Editing X Article (section)

===Origins===

On January 7, 1947, Kennan spoke at the [[Council on Foreign Relations]], based at the [[Harold Pratt House]] in [[New York City]].{{sfn|Gaddis|2011|pp=249–250}} The theme of the meeting was "Soviet Foreign Relations", presented to a small group and designated as "[[Source (journalism)#Speaking terms|not for attribution]]". Kennan did not prepare a written speech, having given dozens of similar talks in the years before. In his talk, he discussed the Soviet leaders' perspectives on the rest of the world, rooted in both their Marxist-Leninist ideology and Russian history. The Soviets justified their dictatorship by pointing to external enemies, most of which were imaginary. For change to occur, the United States and its allies would need to "contain" the Soviets in a "non-provocative way".{{sfn|Gaddis|2011|p=250}}

International banker [[R. Gordon Wasson]] attended the discussion and was impressed by Kennan, suggesting that the Council revise the talk for publication in their journal ''[[Foreign Affairs]]''. Journal editor [[Hamilton Fish Armstrong]] had not attended the discussion but requested on January 10 that Kennan revise his talk into an article.{{sfn|Gaddis|2011|p=251}} Kennan responded to Armstrong in a letter of February 4, writing, "I really can not write anything of value on Russia for publication under my own name. If you would be interested in an anonymous article, or one under a pen name,{{nbsp}}... I might be able to make the necessary arrangements."{{sfn|Gaddis|2011|p=251}} Armstrong replied on March 7, agreeing to Kennan's suggestion, writing that the "disadvantage of anonymity" was outweighed by the potential importance of the article.{{sfn|Gaddis|2011|p=251}}

Taking time off from the State Department, Kennan worked as a lecturer at the [[National War College]]. His work left him little time to write a new essay, so he searched for previous work to repurpose. In January 1946, Forrestal had asked Kennan for an analysis of a piece by [[Smith College]] professor Edward F. Willett entitled "Dialectical Materialism And Russian Objectives". Kennan was unimpressed with the work, but decided that rather than denigrating the piece he would instead publish a new analysis.{{sfn|Gaddis|2011|p=258}} The paper, titled "Psychological Background of Soviet Foreign Policy", was around six thousand words. In late January 1946 he sent it to Forrestal, who described it as "extremely well-done" before sending it on to General Marshall.{{sfn|Gaddis|2011|p=259}}{{refn|group=note|In his memoirs, Kennan writes that he originally wrote the piece only for Forrestal's "private and personal edification".<ref>{{harvnb|Kennan|1983}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Gaddis|2011|p=261}}.</ref> Gaddis disputes this characterization, writing that the piece seems too carefully constructed to have been only intended for one person: "the tone is that of a stem-winding sermon [that] preachers normally seek out [in] pulpits."{{sfn|Gaddis|2011|p=261}}}} In a letter of March 10 to [[John T. Connor]], an aide of Forrestal, Kennan inquired as to whether it would be appropriate to publish this piece anonymously in ''Foreign Affairs''.{{sfn|Gaddis|2011|pp=259, 720n23}} Forrestal agreed, as did the State Department's Committee on Unofficial Publications.{{sfn|Gaddis|2011|p=259}}

Kennan made several minor corrections to the piece, along with scratching his name out and writing "X" in its place. He added a note on authorship, writing: "The author of this article is one who has had long experience with Russian affairs, both practically and academically, but whose position makes it impossible for him to write about them under his own name."{{sfn|Gaddis|2011|p=259}} Armstrong published Kennan's piece under the title "The Sources of Soviet Conduct", removing Kennan's note and leaving only the "X" as an identifier.{{sfn|Gaddis|2011|pp=259, 262}}