Allan Tessler, Board Chairman
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Herman Kahn Award Dinner in Honor of Governor Mitch Daniels Willard InterContinental Hotel Washington, DC October 14, 2010 Transcript Allan Tessler, Board Chairman: Good Evening and welcome. I am Allan Tessler and it is my distinct honor to serve as Hudson Institute’s Chairman. Tonight we celebrate the memory of our think tank’s founder and those who walk in his footsteps. Herman Kahn was an ideas man — and while he did not hold public office, he saw it as his purpose to think deeply and strategically for those who did. Governor Daniels is that rare hybrid — a think tanker and a politician in one. I’d like to say that Governor Daniel’s tenure in public office and the benefits he has accrued for the public are a testament to his experience gained leading the Hudson Institute, as well as his considerable period of service in the Executive Branch. Next year, Hudson Institute will celebrate its 50th birthday. In a think tank world that makes us old timers. In the beginning, RAND was the only think tank show in town. If you were the best, you worked at RAND and so Herman Kahn worked at RAND. For those who know their tank history, I am sure you are aware that Brookings, preceded by RAND by over twenty years and at that time of Hudson’s founding, AEI was a teenager. So, we have followed very quickly on that path. Herman Kahn founded Hudson Institute, because he saw the market need for a more publicly engaged think tank. One that not only would think about a better future, as well as “unthinkable” threats, but one which would jump into the public debate and try to shape the future. My older friends tell me that turning fifty [Laughter] ... I thought I would get that response — is something of an existential moment. So, in that context it’s time to look back and think about who are, what you’ve done, and what you want to do going forward. Tonight is a “who we are” event. And just on a personal note, I’m at the age right now — I have actually gone past Medicare and Medicaid eligibility and now, I’m thinking about Obamacare and I am kind of saying to myself, “What’s going to keep me healthy and keep me going?” And my health plan is Hudson Institute. [Applause] So, Hudson is the ideas lab that Herman Kahn built. And tonight you’ll hear from Ken Weinstein, who runs and manages our think tank, about the world historical intellect who founded this place. And think tanks don’t magically pop out of the soil after one writes a mission statement. Think tanks are born and sustained through this incredible mix of minds and unfortunately, money. And while our work is the nation’s business, we lack the power to tax. [Laughter] 1 I was going to add that we also lack the power to coerce ... but I thought our board members would label me a hypocrite, because I am their chief coercer and the truth be told, idea people need money people. That’s what keeps ideas going. That’s what keeps everything running. As Richard Weaver famously said, “Ideas have consequences.” A truer statement would read, “Ideas have consequences only after a few have put their money where their minds are.” That’s when ideas have consequence. So, in the end, truth always wins out, but it’s usually after much human suffering and concern. It’s better to show up early and stop bad ideas before they happen or before they really take growth. And if it has already happened, it’s the use of logic that often is the answers and the medicine that get rid of bad ideas. In that sense, as we always say, the truth is what we care about, because the truth is nonpartisan. And this is what we look for — the truth. So, I want everyone to enjoy this evening and shortly you will hear from Ken and you’ll hear from Herb London and you’ll hear more and more about Hudson and it’s antecedence — they have a great depth of knowledge — far better than mine in that regard. This evening is very much the result of the generosity of our sponsors and our co-host, AMGEN has done a wonderful job in supporting this and a number of other corporate sponsors as well, and a number of you all as individuals. We are very grateful to you for doing so and we will hear more about this as the evening progresses. So, enjoy the dinner and the program will continue. Thank you. [Applause] Kenneth Weinstein, CEO: Good evening. Governor Daniels, members of the Diplomatic Corps, former Prime Minister Abe, former Vice President Quayle, Chairman Tessler, Chairman Emeritus Stern, trustees, including Debbie Kahn, Herman Kahn’s daughter and Jessie Cunningham, Herman Kahn’s granddaughter. Friends of Hudson Institute, we are first of all deeply appreciative of your support this evening. We gather this evening to honor two extraordinary individuals. We will hear from and about our honoree Governor Mitch Daniels very shortly. But before we hear from Mitch, I have the honor of talking about the man whose legacy and memory we celebrate tonight, the late Herman Kahn, who founded Hudson Institute in 1961, and who remains our guiding light some forty-nine years later. Herman Kahn was a giant — and I am not simply referring to his size. Though Kahn stood more than six feet tall, something very impressive to, I’d say about four of us at the head table, and he weighed somewhat over 300 pounds, probably twice what our honoree does even in full Harley get- up. We are here tonight to celebrate Kahn’s gargantuan insights, his personality, and the Institute he so proudly built — armed with a powerful imagination, photographic memory, an IQ of over 200, deep foresight and moral courage, and a willingness not to flinch when asking tough questions. Herman had the ability to see through and beyond policy conundrums that obsessed and depressed the chattering classes. His was an extraordinary time. He was born in the roaring twenties and came of age in the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War. A century of total war and a rise in the information age, framed his life and his thinking. The son of Yiddish-speaking Polish immigrants led a quintessentially American, which is to say, an exceptional, life. He rose from menial labor and lower middle classes to brief American presidents from Kennedy to Reagan and dozens of world leaders, including Pompidou of France, Sato of Japan, and Schmidt of West Germany. 2 Herman was one of the world’s most recognized public intellectuals, spawning not just research monographs, which we view today, but major magazines profiles around the globe, novels, and even movies in a career spanning four decades. His accomplishments were astounding — pioneering the use of scenarios for defense planning, founding the fields of both future studies and systems analysis; opposing the Neo-Malthusians of his time and playing a critical role in development economics; and championing the ideas that free markets and human ingenuity can meet the most pressing of policy challenges. Kahn was no narrow policy wonk, nor was he a wild polemicist. He was a brilliant mathematical physicist, training in part at Cal Tech, with an impressive command of world history. He joined the RAND Corporation after World War II — hey, everyone makes mistakes — gravitating toward the emerging study of nuclear strategy and there Herman honed his skills, including the ability to analyze issues in the broadest possible perspective. One of those perspectives was to be broad enough to think the unthinkable, including the consequences of nuclear war. Not to promote it certainly, but to meet the challenge of preventing or eliminating it. By so doing, Kahn showed how its horrible consequences might be reduced including through civil defense, which he advocated. Though Kahn enjoyed, one might say a dark reputation in some circles as a thermonuclear strategist and he certainly became one of the models of Dr. Strangelove, the title character of his friend Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 film, he was far from the brooding character and the brooding figure some imagined and certainly nothing like Dr. Strangelove. He was an enfant terrible — this is a quip — even on the darkest of subjects. So much so that the Village Voice declared that Herman should stop wasting his time on thermonuclear war and follow his real talents — stand-up comedy. I might say that the Village Voice should stop wasting its time on political commentary and follow its real talent — astrology for pets. [Laughter] But that would be rude and gross and out of character for a dignified evening like this evening. Kahn was legendary for his multi-hour and multi-day briefings on a dazzling array of subjects that kept diverse audiences on their toes, with a mix of brilliant insights — pop culture references, anecdotes from ancient Rome of course — and a wicked, if not — I might add — Borscht Belt sense of humor. Kahn’s persona was too big for the RAND Corporation and he parted ways when his willingness to be a gadfly and court controversy on the thermonuclear war was too much for the stiffs in gray suits out in Santa Monica. And he decided to head East, North of New York City to found the Hudson Institute. An organization founded under his own image — big, bold, anti- bureaucratic, intellectually diverse, devoted to longer range, inter-disciplinary areas of research that would challenge the conventional wisdom.