Nitze, Paul

(1907-2004)

   Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, Paul Nitze graduated from Harvard University in 1928 and began a successful career in investment banking. In 1940, he joined the War Department as assistant to James V. Forrestal and then from 1942 headed various war agencies involved in defense production during World War II. Nitze also was a cofounder of the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., in 1943. From 1944 to 1946, he was part of the team that worked on the Strategic Bombing Survey to determine the effectiveness of Allied bombing raids in Europe and Asia. After the war, Nitze worked first as an assistant to William Clayton in the State Department and assisted with the drafting of the European Recovery Program in 1947 and then joined the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff. He became director of this body in 1950 and was principal author of the National Security Council Report 68.

   Nitze left office in 1953 but was foreign policy advisor to John F. Kennedy during his presidential campaign in 1960. In 1961, he was appointed assistant secretary of defense and from 1963 to 1967 was secretary of the navy and then deputy secretary of defense from 1967 to 1969. He led the U.S. Delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) in 1969. As an advisor to President Ronald Reagan, Nitze helped negotiate the resumption of the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) in 1981 and bring about the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, 1981-1984. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Reagan in 1985.