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Paul Nitze
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Paul Nitze: There were certain people on the U.S. side who made it difficult to persuade the Europeans that we were really trying to negotiate on their behalf. I was persuaded that this negotiation on INF -- in that negotiation we were really representing the interests of our European partners more than the interest of the United States. Our European partners were all on the front line. They were right next to the Soviet forces. They were the only ones who were threatened by the Soviet intermediate range forces. They were subject to destruction by those forces overnight. We weren't. They couldn't reach the United States. Our interest in the INF business was because of our interest in our European partners, what the world would look like in the event they were defeated. So that we were really negotiating, or should be negotiating on behalf of their interest. Therefore, it was important to consult with them regularly, take into account their interest. You can't lead somebody unless the people you are leading feel that you are representing their interests. That was the important thing, and I think the walk in the woods contributed to giving them the feeling that we were negotiating, trying to take care of their interests.
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Paul Nitze
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Paul Nitze: I've gotten fired from the government for instance, which normally is a bad thing. But, I've resigned from the government a number of times. The New York Times once looked at all the people who had resigned in anger from the American government who were presidential appointees and made a big thing of their resignation. Did they ever come back to government in the United States? In England, the case has been that all the great men in English politics have resigned at one time or another on matters of principle. But, in the U.S. government, was that true? And, they looked and found perhaps 180 people who had resigned from presidential appointments and they could find only three that had ever been re-appointed after having resigned. One of them is Dean Acheson. I forget who the other two were. But, it just isn't the tradition in American politics that somebody who resigns from government is valued thereafter. Loyalty, we have so little loyalty in politics, that if you're trying to run a government, the one thing you want are people who are going to be loyal to you -- loyal to the party and loyal to whoever is president. So, loyalty is a very important asset in the politics of the United States, more so than it is in England. So, to resign from the government was a risky thing to do. To be fired from the government was -- but I managed to weave through those. I've developed some talent at being able to separate my career from party politics and from the short-range issues of policy, and concentrate upon the longer range issues. That came about in part from my having been fired so often, resigned so often.
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Antonia Novello
Former Surgeon General of the United States
"When the time comes to be the best, do it. But, when the time comes to step down from being the best, do it better, because when you are a small group, they expect you to come down fighting." And, again, element of surprise -- come down with dignity and don't let anyone confuse dignity with weakness because people will remember more that minute of dignity than those three and a half years of good work, because on your shoulders are all of those that want to be you and they want you to do good for them. And boy, is it hard not to fight, but it's harder to do what is right.
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Sir Trevor Nunn
Theatrical Director
I've just taken the decision that I'm going to now go full time back into the theater. And I've just accepted the job of running The National Theatre in England, because I want to be able to say to myself, "The integrity of this enterprise is finally down to me." The buck stops right here in my lap. And it's not possible, it's not conceivable for me to say, "Well, what's happening on the stage at the moment is because it's his fault, or her fault, or their fault." It's my fault. Or it's my commitment, or it's my success, or it's pleasure or whatever.
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