THE NEGOTIATORS
Antony J. Blinken is someone who has the ear of US President Joe Biden. As the US secretary of state, he constantly interacts with presidents, prime ministers and monarchs. Over his three decades of public service, Blinken has served three US presidents.
Yet, unlike many others in power positions, Blinken is not a distant figure living in an ivory tower, seen and heard only at official gatherings. He is winsomely human, right from his shock of hair with a dusting of grey to the missing “h” in Anthony to the fact that he is known to many simply as Tony. In his official Twitter account, he disarmingly describes himself as “Husband, dad, (very) amateur guitarist, and the 71st Secretary of State serving under the leadership of @POTUSBiden”. The “amateur guitarist” has released two songs on Spotify under the name ‘Ablinken’.
Public service runs in his family—Blinken’s father, Donald M. Blinken, was the US ambassador to Hungary and his uncle Alan Blinken was the US ambassador to Belgium. His public service began at the state department in 1993, as a special assistant in what was then called the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs.
Blinken’s professional relationship with Biden started in 2002, when he began his six-year stint as Democratic staff director for the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Later, in the Barack Obama administration, he served as national security adviser to then-vice president Biden.
He met his future wife, Evan Ryan, in 1995 at the White House. He was a speechwriter on the National Security Council; she was a scheduler for first lady Hillary Clinton. Hillary was a guest at the Blinken-Ryan wedding in 2002, and Blinken gave a toast thanking the 40 million Americans who voted for Bill Clinton, because the election led to the marriage. Ryan is now the White House cabinet secretary.
Blinken’s stepfather, Samuel Pisar—a Holocaust survivor and noted lawyer—was an adviser to president John F. Kennedy. Pisar’s parents and younger sister Frieda died in the Holocaust; he was the only survivor of the 900 children of his Polish school. Blinken spoke about Pisar’s experiences in his Senate confirmation hearing. Blinken himself has experienced many different surroundings. As a six-year-old, he moved to Paris with his mother, Judith, and Pisar. And, that is how he became fluent in French.
Later he moved back to the US, graduated from Harvard College magna cum laude and earned a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School. Before joining government service, Blinken was an attorney in New York and Paris. In 2017, he co-founded WestExec Advisors—a consulting firm focused on geopolitics and national security.
Over three decades and three presidential administrations, Blinken has helped shape American foreign policy. There are big challenges in front of him, but Blinken is someone who has the potential to rise to the occasion.
Lavina Melwani is a New York-based journalist.