William Smyser, a participant in and observer of the process, lived in Hitler's Germany, served with the United States forces in Germany in the 1950s, worked under General Lucius Clay in Berlin during the 1960s and was the political counsellor at the American embassy in Bonn during the decade that followed.

ECONOMIST: The cold war

When Roosevelt reopened diplomatic relations, in 1933, the year Hitler came to power, Kennan was sent to accompany the new American Ambassador, William Bullitt, and helped to set up the Moscow Embassy.

NEWYORKER: Getting Real