A business executive and diplomat recalls a long life of service,
including recent work, post-9/11, as head of the Lower Manhattan
Development Corporation. Whitehead grew up in the Depression, a
matter he revisits late in his account, when, as chairman of the
Federal Reserve Bank, he warns that the stock market bubble of the
mid-1990s "could lead only to one result: a terrible crash." Headed
for a career as a college admissions officer, Whitehead opted for
business instead, just when WWII broke out. Trained as a naval
accountant, he found himself commanding a landing craft at D-Day.
It's conceivable that memories of the event helped mold Whitehead's
career as a diplomat, though he makes no such stretch here; having
earned many fortunes as a financier, he served diligently in the
Reagan administration as deputy secretary of state under George
Schultz, and, Whitehead relates, he made it a special project to
open up Eastern Europe in rather the same spirit as Nixon opened up
China to American diplomacy. His insistence that the State
Department consider the nations of the Soviet bloc to be
"differentiated"-that is, still distinct and individual-was met by
considerable resistance on the part of National Security Council
hardliners; particularly implacable was an old Wall Street rival,
Don Regan, though Nancy Reagan was even more formidable after
Whitehead publicly disagreed with the president during the Irangate
mess. He scored a victory over the hardliners when, he relates, he
convinced Reagan to pay up on belated dues to the United
Nations-which he adds, George H.W. Bush undid, bowing once again to
the right wing. (Reading between the lines, one might conclude that
Whitehead has small regard for any Bush except the unrelated
Vannevar.) Whitehead closes by describing the work he has done to
rebuild Lower Manhattan, accomplished in part by some very shrewd
dealings with residents and businesspeople who are now helping the
area flourish anew. Altogether, a pleasing memoir, with many
lessons in practical leadership and public duty. (Kirkus Reviews)
John Whitehead began life in Montclair, New Jersey, as a child of
the Depression and went on to lead an exemplary life in the years
of the Greatest Generation. In this intimate, charming
autobiography, he shares his stories and the lessons he's learned
about quiet leadership.He describes how on D-Day he commanded one
of the landing crafts at Omaha Beach, and witnessed one of the
greatest battles in American military history. Later, in his role
as co-chair of Goldman Sachs, he was one of the pioneers of the
globalization of international finance that was to change the face
of American business. In 1985, Whitehead was appointed Deputy
Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and became the
architect of the Reagan administration's successful efforts to wean
the countries of Eastern Europe from the Soviet Union and to open
up space there for the democratic movements that eventually
resulted in the fall of the Berlin Wall.Most recently, he was
appointed by New York Governor George Pataki as Chairman of the
Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which is charged with the
task of rebuilding Ground Zero. Whitehead provides a first-hand
account of the difficult decisions the LMDC has made in meeting its
goals of re-developing lower Manhattan and honoring the victims of
9/11 as the capstone of his remarkable career.
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