Opinion: Richard Holbrooke: ‘He was drama all the time’ in a ‘no-drama White House’
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Op-Ed columnist Doyle McManus joined ‘Washington Week’ on Friday to discuss Richard C. Holbrooke, who died Dec. 15. Of the late diplomat’s challenges, he said:
‘This is a very buttoned-up, tightly-controlled, no-drama White House. And those are adjectives you would never apply to Richard Holbrooke. He was a bit of a freelancer; he was drama all the time, so that was really oil and water.’
But Holbrooke didn’t ruffle feathers for no reason. In last Wednesday’s column, McManus wrote:
‘He had protean energy, bulldozer tenacity and an always visible ego, all of which he used in relentless pursuit of what he felt was America’s duty: to try to fix the world’s problems. [...] Holbrooke wasn’t a dove; he was a realist. He believed the United States needed to lower its sights in Afghanistan to find an outcome that was achievable at reasonable cost. But he still believed the United States needed to remain involved in both Afghanistan and Pakistan for years to come.’
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-- Alexandra Le Tellier
