Background
He is neat, orderly and meticulous in his personal as well as his official life, and anything he undertakes is carried through with unsparing thoroughness. A kindred characteristic is his remarkable resourcefulness. All problems, from minor daily difficulties to complex international issues, are met with a ready ingenuity and an indefatigable determination. The harder the problem, the greater the challenge, and the more Dr. van Kleffens welcomes a chance to solve it. He is helped inestimably in this by a quiet but unfailing sense of humor, which is magically effective in smoothing potentially thorny paths.