Max (1).webp
Max (1).webp

Quiet Diplomat: Max Fisher

$600.00

No private citizen in the American Jewish community has played so profound a diplomatic role between Washington and Jerusalem as Max M. Fisher. Born in 1908, the son of Jewish immigrants, Fisher grew up in a small Ohio town. He attended Ohio State University on a football scholarship and, upon graduating in 1930, entered the oil business. Two decades later, Fisher was recognized as one of the nation’s leading industrialists and philanthropists.

Then, in the late 1950s, he began to carve out a singular niche for himself in politics, becoming a valued adviser to every Republican president since Richard Nixon and every Israeli prime minister since Golda Meir. The net result, according to one insider, has been that Fisher “politicized Jewish America as it had never been done,” and in the process “defined the new parameters of the Jewish community’s relation to the presidency and politics.” Despite the breadth of his activities, Fisher has chosen to live his life out of the public eye, quietly building bridges between Washington and Jerusalem. Few outside the inner circles of government know the extent of his role; his anonymity was among his greatest assets. Fisher was far more visible in his home city of Detroit, Michigan. In the summer of 1967, following one of the worst riots in

American history, Fisher immersed himself in helping to heal a city besieged by economic problems and racial strife, a project that still occupies him today. In Quiet Diplomat, Peter Golden has captured Fisher as he works behind the scenes in private meetings at the White House and State Department, or over the telephone, which a Detroit journalist once referred to as Fisher’s “favorite instrument.” With full access to Fisher’s extensive archives and to the man himself, Golden opens up Fisher’s little-known world of high-level national and international politics. Through this meticulously researched biography march the world leaders of the late twentieth century—Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Alexander Haig, George Shultz, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, George Bush, and Yitzhak Shamir--all of whom have contributed their personal impressions of Fisher and the events that brought them together and made history.

No private citizen in the American Jewish community has played so profound a diplomatic role between Washington and Jerusalem as Max M. Fisher. Born in 1908, the son of Jewish immigrants, Fisher grew up in a small Ohio town. He attended Ohio State University on a football scholarship and, upon graduating in 1930, entered the oil business. Two decades later, Fisher was recognized as one of the nation’s leading industrialists and philanthropists.

Then, in the late 1950s, he began to carve out a singular niche for himself in politics, becoming a valued adviser to every Republican president since Richard Nixon and every Israeli prime minister since Golda Meir. The net result, according to one insider, has been that Fisher “politicized Jewish America as it had never been done,” and in the process “defined the new parameters of the Jewish community’s relation to the presidency and politics.” Despite the breadth of his activities, Fisher has chosen to live his life out of the public eye, quietly building bridges between Washington and Jerusalem. Few outside the inner circles of government know the extent of his role; his anonymity was among his greatest assets. Fisher was far more visible in his home city of Detroit, Michigan. In the summer of 1967, following one of the worst riots in

American history, Fisher immersed himself in helping to heal a city besieged by economic problems and racial strife, a project that still occupies him today. In Quiet Diplomat, Peter Golden has captured Fisher as he works behind the scenes in private meetings at the White House and State Department, or over the telephone, which a Detroit journalist once referred to as Fisher’s “favorite instrument.” With full access to Fisher’s extensive archives and to the man himself, Golden opens up Fisher’s little-known world of high-level national and international politics. Through this meticulously researched biography march the world leaders of the late twentieth century—Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Alexander Haig, George Shultz, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, George Bush, and Yitzhak Shamir--all of whom have contributed their personal impressions of Fisher and the events that brought them together and made history.

Critical Acclaim for Quiet Diplomat

“A meticulously researched and gracefully written book. . . . it gives us a concrete view of the emergence of American Jews into the mainstream of national politics since World War II.

— Commentary

“Much more than the story of a remarkable individual. Because Max Fisher has been such a key figure for the last several decades. . . his life’s works reflect the drama—the anguish as well as the triumphs—of a tumultuous period. Quiet Diplomat is a welcome refresher course in recent political and Jewish history.

— Moment

“Quiet Diplomat is a story about genesis. And like Genesis, it is breathtaking.

— Shimon Peres Former Prime Minister of Israel

“This well-titled biography is a rewarding account of [Fisher’s] profound influence and achievements.

— George Shultz Former U.S. Secretary of State