluent in the local language.”. Among the revelations to emerge from the latest trove of Hillary Clinton emails are jokes and gibes at the expense of Richard Holbrooke, the legendary diplomat who died on … The late American diplomat Richard Holbrooke (1941–2010) had a knack, that is to say a weakness, for self-promotion. In 1996 he became vice chairman of Crédit Suisse First Boston. In 1968 he was part of the US delegation to the 1968 Paris peace talks held to negotiate an end to the Vietnam War. In the sum­mer of 1976, Hol­brooke left For­eign Policy to serve as cam­paign co­or­di­na­tor for na­tional se­cu­rity af­fairs to Gov­er­nor Jimmy Carter (D-GA) in his bid for the White House. Sometimes, though, Packer can’t help but draw too close. A professional critic’s assessment of a service, product, performance, or artistic or literary work. What does government service look like when it’s so self-serving? But in truth, he’d done nothing. The fable elevated his stature and helped create the political will for airstrikes, which allowed him to wrangle Milsoevic into talks. Packer tells us constantly how great Holbrooke was. He “was the first American official to denounce the crimes of the Khmer Rouge,” though it didn’t change U.S. policy. In 1976, Holbrook won acclaim for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in a series of television specials based on Carl Sandburg 's acclaimed biography. In 1997, however, he was appointed special envoy to Cyprus, where he attempted to broker a settlement of the two-decade-old dispute over that island between Greece and Turkey. Previously, he was the editor of National Journal magazine, a senior editor for foreign affairs at Newsweek and a managing editor at the New Republic. In this instance, Holbrooke’s shuttle diplomacy was unable to bring the fighting to a close, and a tenuous peace was achieved only after NATO warplanes began attacking targets in the Serb capital of Belgrade. Joe Biden (right) in the Oval Office, 2009. Perhaps he did.) He desperately wanted to be great, and his life, at any rate, was never boring. During a meeting about possible jobs, he handed the president-elect an inscribed copy of his own book, corrected him (asking to be called Richard, not Dick) and averred, to a politician who dislikes emotional displays, that “you don’t have to be African American to cry” about the election of a black man. Supposedly, this is the Holbrooke tragedy. Holbrooke helped author a new doctrine, because “he was that rare American in the treetops who actually gave a s--- about the dark places of the earth,” Packer says. It was even worse inside government, where he fought constantly for status and recognition, leaked (and lied about it) to hurt rivals, kowtowed to bosses, terrorized subordinates, and elbowed his way into meetings where he wasn’t needed or wanted. Which matters more? He is outraged that Bill Clinton appointed Madeleine Albright secretary of state instead of Holbrooke (the president didn’t think he’d be a loyal lieutenant, for good reason), and Packer quotes other people venting misogynistic complaints about her “emotionalism,” concluding: “It was unfair, grossly unfair, because Albright was no thinker, she was merely cunning.” Packer refers to Holbrooke’s wives by their given names, while every other adult is known by surname, and he sometimes describes women — and only women — in evocative, physical terms. It’s even worse than you’ve heard,” Packer summarizes. From 1981 to 1985 Holbrooke was both vice president of Public Strategies, a Washington consulting firm, and senior adviser to the New York investment firm Lehman Brothers; he then served as managing director of Lehman Brothers from 1985 until 1993. See full bio » Packer doesn’t show that Holbrooke’s life is an allegory for the “end of the American century” — the title oversells — but he does make a case for Holbrooke’s place in the pantheon, showing that there was real idealism and skill buried beneath the layers of self-regard. After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Brown University in 1962, he joined the Foreign Service and was posted to Vietnam until 1966. It’s true. Packer — the gifted author of several other books, including “The Unwinding,” a National Book Award-winning tale of American decay — is a pleasant guide with a conversational tone. Bill Clinton as ambassador to Germany (1993–94) and assistant secretary of state for European and Canadian affairs (1994–95). Richard Holbrooke was born on April 24, 1941 in New York City.. Richard Holbrooke is one of the successful Diplomat. Richard Holbrooke is best known as a Diplomat. Short Biography. After serving as Peace Corps director in Morocco from 1970 to 1972, he edited the quarterly magazine Foreign Policy (1972–76). Others handled the wreckage as troops squirreled Holbrooke to the nearest U.S. Embassy. Barack Obama. Holbrooke spent his career accruing enemies, and his comeuppance arrived in spurts. After Pres. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. If that was an authorial choice, it was a brave and intellectually honest one. US Diplomat. Considered briefly in late 1996 as a possible candidate for secretary of state, Holbrooke lost the position to Madeleine Albright. This guy’s virtuosity is supposed to be self-evident — or clear from his journals, some of which we read here. His sense of strategy moved him to try normalizing relations with that country during the Carter years as the youngest-ever assistant secretary of state (for East Asia), an effort that failed. He was “brilliant and curious and widely read,” Packer kvells in one ovation, but he was also “unafraid to face the truth, cared enough to act on it, and was willing to take the consequences.”, This is a plausible position, maybe. After a prolonged Senate confirmation process, Holbrooke was seated as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in 1999. He crashed so many of Secretary of State Cyrus Vance’s meetings and motorcades that Vance’s secretary sent a memo: “You may not insert yourself as a passenger in the Secretary’s car unless this office has specifically approved your request to accompany him.” When national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski wanted him fired for chatting “warmly” with the Vietnamese ambassador in Laos before Washington restored relations with Hanoi, he lied and said the report of the meeting was just an act of Soviet disinformation. Richard Holbrooke has 23 books on Goodreads with 33816 ratings. Richard Holbrooke was a jerk — and a talented diplomat. These conflicts “sorted most foreign policy types into extreme hawks and doves,” but they turned Holbrooke into a liberal internationalist. “Is that the way people used to talk in the Johnson administration?” Obama asked, incredulously. Richard has ranked on the list of those famous people who were born on April 24, 1941.Richard Holbrooke is one of the Richest Diplomat who was born in United States.Richard Holbrooke also has a … Despite his colleagues’ warnings to desist, he recruited candidates to run against the corrupt President Hamid Karzai, who found out, won reelection and never again accepted Holbrooke as an interlocutor. He returned to the government in 1977 when Pres. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Holbrooke, The Guardian - Richard Holbrooke obituary, Richard Holbrooke - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Holbrooke, Richard; Obama, Barack; and Biden, Joe. Lyndon Johnson’s Vietnam staff led to his being named a junior member of the U.S. delegation to the Paris Peace Talks in 1968–69. Sure to win a prize (or two or three) in the 2019 literary-awards sweepstakes." “You will have heard that he was a monstrous egotist. The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. The 1995 Dayton Accords, achieved through his unorthodox mix of diplomacy, bluffing, and bullying, laid the groundwork for a lasting peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (see Bosnian conflict). (“I’m going to be the next Henry Kissinger,” he said in his early 30s to a lover who actually knew Kissinger “and found him to be a pompous asshole.” She dumped him.) Holbrooke … So when Serbs and Croats and Bosnians began killing each other in the early ’90s, Holbrooke was among the first to agitate for intervention — a policy that eventually saved tens of thousands of lives. Holbrooke pushed away his mother, brother and children because his third wife didn’t like them. Dur­ing the cam­paign, Hol­brooke helped Carter pre­pare for his for­eign pol­icy de­bates with Pres­i­dent Ger­… Born during World War II to German Jewish refugees who … “If, while following him, you ever feel a cluck rise to your palate, as I sometimes do,” he writes, “don’t forget that inside most people you read about in history books is a child who fiercely resisted toilet training. As ambassador, he negotiated the settlement of a dispute concerning some $900 million in back dues owed to the UN by the United States. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Admired and detested, he was the force behind the Dayton Accords that ended the Balkan wars, America’s greatest diplomatic achievement in the post-Cold War era. Yet, to his enormous credit, Packer then dwells on those sins, equipping us to condemn Holbrooke if we so desire. (“He believed that he knew more than any American official in Vietnam,” Packer writes. Hillary Clinton helped him become the Af-Pak envoy, but in White House meetings, which Obama preferred to move through efficiently, Holbrooke rattled off irrelevant lectures about Vietnam. Idealism without egotism is feckless; egotism without idealism is destructive,” Packer argues, riffing on Conrad. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. A new biography of legendary diplomat Richard Holbrooke shows how much the country has changed. The striver began jockeying for a position during the transition — and instantly alienated Obama. Adam B. Kushner is the editor of Outlook. Barack Obama took office in January 2009, Holbrooke was named special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. But his toxic, bridge-burning path kept him from the highest summit. He endeavors to see his subject from the same distance as his readers, beginning with his refreshing first line: “Do you mind if we hurry through the early years?” Not at all!
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