Walter and Leonore Annenberg Award
for Excellence in Diplomacy

The Academy hosts an annual award luncheon to recognize an individual who has made exemplary contributions to the field of American diplomacy. The Recipients of the Academy's “Excellence in Diplomacy” award are recommended by the Executive Committee and approved by the Board of Directors.

Dr. Kissinger presented Jane Sisco, Dr. Sisco's daughter with the Excellence in Diplomacy Award.

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF DIPLOMACY
FIFTEENTH ANNUAL AWARDS LUNCHEON
DECEMBER 9, 2004

ARTHUR HARTMAN: I’d like to begin today by first of saying that I’m not the real host. The real host has to be from the 7th floor of the State Department, and in this case it’s Marc Grossman who has kindly sponsored us here today, and I’ll ask him to say a few words of welcome.

MARC GROSSMAN: Thank you very much. I must say that the bureaucratic requirement to have a name attached to this is to my great benefit because I have the good fortune to welcome you all to the State Department. And on behalf of the Secretary -- and deputy Secretary -- Powell, to colleagues past and present, Secretary Kissinger, to my predecessors and the undersecretary of state for Political Affairs, authors, diplomats, all of you wonderful guests, we welcome you to the State Department.

I was just talking to a gentleman from the Afghan embassy. He said he’d never been here before and was wandering and looking at this group, and I said, what you’re looking at here is a real gathering of the clan. And so we’re very pleased that all of you are here.

I acknowledge that we are here to celebrate the accomplishments of Ambassadors Dennis Ross, Dick Parker, Howie Schaffer, Washington Post diplomatic correspondent Robin Wright. But all of you know that this is both a happy and sad occasion because one of the people we are here to honor, Joe Sisco, died on November the 23rd, a predecessor of David Newsome’s, Tom Pickering, mine – a great diplomat and colleague. And I know that you join me, all of you, in extending our deepest condolences to Joe’s family, friends, loved ones, many of whom are here today, and I hope that you would just join me in a short moment of silence to remember this proud and patriotic and active diplomat. (Pause.) Thank you.

We all know that Joe was one of a kind. After his death I started to get emails from people, and one of them I got was from Pete Martinez, who was a special assistant of Joe’s at the time he was undersecretary. I just have to read these two paragraphs to you.

“Joe was a tough boss. He conveyed his intent by this posture and his tone of voice. And his staff” – and listen to these three names – “Arnie Raphael, Frank Wisner and Ed Djerejian, would prepare him for his meetings with Secretary Kissinger. They would wait anxiously for the results and Joe would walk down the corridor from his meetings with the secretary, and if Pete said they heard him from 20 or 30 yards away saying, ‘Arnie, Arnie,’ they would all dive for cover and let Arnie Rafael take the rap. (Laughter.) But he said that we learned at that time how to do things precisely right, a lesson that they would apply for the rest of their careers.” And if Secretary Kissinger, as I know he did, pushed the Foreign Service and the State Department to master the skill of making sound and timely judgments on the things that matter, Pete Martinez reminds us that Joe Sisco taught the Foreign Service how to get things done.

With so many diplomats, former diplomats, descendents of diplomats, chroniclers or diplomats gathered in this room named for our nation’s first diplomat, I also want to take 30 seconds and make a pitch for 21st century diplomacy.

You all know that soon after he arrived, Secretary Powell gave us this challenge: create at the State Department a vision of diplomatic service to our great country which would guide us not only through this campaign against terrorism but far beyond. And for these past four years we have tried and we have tried to meet the secretary’s challenge, and so many of you – and especially the American Academy of Diplomacy – have laid the foundation on which we now stand and has helped us make this progress over four years.

And that’s why all of us -- and that’s why you should also be proud to have read the judgment of the Foreign Affairs Council in November that the achievements of Secretary Powell have been extraordinary, an exemplary CEO of the department, and when he leaves this institution it will be infinitely stronger that he found it. And we thank you very much for your support in that effort.

I know that we, both founders and pioneers represented here, will continue working together to develop this diplomacy for the 21st century for our great country, and of that we should and can be justly proud.

Again, I would thank you very much, and I take the opportunity again to welcome you all to the Department of State.

(Applause.)

ARTHUR HARTMAN: In advance of our last award, I would like to say that we have with us today a number of family and friends of Joe Sisco and I’d like them to stand up: Carole, I see, Jane, Joe’s brother, and a nephew – nephew? Nephew?

MS. : (Off mike.)

ARTHUR HARTMAN: And a niece – sorry.

So we welcome you here. It’s a particularly significant time for all of us who were friends of Joe.

Joe did one great thing for me: he taught me that there is a great life after the Foreign Service. He was then the president of the American University and I went to see him when I was leaving the service and he told me all the good things you could do and the areas where you can make a lot of money if you tried. I think Joe got discouraged at American University because of the amount of money he had to extract from others – (laughter) – but he did enjoy it for the experience, and I think it did give him a look on a different part of the world.

He then went on of course to be on a number of corporate boards and I don’t know whether anyone from Raytheon or Tenneco, or the other boards have come today but they all remember him with great fondness.

One man called and insisted that he be the presenter of this award posthumously to Joe. He just asked me if there was a citation and I said, I don’t believe so. There is the eagle and on the eagle it says, “For excellence in diplomacy.” It’s a lifetime award that Joe absolutely deserved.

I have one other task before introducing our speaker. The president has sent a message of greetings to our lunch and I’ll read it: “I send greetings to those who gathered for the annual award ceremony of the American Academy of Diplomacy as you posthumously honor Dr. Joseph J. Sisco with the Leonore and Walter Annenberg Excellence in Diplomacy Award for his lifetime of public service, mutual understanding among nations, his vital to promoting peace, tolerance, and prosperity around the world.

“Throughout his distinguished career at the Department of State, Dr. Sisco advanced American foreign policy and worked to build a brighter future for our nation and the world. As chairman of the American Academy of Diplomacy, Dr. Sisco continued his efforts to strengthen understanding and American reputation abroad. His leadership and conviction was respected by his colleagues; contributed to the great expansion of freedom in our time. Dr. Sisco’s life and accomplishments will always be remembered. George Bush.”

And now, without further introduction, the man who absolutely insisted that the come and present this award to his great – for his great friend, Joe Sisco: Henry Kissinger.

(Applause.)

HENRY KISSINGER: Ambassadors from so many countries, friends from having served together in this building, it means a lot to me to have been permitted to say a few words about Joe Sisco. The happiest period of my government service -- recognizing that with respect to me that is a relative term – (laughter) – the happiest period was the time I spent as secretary of State. And I think with pride and affection of the collaboration between myself and the Foreign Service who at that time staffed almost all the key positions in the State Department.

Many of my associates have – some of my associates are in this room and including some people whose agreement with my views was not total – (laughter) – but who treated me with the characteristic discipline tinged with acquiescent disapproval. (Laughter.) But I learned a lot from them as well.

Now, nobody has done – did as much to establish a relationship between me and this building as Joe Sisco during the period when I was security advisor. And everybody here was convinced I had put up the president -- whom I had only just met -- to his special approach to the conduct of foreign policy. So I’ll talk about my relationship to Joe from that point of view.

Joe Sisco was an original. When they made him, they threw away the mold – indefatigable, dedicated, knowledgeable, a superb diplomat and a skillful bureaucratic insider, Joe was an indispensable colleague and a valued friend.

We met in the early days of the Nixon administration. The Cold War has in retrospect a quiet – an almost nostalgic quality because it was allegedly so simple – (audio break, tape change) -- the Soviet Union had just occupied Czechoslovakia. There was no contact of any kind with China. India was aloof. Hostilities were aging along the Suez Canal and Vietnam was tearing the country apart. And a new administration had come into office with its own view of how to conduct politics and also how to make decisions. That debate – which is the sort of thing Washington loved – between various administrative entities -- was usually put in terms of prerogative. The fact is it is overcome best by a demonstration of indispensability, and this is where Joe Sisco enters my account.

When I was appointed national security advisor, I called on Dean Rusk, who was then secretary of State, and he urged me to take an eye out for Joe if we ever got into trouble and we needed someone to help us. As it turned out, I did not have to find Joe. (Laughter.) He presented himself – (laughter) – and he was not to be ignored. (Laughter.) And I’d like here to raise a question to those who knew him. I said to The Washington Post that Joe began his meetings with me by shouting – (laughter) – and we went on from there. (Laughter.)

Now, my wife, who loved Joe, thought that I libeled him and she said she never heard him raise his voice. (Laughter.) That was a unique experience. (Laughter.) But I’ll let you take a vote – (laughter) – after I conclude my remarks.

Anyway, Joe would rear down objections by persistence and he could outwork anyone who was inclined to make arbitrary decisions. In a crisis, he would move himself physically as close to my office as circumstances permitted, which they do not do in the White House – (scattered laughter) – which meant that he had to occupy the situation room.

And he would present a host of papers, the essence of which was that they were more solutions than I had been aware of problems – (laughter) – which was well designed to keep me busy – (laughter) – and doing something operational. (Scattered laughter.) Joe knew that in the end, strategy winds up as a cable. And he made certain that the process started with his draft. So it’s in this manner that while I was still in the White House, Joe helped us through the 1970 crises along the Suez Canal, the Black September, the Syrian invasion of Jordan, and the diplomacy that followed. He was a steadying element in the Pakistan war of 1971. I know there are people in this room who would use a more precise adjective than I used, but he helped us through that period.

So when I became secretary, Joe had already established himself in the role of the Foreign Service. Now there was no longer a question of jurisdiction; there was a question of dealing with Joe and his team and what a group he had. Roy Hathen (ph), Hal Saunders (ph), Dean Brown, Dick Murphy, Herman Iles (ph), and so many others that were an extraordinary combination. Any secretary would look good with their help. And the country had every reason to be proud of them and of the Foreign Service that produced them.

Joe helped manage the Yom Kippur War. My consciousness of the Yom Kippur War started at 6:30 one morning was I was sleeping in the Waldorf during the U.N. session. And Joe broke down the door to my room – (laughter) – and announced in his gravely voice, “There is a little trouble along the Suez Canal – (laughter) – and if you get on the phone right away, you can solve it,” which of course meant that if it didn’t get solved; there was a clear victim. (Laughter.) As always, he had a list ready of everyone that I should call. Well, it took us another two weeks.

We navigated the war, a nuclear alert, shuttle diplomacy, two disengagement agreements and one political agreement between Israel and Egypt. And then Joe later on was sent at the beginning of the Cyprus crises and he helped importantly in preventing an outbreak of war between two NATO allies. All this was accomplished with buoyancy, good humor, and as much serenity as his stentorian voice committed.

Joe was very conscious of his background as the son of Italian immigrants. He had entered the Foreign Service laterally from the civil service, and he was enormously proud of that relationship and enormously proud of being the son of immigrant parents able to serve his country. Joe viewed the United States as embodying a special responsibility for peace and progress. He was impatient with self-pitying righteousness. The disputes of the Vietnam and Watergate period were to him challenges to America to demonstrate that it retained its sense of mission and was capable of translating it into a contribution toward a better world.

A great deal has been written about shuttle diplomacy but not enough credit is given to those whose dedication and ability provided the framework and the impetus. I did the negotiating under the wary eye of Joe and his team but the professionals here know who sustained it. No matter how late in the night the negotiations lasted, I could count on finding the next morning a summary of what had happened, a report to the president, and an outline of my duties – (laughter) – for the next steps. Joe’s buoyancy made the enterprise a lot of fun.

On one of our shuttles, a Xerox machine got loose from its moorings – (scattered laughter) -- on the airplane and began rolling around with Joe frantically trying to corral it. One of my assistants shouted, “Grab him before he falls into it – (laughter) -- if there was a duplicate of him we’d never get any sleep.” (Laughter.)

And so on one of these shuttle totes (?), one of my security people thought that he should be ready for combat if we – the minute we left the airplane and had taken the safety off his submachine gun. And the gun went off – (scattered laughter) – and it went through Joe’s best blue suit without hitting Joe. But what worried Joe most was what Jean would say – (laughter) – if she found a hole in his new blue suit – (laughter).

On another occasion, Joe was with me on a shuttle to Damascus even after he had been promoted to political undersecretary. So Assad asked me whether there was any special significance to having the number three man in the State Department accompany the secretary of State on what had look like a routine shuttle. I explained that I had brought Joe along because he had been caught measuring the curtains in my office – (laughter) -- when I left him alone in Washington. (Laughter.) Coups were something Assad understood. (Laughter.) And Joe reported to me gleefully that after that remark, his protocol treatment in Damascus improved dramatically. (Laughter.)

Joe left the Foreign Service in 1976 because the opportunity came along to head a university. It had always been his dream to follow his service to American diplomacy with a career in education. In 1974, he had been asked to head Hamilton College but he could not yet bring himself to separate from the Foreign Service. Eighteen months later, the opportunity to preside over American University proved irresistible.

Joe loved his country; was proud of the Foreign Service; and adored his family. His wife, Jean – beautiful, charming, worldly – provided the emotional balance and security that was the foundation of his ebullience. And he was devoted to his daughters. I invited him to my 80th birthday party and seated him next to my daughter knowing his proclivity for daughters. (Laughter.) I thought that would give him a chance to talk about his family, which turned out to be the case, and also I was sort of hoping that he would brag a little bit about the battles where he and I stood shoulder to shoulder in trying to repay our country for the opportunities it had given us which people of our background – for which people of our background have a special sense of obligation.

After Joe retired from the Foreign Service, he and I remained in contact by telephone and occasional dinners. He never fully recovered from Jean’s premature death. In the last years, he threw himself with characteristic relish into the service of this institution of the American Academy. I spoke to him the last time a few days after he entered the hospital on his final illness. He mentioned the infirmities of age but he would not dwell on his disabilities; he wanted to know what I thought of Iraq. When he got better, he would devote himself to healing the rift between the administration and some of his colleagues. I could imagine the old warrior saddling his horse for another adventure.

Joe’s passing leaves a huge void also for me personally. I admired his gallantry, his wisdom, and if at all I have said, his humility and modesty. I shared many of his attitudes derived from his origins. Amidst the bedlam of day-to-day events, it was reassuring to know that Joe was there – a national treasure, a person of safe haven. We all loved and admired Joe; we’ll miss him for as long as we live. But we would not trade places with those who were never fortunate enough to benefit from the dedication, the love of country, the humanity, and the inspiration of our honoree today.

Thank you very much. (Applause.)

ARTHUR HARTMAN: To receive this award, Joe Sisco’s daughter, Jane, come forward. (Sustained applause.)

JANE SISCO : Thank you.

I’d just like to take a minute to say a few words. I’m filled with emotion as you honor my father. I want to thank the members of the academy for coming here and thank Leonore Annenberg and the foundation for the award and thank Dr. Kissinger for his kind remarks.

I know our family – this has a lot of meaning for us and it will for me forever and I will keep this in my house as a reminder of my father.

When my dad got news here of the award, he, in his understated stated way said, well, I guess I’ve earned that award. (Laughter.) Yeah, I think so. Even though he was a bit understated, he was very proud and exuberant and he had us telling others via e-mail, et cetera – my sister, Carole, sent out notices to folks that he had received this award. So he was just really enthusiastic in his very upbeat way to have received this award.

In his lifetime I think my dad was really passionate about two things: foreign affairs/diplomacy and family. And in foreign affairs I know that – Dr. Kissinger spoke about his energy, his drive, his strategic mind and how he made a great imprint upon the Middle East and other pivotal areas of the world. And I feel enormously proud that he really changed the world.

Equally important, he was just a fervent believer in our family. And he adored my mother; they had a unique relationship. My sister Carole -- our whole extended family -- my cousin Kim is here, my cousin Barney – Paul, sorry – my Uncle Paul, his brother – our whole extended family – my grandmother – he adored them all.

But I think a side of him you might not have seen as much is he viewed really members of his diplomatic family as second family. He loved to mentor and guide younger Foreign Service Officers in their careers and help them along in their progression. And he basked in their accomplishments when he would see them take on a new post that was really a good one for them. And he would comment on them. So in effect everyone here is his second family and that’s the ultimate compliment.

For my father, I just want to say in closing, we used to for 16 years – excuse me. We used to ride along – I would run; he would ride his bike along McArthur Boulevard and we would talk. And this is quote that I want to share with you that we would often talk about – it was Teddy Roosevelt. He said, “The best prize that life has to offer is to work hard at work worth working hard at.” And I think that says it all; he worked very hard at work worth working hard at with people who he viewed as his second family.

Thank you very much. (Applause.)

ARTHUR HARTMAN: Thank you, Jane.

(END)

Previous recipients of the Excellence in Diplomacy Award include:

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