Les Gelb, who died over the weekend, had a stunning resumé. The Pentagon. Brookings. The State Department. The New York Times. The Council on Foreign Relations. He had a quick, incisive mind and was adept at synthesizing complexity into common sense. His professional life was spent working on, explaining, and convening expertise to tackle very hard problems. He witnessed policy failure on a grand scale in the Johnson administration, and experienced the highs and lows of working in the Carter administration.

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