I first interviewed Richard Lugar of Indiana in January 1985, shortly after he became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the first time, and left the encounter unimpressed. He seemed to lack the international expertise of his predecessor, Senator Charles Percy of Illinois, a fellow Republican, and I wondered where the leadership would come from on that crucial committee. Less than two weeks later, a second interview left me amazed. He was an internationalist who believed in American leadership, the web of post-World War II alliances, and in talking to Russia — even in the present difficult days. I last saw him in March , at a conference on “America’s Role in the World” at the Hamilton-Lugar School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University.

Source: International New York Times April 29, 2019 22:07 UTC