Honorary
Doctorate From Grinnell College, Iowa
May 21, 2007
Citation
for Honorary Degree: Doctor of Laws
"Everyone has to punch some ticket in life that says they have
made a difference."
John Brady Kiesling's words, quoted here, reflect his willingness to a
make a deep personal sacrifice for the good of a larger ideal, and for his
country.
On February 24, 2003, Mr. Kiesling resigned his position with the U.S.
Foreign Service in protest of what he saw as the damage being done to U.S.
interests and alliances by the Bush administration's foreign policy,
particularly the build-up to war with Iraq. He gave up a successful
20-year career - he called it a "dream job" - for his
principles. In doing so, he has inspired many of us and reminded us that
having the courage of our convictions sometimes requires great personal
sacrifice. For his courageous act, we honor him today.
Mr. Kiesling joined the Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State
in 1983. He brought with him a liberal arts education from Swarthmore
College, where he earned a degree in Ancient Greek in 1979, graduating
with distinction, Phi Beta Kappa. He also holds a master's degree in
ancient history and Mediterranean archaeology from the University of
California-Berkeley.
Mr. Kiesling's career carried him from his first posting at the U.S.
Embassy in Israel to Morocco, the Balkans, Romania, India, Armenia, and
finally to Greece, where he was political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in
Athens.
In 2003, Mr. Kiesling found he could no longer argue in favor of his
country's foreign policy decisions. As he told Secretary of State Colin
Powell in his letter of resignation, until that point he had always
believed that by upholding the policies of his president, he was also
upholding the interests of the American people and the world.
"I believe it no longer," he told Powell.
His resignation brought international attention to rising
dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq. Michel Faber praised his letter of
resignation, which was circulated worldwide, as "a masterpiece of
dignity, eloquent reasoning, acute analysis, and, most of all,
humanity." Mr. Kiesling's story was told widely in the press,
including appearances on CNN International; "Now" with Bill
Moyers on PBS; and BBC Newsnight. He was interviewed on NPR's "All
Things Considered" and "Fresh Air with Teri Gross," and his
story appeared in the pages of The Nation. Bill Clinton sent him an
admiring handwritten note.
Since his resignation, Mr. Kiesling has turned his energies to
lecturing, writing, and teaching. His book, Diplomacy Lessons: Realism for
an Unloved Superpower, provides insights on how and why U.S. foreign
policy has strayed so far from our nation's core values.
Grinnell College is proud to honor John Brady Kiesling for his efforts
to remind us of what the United States should be - as he himself writes,
"a beacon of liberty, security, and justice for the planet."
Brief statement to the 2007 Grinnell graduating seniors
Thank you. I am deeply grateful for the honor you have shown me.
In 1604 a British diplomat named Sir Henry Wotton quipped to a friend:
"an ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of
his country." It was too clever a line to be true. Wotton also lost
his job for saying it. . I went to Swarthmore, Grinnell's counterpart in
Pennsylvania. So like you, I was taught to say what I thought, or at least
what I thought I thought. But then I joined the Foreign Service, at the
height of the Reagan Administration. Only one thing saved me from Sir
Henry's fate: When I should have been reading the more notorious Henry --
Henry Kissinger -- instead I was learning ancient Greek and playing
Dungeons and Dragons. This was not as catastrophic an education as it
sounds. Because I was utterly ignorant of my new profession I kept my
mouth shut. It took me the better part of twenty years to notice I now had
thoughts that mattered. By then I had quietly learned one of the world's
great professions.
To reach a position where your skills and education truly matter to
your country and the world, you must often say less than you think. I ask
you to share my faith that patience and circumspection can be a sacrifice
worth making.
Service to your country ultimately buys you the right to speak out and
sometimes even to be heard. In February of 2003 I spoke out as honorably
as I knew how, by resigning. Doing so gave me a taste of what President
Bush likes to call "moral clarity." I consider myself blessed to
have acted on the basis of such certainty once in a lifetime. More often
moral clarity, certainly in international relations and probably in most
other fields, is a murderous delusion.
The goal of a liberal arts education is to foster the generosity of
spirit that makes successful human institutions possible. Listen, ask
questions, withhold judgments of good and evil. Forget grand theories and
remember patience, compassion, and subtlety. If you do, then there is hope
of using the wealth and power of your country to achieve some good in the
world. There is no more honorable challenge. I am confident that you will
accept it. Thank you.
