Sixth president of the state of Israel, Chaim Herzog (1918-1997) was appointed by the Knesset in 1983 and reelected to a second five-year term in 1988.

At a troubled time for Israel, President Chaim Herzog came to represent one of the country's few effective unifying forces in the early 1990s, earning respect in most quarters of a divisive society through his high visibility, personal dignity, and political tact. Exercising limited, largely ceremonial powers of office, he missed no occasion to remind countrymen of those historical, religious, and cultural roots that, reinforced by present common security concerns, ultimately bind together the Jewish state and the peoples of Israel.

Reviewing Chaim Herzog's biography suggests how his background, education, and entire professional experience--lawyer, career military officer, author, ambassador to the United Nations, member of the Israeli parliament--may have prepared him for the sensitive role he was to play in Israeli nation-building during his...