Helmut sonnenfeldt biography

Hal had his own role in shaping them, primarily by serving Henry Kissinger as an analyst, as an adviser, and as deeply sophisticated expert on the Soviet Union. More than other offices in the hallowed halls of the government, his door was open to reporters. Encounters with him — whether at the National Security Council, or the Bureau of Intelligence and Research INRor over a sandwich in the State Department cafeteria — were plenty serious, but not unrelentingly so.

He had a wry and somewhat subversive sense of humor. Put him in bantering range of his pal Bill Hyland a Soviet expert whom Hal recruited to be his deputy at the National Security Counciland you had a comedy duo that could have audiences rolling in the aisles — at least on think tank row. The two of them loved to crack wise about what was going on in the Politburo, at the latest round of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks SALTin the chanceries of Europe, and — it can now be revealed — in the basement of the West Wing.

But when Hal or Bill, for that matter got down to the business at hand, it was rarely the small stuff. Hal would dispense as quickly as possible with the crisis — or the breakthrough — du jour. By that, I mean what was happening on the surface of East-West relations. Instead, his real interest was the subterranean stresses and tectonic shifts. It was in that context that it fell to me as a reporter to cover an unwanted, undeserved, and bizarre episode that started in lateroiled throughoutand had reverberations for years afterward.

To make a long story short, Hal was asked to explain to a private conclave of U. He contributed numerous articles to academic journals. Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. All Rights Reserved. Download our mobile app for on-the-go access to the Jewish Virtual Library. Category » Biography. Actors and Comedians. Business Icons.

Helmut sonnenfeldt biography

Religion Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps Sonnenfeldt, Helmut. Sonnenfeldt, Helmut gale. Learn more about citation styles Citation styles Encyclopedia. More From encyclopedia. About this article Sonnenfeldt, Helmut Updated About encyclopedia. Sonnenfeld, Barry. Sonnenblick, Jordan —. Sonnenberg, Susanna Susanna Sophia Sonnenberg.

Sonnemann, Leopold. Sonneman, Eve Sonneck, Oscar G eorge T heodore. Sonneborn, Tracy Morton. Helmut Sonnenfeldt September 13, — November 18,also known as Hal Sonnenfeldtwas an American foreign policy expert. Kissingerthe architect of American foreign policy in the Nixon and Ford administrations. He was a veteran staff member of the United States National Security Counciland held several advisory posts in the U.

Later in life he was a visiting scholar at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution. Sonnenfeldt was born in in Berlin, Germanyto Drs. Walther and Gertrud Liebenthal Sonnenfeldt. He spent his childhood in GardelegenGermany, where his parents had a family medical practice. He entered the U.

Army inbecame a naturalized American citizen and served in both the Philippines and in the U. Sonnenfeldt entered service in the U. Department of State in as a member of the staff of the Office of Research on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and served as the Director of that Office from to He was a senior staff member of the National Security Council from to Inhe was appointed Counselor of the U.