George F. Kennan

(1904 - 2005)

In 1933 George F. Kennan was charged with reopening the U.S. embassy in Moscow, closed since the Russian Revolution, and after assignments in Prague, Berlin, and Lisbon he returned to Moscow in 1944. Two years later he sent the highly influential so-called Long Telegram to Marshall, stating that U.S. and Soviet interests were incompatible and that containment of Soviet power was essential. Kennan was soon made director of policy planning and helped develop the Marshall Plan.