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OK, guys, in less than a month, we get to add this guy to the entry Centenarian.
Annaliese Sorenson is not a Norwegian name. Suggest Anne Lise Sørensen or Anne-Lise Sørensen, or Sørenson. Håkon Rua, Norway
Danish person here (familiar with Norwegian). It is commonplace for Scandinavians moving to the US to change their names to follow spelling/naming conventions in their new place of residence. When I lived in the US myself, I would spell my last name with an 'oe' instead of the Danish letter 'ø'. In the past it was also common to change the -sen at the end of last names to 'son'; perhaps because the meaning is the same etymologically speaking. Annelise Sørensen Kennan was born Anna Elisabeth Sørensen, but went by the name Annelise much like Americans call an Edward 'Ted' or a Robert 'Bob'. There would be several different ways of correctly writing the name in Norwegian - Annelise, Anne-Lise and Anne Lise - so I suggest we stick to the spelling used by herself, Annelise. The same goes for her last name - so Sørensen or, as her husband wrote it, Soerensen. Menocl ( talk) 13:44, 14 February 2022 (UTC)
The article says "Kennan was married to Grace Kennan Warneke", without saying whether this was before or after "he married the Norwegian Annaliese Sorenson", or whether and when he divorced either of them.
Can we discuss the section on Kennan's influence here, before adding it to the article? I have a number of comments:
Russil Wvong 23:50, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Can the Long Telegram entry be developed - and linked too/from here.
The long telegram article seems too short by itself, and it seems so linked to his philosophy - can there be some compromise?
Excellent article by 172.
I did notice some minor errors. For example, the X article was signed "X", not "Mr. X". Russil Wvong 01:17, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Even though I did not knew much of Kennan I added some words after reading about his death. Within a few days the article evolved and expanded just like that! This is really impressive - and makes one believe this site can both produce quantity and quality. Ulflarsen 18:20, 26 Mar 2005 (UTC)
172 18:23, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC)
I hope I addressed everything. If I didn't, please fix them individually instead of mass reverting dozens of good faith copyedits, wording changes, clarifications, and additions. Dave (talk) 18:45, Apr 17, 2005 (UTC)
I've decided to give up this article. You can do with it as you please. See User:172's talk page if you're interested in my reasoning. Dave (talk) 20:57, Apr 17, 2005 (UTC)
Less Gaddis and more Kennan would improve both the content and, to my taste, the style. Septentrionalis 01:40, 18 August 2005 (UTC)
I just corrected The Long Telegram and Sources of Soviet to WikiSource. I have no idea how to make an interWiki link. Paul, in Saudi 04:17, 18 August 2005 (UTC)
"So far as I could see, we were expecting to be able to gain our objectives... without making any concessions thought, only "if we were really all-powerful, and could hope to get away with it. I very much doubted that this was the case." (I wasn't sure where to put the missing quotation mark.) Eric 09:53, 18 August 2005 (UTC)
Is Kennan's last name pronounced KEN-AN or KEEN-AN, or something else? Thanks Jimaginator 12:09, August 18, 2005 (UTC)
Could a list of these be created? Manny Shinwell and Elizabeth, the Queen Mother would be included, but not, necessarily, the long lived Princess (forget name - Alice, Alexandria...).
The criteria would include being active/visible until well into advanced age (as both the above were).
Just a few small modifications to the language and punctuation. No problem if they're kept or rolled back. 192.115.144.17 17:18, 19 August 2005 (UTC)
I feel some portion of these quotes should be included in the article:
QUOTE 1
Furthermore, we have about 50% of the world's wealth but only 6.3% of its population. This disparity is particularly great as between ourselves and the peoples of Asia. In this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity without positive detriment to our national security. To do so, we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming; and our attention will have to be concentrated everywhere on our immediate national objectives. We need not deceive ourselves that we can afford today the luxury of altruism and world-benefaction...
...In the face of this situation we would be better off to dispense now with a number of the concepts which have underlined our thinking with regard to the Far East. We should dispense with the aspiration to 'be linked' or to be regarded as the repository of a high-minded international altruism. We should stop putting ourselves in the position of being our brothers' keeper and refrain from offering moral and ideological advice. We should cease to talk about vague--and for the Far East--unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization. The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are hampered by idealistic slogans, the better
QUOTE 2
In March 1950, the State Department's expert on Soviet Affairs, George Kennan, flew to Rio de Janeiro to meet with U.S. ambassadors in South America. After a wide-ranging and often outspoken survey of world events, Kennan outlined how Latin America fit into U.S. policy:
If Europe turned anti-U.S., he observed, "Latin America would be all we would be all we would have to fall back on." Unfortunately "our relations with the Latin America were not sufficiently good to stand a serious rocking of the boat elsewhere." Under no circumstances, Kennan warned the ambassadors, must Communists be allowed in power :
"The final answer may be an unpleasant one, but...we should not hesitate before police repression by the local government. This is not shameful since the Communists are estentially traitors...it is better to have a strong regime in power than a liberal government if it is indulgent and relaxed and penetrated by Communists."
Signed: Travb 07:42, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
Take the quotations to Wikiquote. Random quotations (that people like Blum and Chomsky like to quote out of context) are irrelevant in the article, though. 172 | Talk 07:42, 15 April 2006 (UTC)
Why shouldn't they be included? They are quite relevant to determine this man's character. They are certainly more revealing than saying subject X was born in date A and died on date B. We must produce objective and relevant articles, but we can't allow censorship. If the quotes are in fact, his, we should include them, with comprehensive text detailing the settings that might have led this man to say it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pedro magalhaes86 ( talk • contribs) 18:22, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
It doesn't seem like the "long telegram" actually is 8000 words long, as stated in this article and on numerous other places. I copied it (from here) into MS Word, and checked its statistics, which said 5328 words. This is also confirmed here: http://www.princeton.edu/~paw/web_exclusives/plus/plus_042005telegram.html. Vints 14:37, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
From the section "Differences with Acheson": "As a result of these criticisms, he lost influence with Acheson, who in any case relied much less on his staff than Marshall had. Acheson finally replaced Kennan with Nitze as director of policy planning in 1950, who was far more comfortable with the calculus of military power. " This is not correct! Nitze was appointed Director of the Policy Planning Staff in January 1, 1950, [1] before the Korean War and before the NSC-68 was written. NSC-68 was written by Paul Nitze February-April 1950. Vints 11:40, 24 May 2006 (UTC)
We should mention that Kennan was Charge d'Affairs of the American Legation in Lisbon, Portugal. Kennan met U.S. Allied Airmen who were interned in neutral Portugal. I have one document signed by Kennan to attest to this fact (dated August 5, 1943).—Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.33.94.227 ( talk • contribs)
He describes his service in Lisbon at some length in his first volume of Memoirs. He played a moderate role in negotiating American basing rights in the Azores during the Second World War Rhydderch69 11:32, 8 August 2006 (UTC)
Also, note that Kennan did not actually retire from the Foreign Service until 1953; rather, from early in Acheson's tenure he took a number of leaves of absence and "sabbaticals." His role between 1949 and 1953 was best described as consultative. Rhydderch69 11:49, 8 August 2006 (UTC)
I doubt that the statement in the lead: "During his term as the U.S. State Department's first director of the Policy Planning Staff in the late 1940s, his writings gave rise to the Truman Doctrine" is correct. Kennan was appointed director of Policy Planning Staff in April 1947 and Truman's speech to the Congress was in March 12. This article (John O. Iatrides, George F. Kennan and the Birth of Containment: The Greek Test Case) calls Kennan's role in the formulation of the Truman Doctrine marginal, and Miscamble writes: "Kennan played a tangential role and unsuccessfully objected to the sweeping language of the message drafted for President Truman to deliver to Congress on March 12, 1947." Vints 15:09, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
It's not in the true spirit of Kennan this article is wrote!! It's Bullocks. He was not the inventer of the containment that truman applied. Kennan was the inventor of economic containment, but his ideas where twisted by Paul Nietzsche an early time Wolfowitz! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.144.179.51 ( talk • contribs) 09:58, 17 November 2006
"Shortly after the diploma had been enshrined as official U.S. policy, Kennan began to criticize the policies that he had seemingly helped launch." Should "diploma" be changed to "Truman Doctrine"?-- Vints 14:20, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
John Lukacs on George Kennan: The Conscience of America Posted 1 May 2007
Yale University Press has published a small gem of a book, John Lukacs's George Kennan: A Study in Character. Reading it was both a delight and surprise.
See complete article at http://www.walter-c-uhler.com/Reviews/conscience.html
I found Kennan's letter to his nephew particularly fascinating. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.19.14.37 ( talk) 09:56, 3 May 2007 (UTC).
I have removed four proponents of various smelly little orthodoxies who hopped on Kennan's funeral car to use him as a stock figure in their several melodramas.
This article is already long. If Wikipedia really needs to discuss the views of the likes of John Lewis Gaddis, Walter L. Hixson, Carl Estabrook, or Alexander Cockburn (or, for that matter, John Lukacs, above) it should do so in their own articles; doubtless in a century, readers will need to consult an encyclopedia to find out who people like Gaddis or Cockburn were. Some of them are quoted as seeing Kennan as an amoral Realist and so a Hero; others as an amoral realist and so a Villian. None of them are useful here. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 19:42, 9 July 2009 (UTC)
Image:Kennantito.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to ensure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.
BetacommandBot ( talk) 22:36, 13 February 2008 (UTC)
George Kennan was born in 1904. To call his mother Florence James at that date is to imply that she was an extraordinary suffragette, or that Kennan was illegitimate. I doubt either is intended, but if either is, it should be explained. (And, before 1926, the correct spelling is Cassell, which should redirect). Septentrionalis PMAnderson 22:51, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
Ideas Man; The Legacy of George F. Kennan Review by Nicholas Thompson January/February 2012 Foreign Affairs
99.19.44.155 ( talk) 16:04, 8 January 2012 (UTC)
Referring to Franco's regime as a fascist one is an easy and unfair cliché that seems inappropriate for a featured article. Franco's regime was the result of an atrocious fight against communism, in its peculiar spanish version. It was certainly dictatorial and authoritarian, but also deeply traditionalist and anti-revolutionary, and a transitional regime too, bound to end with Franco's death, hopefully having spanish people got ready to live in a mature and predictable democracy. I kindly suggest to substitute 'fascist' for 'dictatorial', 'anticommunist', or other qualifier fit to the truth. -- 88.15.71.61 ( talk) 09:52, 11 April 2012 (UTC)
I am somewhat surprised that in this biography of Kennan there is nothing about his contribution to the active operation of "rolling back" Communism that was initially started inside the State Dept. and later continued by the OPC under Frank Wisner and Co. Although I don't have the references at hand, there is a book, I believe entitled "Roll Back," about his role. I also found on the net, although I don't currently have it, a recommendation signed by Kennan to help the former Nazi ambassador to the Soviet Union find asylum inside the United States with his family, part of the larger effort to provide Nazi officials with a soft landing inside the U.S. While I wouldn't go so far as to call him an opportunist, Kennan could trim his sails with the best of the other office seekers in Washington, and it seems that these facts should also be included in any biography. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.173.30.18 ( talk) 06:17, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
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Terms dumped on the user at key spots in the article ("Legacy") w/o explanation. What does " strongpoint" mean as a POLITICAL term? It's not a vernacular word, it's not helpful to use it in a general-interest place like Wiki. Is the (now wikilinked) MILITARY meaning the intended one?
This is screaming for elaboration:
Huge parts are unsourced. Especially some sentences that I assume may be subject to controversy such as "he argued that the United States should become an authoritarian, if not fascist, state and that women, immigrants and African-Americans should be stripped of the right to vote, as he felt only American-born white males had the necessary intelligence to vote"
"Published works" should probably be at the end. And I don't understand why "Kennan had a low opinion of President Roosevelt" is in this section. A455bcd9 ( talk) 15:27, 9 December 2022 (UTC)
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George F. Kennan is a former featured article. Please see the links under Article milestones below for its original nomination page (for older articles, check the nomination archive) and why it was removed. | ||||||||||||||||
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OK, guys, in less than a month, we get to add this guy to the entry Centenarian.
Annaliese Sorenson is not a Norwegian name. Suggest Anne Lise Sørensen or Anne-Lise Sørensen, or Sørenson. Håkon Rua, Norway
Danish person here (familiar with Norwegian). It is commonplace for Scandinavians moving to the US to change their names to follow spelling/naming conventions in their new place of residence. When I lived in the US myself, I would spell my last name with an 'oe' instead of the Danish letter 'ø'. In the past it was also common to change the -sen at the end of last names to 'son'; perhaps because the meaning is the same etymologically speaking. Annelise Sørensen Kennan was born Anna Elisabeth Sørensen, but went by the name Annelise much like Americans call an Edward 'Ted' or a Robert 'Bob'. There would be several different ways of correctly writing the name in Norwegian - Annelise, Anne-Lise and Anne Lise - so I suggest we stick to the spelling used by herself, Annelise. The same goes for her last name - so Sørensen or, as her husband wrote it, Soerensen. Menocl ( talk) 13:44, 14 February 2022 (UTC)
The article says "Kennan was married to Grace Kennan Warneke", without saying whether this was before or after "he married the Norwegian Annaliese Sorenson", or whether and when he divorced either of them.
Can we discuss the section on Kennan's influence here, before adding it to the article? I have a number of comments:
Russil Wvong 23:50, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Can the Long Telegram entry be developed - and linked too/from here.
The long telegram article seems too short by itself, and it seems so linked to his philosophy - can there be some compromise?
Excellent article by 172.
I did notice some minor errors. For example, the X article was signed "X", not "Mr. X". Russil Wvong 01:17, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Even though I did not knew much of Kennan I added some words after reading about his death. Within a few days the article evolved and expanded just like that! This is really impressive - and makes one believe this site can both produce quantity and quality. Ulflarsen 18:20, 26 Mar 2005 (UTC)
172 18:23, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC)
I hope I addressed everything. If I didn't, please fix them individually instead of mass reverting dozens of good faith copyedits, wording changes, clarifications, and additions. Dave (talk) 18:45, Apr 17, 2005 (UTC)
I've decided to give up this article. You can do with it as you please. See User:172's talk page if you're interested in my reasoning. Dave (talk) 20:57, Apr 17, 2005 (UTC)
Less Gaddis and more Kennan would improve both the content and, to my taste, the style. Septentrionalis 01:40, 18 August 2005 (UTC)
I just corrected The Long Telegram and Sources of Soviet to WikiSource. I have no idea how to make an interWiki link. Paul, in Saudi 04:17, 18 August 2005 (UTC)
"So far as I could see, we were expecting to be able to gain our objectives... without making any concessions thought, only "if we were really all-powerful, and could hope to get away with it. I very much doubted that this was the case." (I wasn't sure where to put the missing quotation mark.) Eric 09:53, 18 August 2005 (UTC)
Is Kennan's last name pronounced KEN-AN or KEEN-AN, or something else? Thanks Jimaginator 12:09, August 18, 2005 (UTC)
Could a list of these be created? Manny Shinwell and Elizabeth, the Queen Mother would be included, but not, necessarily, the long lived Princess (forget name - Alice, Alexandria...).
The criteria would include being active/visible until well into advanced age (as both the above were).
Just a few small modifications to the language and punctuation. No problem if they're kept or rolled back. 192.115.144.17 17:18, 19 August 2005 (UTC)
I feel some portion of these quotes should be included in the article:
QUOTE 1
Furthermore, we have about 50% of the world's wealth but only 6.3% of its population. This disparity is particularly great as between ourselves and the peoples of Asia. In this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity without positive detriment to our national security. To do so, we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming; and our attention will have to be concentrated everywhere on our immediate national objectives. We need not deceive ourselves that we can afford today the luxury of altruism and world-benefaction...
...In the face of this situation we would be better off to dispense now with a number of the concepts which have underlined our thinking with regard to the Far East. We should dispense with the aspiration to 'be linked' or to be regarded as the repository of a high-minded international altruism. We should stop putting ourselves in the position of being our brothers' keeper and refrain from offering moral and ideological advice. We should cease to talk about vague--and for the Far East--unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization. The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are hampered by idealistic slogans, the better
QUOTE 2
In March 1950, the State Department's expert on Soviet Affairs, George Kennan, flew to Rio de Janeiro to meet with U.S. ambassadors in South America. After a wide-ranging and often outspoken survey of world events, Kennan outlined how Latin America fit into U.S. policy:
If Europe turned anti-U.S., he observed, "Latin America would be all we would be all we would have to fall back on." Unfortunately "our relations with the Latin America were not sufficiently good to stand a serious rocking of the boat elsewhere." Under no circumstances, Kennan warned the ambassadors, must Communists be allowed in power :
"The final answer may be an unpleasant one, but...we should not hesitate before police repression by the local government. This is not shameful since the Communists are estentially traitors...it is better to have a strong regime in power than a liberal government if it is indulgent and relaxed and penetrated by Communists."
Signed: Travb 07:42, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
Take the quotations to Wikiquote. Random quotations (that people like Blum and Chomsky like to quote out of context) are irrelevant in the article, though. 172 | Talk 07:42, 15 April 2006 (UTC)
Why shouldn't they be included? They are quite relevant to determine this man's character. They are certainly more revealing than saying subject X was born in date A and died on date B. We must produce objective and relevant articles, but we can't allow censorship. If the quotes are in fact, his, we should include them, with comprehensive text detailing the settings that might have led this man to say it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pedro magalhaes86 ( talk • contribs) 18:22, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
It doesn't seem like the "long telegram" actually is 8000 words long, as stated in this article and on numerous other places. I copied it (from here) into MS Word, and checked its statistics, which said 5328 words. This is also confirmed here: http://www.princeton.edu/~paw/web_exclusives/plus/plus_042005telegram.html. Vints 14:37, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
From the section "Differences with Acheson": "As a result of these criticisms, he lost influence with Acheson, who in any case relied much less on his staff than Marshall had. Acheson finally replaced Kennan with Nitze as director of policy planning in 1950, who was far more comfortable with the calculus of military power. " This is not correct! Nitze was appointed Director of the Policy Planning Staff in January 1, 1950, [1] before the Korean War and before the NSC-68 was written. NSC-68 was written by Paul Nitze February-April 1950. Vints 11:40, 24 May 2006 (UTC)
We should mention that Kennan was Charge d'Affairs of the American Legation in Lisbon, Portugal. Kennan met U.S. Allied Airmen who were interned in neutral Portugal. I have one document signed by Kennan to attest to this fact (dated August 5, 1943).—Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.33.94.227 ( talk • contribs)
He describes his service in Lisbon at some length in his first volume of Memoirs. He played a moderate role in negotiating American basing rights in the Azores during the Second World War Rhydderch69 11:32, 8 August 2006 (UTC)
Also, note that Kennan did not actually retire from the Foreign Service until 1953; rather, from early in Acheson's tenure he took a number of leaves of absence and "sabbaticals." His role between 1949 and 1953 was best described as consultative. Rhydderch69 11:49, 8 August 2006 (UTC)
I doubt that the statement in the lead: "During his term as the U.S. State Department's first director of the Policy Planning Staff in the late 1940s, his writings gave rise to the Truman Doctrine" is correct. Kennan was appointed director of Policy Planning Staff in April 1947 and Truman's speech to the Congress was in March 12. This article (John O. Iatrides, George F. Kennan and the Birth of Containment: The Greek Test Case) calls Kennan's role in the formulation of the Truman Doctrine marginal, and Miscamble writes: "Kennan played a tangential role and unsuccessfully objected to the sweeping language of the message drafted for President Truman to deliver to Congress on March 12, 1947." Vints 15:09, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
It's not in the true spirit of Kennan this article is wrote!! It's Bullocks. He was not the inventer of the containment that truman applied. Kennan was the inventor of economic containment, but his ideas where twisted by Paul Nietzsche an early time Wolfowitz! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.144.179.51 ( talk • contribs) 09:58, 17 November 2006
"Shortly after the diploma had been enshrined as official U.S. policy, Kennan began to criticize the policies that he had seemingly helped launch." Should "diploma" be changed to "Truman Doctrine"?-- Vints 14:20, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
John Lukacs on George Kennan: The Conscience of America Posted 1 May 2007
Yale University Press has published a small gem of a book, John Lukacs's George Kennan: A Study in Character. Reading it was both a delight and surprise.
See complete article at http://www.walter-c-uhler.com/Reviews/conscience.html
I found Kennan's letter to his nephew particularly fascinating. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.19.14.37 ( talk) 09:56, 3 May 2007 (UTC).
I have removed four proponents of various smelly little orthodoxies who hopped on Kennan's funeral car to use him as a stock figure in their several melodramas.
This article is already long. If Wikipedia really needs to discuss the views of the likes of John Lewis Gaddis, Walter L. Hixson, Carl Estabrook, or Alexander Cockburn (or, for that matter, John Lukacs, above) it should do so in their own articles; doubtless in a century, readers will need to consult an encyclopedia to find out who people like Gaddis or Cockburn were. Some of them are quoted as seeing Kennan as an amoral Realist and so a Hero; others as an amoral realist and so a Villian. None of them are useful here. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 19:42, 9 July 2009 (UTC)
Image:Kennantito.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to ensure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.
BetacommandBot ( talk) 22:36, 13 February 2008 (UTC)
George Kennan was born in 1904. To call his mother Florence James at that date is to imply that she was an extraordinary suffragette, or that Kennan was illegitimate. I doubt either is intended, but if either is, it should be explained. (And, before 1926, the correct spelling is Cassell, which should redirect). Septentrionalis PMAnderson 22:51, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
Ideas Man; The Legacy of George F. Kennan Review by Nicholas Thompson January/February 2012 Foreign Affairs
99.19.44.155 ( talk) 16:04, 8 January 2012 (UTC)
Referring to Franco's regime as a fascist one is an easy and unfair cliché that seems inappropriate for a featured article. Franco's regime was the result of an atrocious fight against communism, in its peculiar spanish version. It was certainly dictatorial and authoritarian, but also deeply traditionalist and anti-revolutionary, and a transitional regime too, bound to end with Franco's death, hopefully having spanish people got ready to live in a mature and predictable democracy. I kindly suggest to substitute 'fascist' for 'dictatorial', 'anticommunist', or other qualifier fit to the truth. -- 88.15.71.61 ( talk) 09:52, 11 April 2012 (UTC)
I am somewhat surprised that in this biography of Kennan there is nothing about his contribution to the active operation of "rolling back" Communism that was initially started inside the State Dept. and later continued by the OPC under Frank Wisner and Co. Although I don't have the references at hand, there is a book, I believe entitled "Roll Back," about his role. I also found on the net, although I don't currently have it, a recommendation signed by Kennan to help the former Nazi ambassador to the Soviet Union find asylum inside the United States with his family, part of the larger effort to provide Nazi officials with a soft landing inside the U.S. While I wouldn't go so far as to call him an opportunist, Kennan could trim his sails with the best of the other office seekers in Washington, and it seems that these facts should also be included in any biography. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.173.30.18 ( talk) 06:17, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
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Terms dumped on the user at key spots in the article ("Legacy") w/o explanation. What does " strongpoint" mean as a POLITICAL term? It's not a vernacular word, it's not helpful to use it in a general-interest place like Wiki. Is the (now wikilinked) MILITARY meaning the intended one?
This is screaming for elaboration:
Huge parts are unsourced. Especially some sentences that I assume may be subject to controversy such as "he argued that the United States should become an authoritarian, if not fascist, state and that women, immigrants and African-Americans should be stripped of the right to vote, as he felt only American-born white males had the necessary intelligence to vote"
"Published works" should probably be at the end. And I don't understand why "Kennan had a low opinion of President Roosevelt" is in this section. A455bcd9 ( talk) 15:27, 9 December 2022 (UTC)