The subtle power of Brent Scowcroft
Calm strength and patient wisdom. Those were the measure of the man. The integrity of Brent Scowcroft was measured time after time by the way he responded to power.
Strength and wisdom were his measure. Humility was his character. The combination of these qualities resulted in what could be argued as the gold standard of effective national security advisers and selfless public servants.
Brent Scowcroft, who died at the age of 95 on Aug. 6, entered my political consciousness when he served President Nixon as deputy national security adviser under Henry Kissinger’s National Security Council. General Scowcroft, an Air Force lieutenant general, or three-star, before his military retirement, went on to become national security adviser in the Ford administration and reprised the role in the George H.W. Bush presidency, the only individual to serve as national security adviser in two administrations.
Our relationship became more personal when, in the first Bush administration, I was honored to be appointed by the president to the Council on Environmental Quality, located in the Executive Office of the President. The council on which I served was the first serious effort to assemble environmental, business and government leaders focusing on environmental security, a newly recognized tenet in the protection of our national interests. My engagement was from the perspective of the natural gas industry as chairman and CEO of Arkla, a mid-American distribution, transmission and exploration company.
From that time on, my engagement with Scowcroft, an ever-present and esteemed presidential adviser during this period at the close of the Cold War, was both meaningful and respectful. His subtle style and powerful influence were instructive and appreciated.
Much has been said about Scowcroft over the years. What I remember, indeed experienced, in connection to and collaboration with General Scowcroft, spans over a 25-year period from the Clinton White House to our shared professional interests during post-government service.
As White House Chief of Staff for President Clinton, I was tasked with a number of opportunities to bring to the White House demonstrated experts in multiple fields to advise the president. President Clinton valued a wide array of opinions from those inside and outside of government. Scowcroft’s respect for the role of foreign policy fit that bill to a T. Secretary Kissinger, too, was part of those outside and bipartisan advisory meetings, as were former and current government officials and members of Congress from both sides of the aisle.
Whether it was the Bosnian war or a better understanding of China (he accompanied Nixon to China in 1972) or Russia (he was a West Point graduate, where he later taught Russian history, and held a Columbia University master’s degree and doctorate in international relations), Scowcroft understood the true realities of historical and situational politics. His wise counsel provided a non-ideological view of the world as it actually existed.
Some have called Scowcroft a realist. His strategic approach to foreign and defense policy issues confirms that notion. But even more than realism, Scowcroft’s value to a president and a nation was based in pragmatism, and a clear-eyed and concise assessment of intended and unintended consequences of executive decisions.
Perhaps uniquely, his tactics were his strategy.
The proper intersection of private business and public policy leverages the strengths of both for the greater good. After his government service, Scowcroft and the Scowcroft Group, which he founded in 1994, embarked on a business model of providing actionable advice and counsel to clients operating in global markets.
The Scowcroft approach matched seamlessly with our corporate mission at McLarty Associates, founded in 1998. In fact, Scowcroft and McLarty officed in the same building, eventually sharing a floor. And sharing an understanding of the challenges private businesses face while attempting to assess risk and discover market opportunities around the world.
In 2015, the Scowcroft Group and McLarty Associates established a formal collaboration to serve clients who could profit from the combination of individual expertise residing at each firm. Brent Scowcroft and I, and our teams, have shared clients, boardrooms, daises and podiums. He demonstrated his unselfish and self-effacing style by gracing us with personal remarks at our firm’s 15th anniversary recognition. For that, we will be forever grateful.
In 1998, Scowcroft and President George H.W. Bush wrote “A World Transformed.” This major work details the foreign policy challenges facing the elder Bush’s administration and the future of our global relationships.
Through the collapse of the Soviet empire to the tragic events in China’s Tiananmen Square and the victory in the Persian Gulf War, the book demonstrates the president’s and his national security adviser’s partnership and complementary world knowledge.
The striking takeaway from the book, as one reviewer put it, captures the “great precision” with which other leaders’ delicate political needs were dealt, as well as the “importance of consultation and personal contact with allies and adversaries.” Much-needed traits in today’s somewhat scattered global dynamics.
America’s national leaders will miss Scowcroft’s integrity, superb judgment, modest strength and steady hand. I will miss a good friend, a professional partner, and the casual encounters that often turned into long visits and extended conversations.
Most of all, this country will miss the benefits of a crisp, sharp mind that grasped complicated international issues affecting our everyday lives.
Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty is chairman of McLarty Associates headquartered in Washington, D.C., and chairman of McLarty Companies based in Little Rock. He previously served as White House Chief of Staff, Counselor to the President, and Special Envoy to the Americas during the Clinton Administration.