George F. Kennan
The Institute is named after George Kennan, an American explorer of Russia and the twice removed older cousin of Ambassador George F. Kennan. George F. Kennan is best known as the author of The Long Telegram and the X Article, and by extension the author of America’s containment policy toward the Soviet Union. Ambassador Kennan, together with Wilson Center Director James Billington and historian S. Frederick Starr, initiated the establishment of the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center.