Leslie Gelb

Leslie Gelb
Name	Leslie Gelb
Birth date	March 4, 1937
Birth place	New Rochelle, New York, U.S.
Death date	August 31, 2019
Death place	New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Tufts University (B.A.), Harvard University (M.A., Ph.D.)
Occupation	Journalist, author, government official
Known for	President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, columnist for The New York Times
Spouse	Judith Gelb

Leslie Gelb. Leslie Gelb was a prominent American foreign policy analyst, journalist, and public servant whose career spanned academia, government, and media. He served as a senior official in the United States Department of State and the United States Department of Defense, later becoming a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the president of the influential Council on Foreign Relations. His work significantly shaped public discourse on national security and international affairs throughout the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Early life and education

Born in New Rochelle, New York, he was the son of a World War II veteran and a homemaker. He attended Tufts University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and was deeply influenced by the political climate of the Cold War. He then pursued graduate studies at Harvard University, receiving a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy in government, focusing on international relations. His doctoral dissertation examined the Vietnam War, foreshadowing his lifelong engagement with complex foreign policy dilemmas.

Career

Gelb began his professional life in academia, teaching political science at Wesleyan University and later serving as a professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. His analytical skills soon led him to Washington, D.C., where he joined the Brookings Institution as a senior fellow. He became a frequent commentator on major networks like CNN and PBS, known for his incisive analysis of events like the Gulf War and the Bosnian War. In 1993, he assumed the presidency of the Council on Foreign Relations, a position he held for a decade, transforming it into a premier forum for foreign policy debate and nurturing a generation of scholars and practitioners.

Government service

His government career was distinguished by high-level appointments in both the executive and legislative branches. During the Lyndon B. Johnson administration, he worked at the United States Department of Defense under Secretary Robert McNamara, contributing to the controversial Pentagon Papers project that analyzed U.S. decision-making in Southeast Asia. In the Jimmy Carter administration, he served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Politico-Military Affairs, a role that placed him at the center of arms control negotiations and crises in regions like the Middle East. He also served as the Director of the State Department's Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs.

Writings and publications

A prolific author, Gelb co-wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning series "The Vietnam War: The System Worked" for The New York Times, where he later served as a columnist and editorial board member. His notable books include The Irony of Vietnam: The System Worked and Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue American Foreign Policy. He was a longtime contributor to publications like Foreign Affairs and The Daily Beast, offering critiques of policies from the Iraq War to the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021). His final major work was the memoir Career in the Heat of the Cold War.

Awards and honors

Throughout his career, he received numerous accolades for his contributions to journalism and public service. He was a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 1972 for his work on the Pentagon Papers. He was also honored with the American Political Science Association's Hubert H. Humphrey Award and the National Academy of Public Administration's National Public Service Award. The Council on Foreign Relations established the **Leslie H. Gelb Prize** in his honor to recognize excellence in writing on foreign policy.

Personal life

He was married to Judith Gelb, a civic activist, for over five decades, and they had three children. The family resided for many years in Washington, D.C. and later in New York City. An avid tennis player and opera enthusiast, he was known among colleagues for his sharp wit and formidable debating style. He passed away in 2019 from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at his home in Manhattan.

Category:American journalists Category:American political scientists Category:American diplomats Category:Pulitzer Prize winners Category:1937 births Category:2019 deaths