JUN-21-1999 16:41

UNIVERSITY RELATIONS

617 353 4048

P.02

Henry Kissinger

Boston University
Commencement Address

May 23, 1999

Credit: Boston University Photo Services

President Westling, Chancellor Silber. I have to explain what brought me here, because I usually do not go to commencements. I met Chancellor Silber when I was sixty. Three weeks later, I was sixty-five. I learned that it is far more painful to refuse John Silber than to carry out his wishes. And it is a great privilege to be able to come here.

I met Chancellor Silber when we were both serving on the President's Bipartisan Commission for Central America. He was put on that commission as a Democrat. Very soon, however, he achieved an amazing consensus. Both Republicans and Democrats were begging me to find a way to get him off that commission.

I say all of this, however, to emphasize that there is nobody I have met whose integrity, courage and leadership I admire more than I do John Silber's. And once we got through our stormy period — and I yielded — we had a wonderful relationship. He contributed decisively to what the commission achieved, and uniquely to the humane and constructive recommendations that it included.

Boston University has experienced what true leadership is. Every great idea was somebody's idea before it became a reality. And John Silber has epitomized this at Boston University and throughout his life. Therefore, I am grateful to have this opportunity to pay tribute to him, to his distinguished successor President Westling, and to all of you for being part of such a great university.

In asking myself what I could talk about at commencement that is not too pompous, I thought that perhaps I could compare my experiences as a professor with my experiences as a policy maker. I have played both of these roles and the difference is not always clear. As a professor — or any outsider — you can pick your subject. You can work on it for as long as you wish. You are responsible primarily for the plausibility and the accuracy of what you