--- title: The Diplomat Documentary: Richard Holbrooke's Real Successes description: A movie about the late diplomat premieres on HBO on Nov. 2 canonical: https://time.com/4094669/hbo-richard-holbrooke-dayton/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-02T15:00:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T12:14:03.378Z article:section: History og:title: The Diplomat Documentary: Richard Holbrooke's Real Successes og:description: A movie about the late diplomat premieres on HBO on Nov. 2 og:url: https://time.com/4094669/hbo-richard-holbrooke-dayton/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b247d85840b816a/69886ef5428a9e0cd3ccfdd5/holbrooke.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US Assistant Secretary of State and US p og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Diplomat Documentary: Richard Holbrooke's Real Successes twitter:description: A movie about the late diplomat premieres on HBO on Nov. 2 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b247d85840b816a/69886ef5428a9e0cd3ccfdd5/holbrooke.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Richard Holbrooke's Name Became a Verb > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Exclusive Trailer - The Diplomat [Watch (HLS stream): Exclusive Trailer - The Diplomat](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4cYEypqG.m3u8) (1:49)  _Published 2015-04-14. Exclusive Trailer - The Diplomat_  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 2, 2015 3:00 PM UTC  US Assistant Secretary of State and US peace negotiator for Bosnia, Richard Holbrooke (L), delivers statements Oct. 31, 1995, upon arrival at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to host the Proximity Peace Talks near Dayton, Ohio. US Assistant Secretary of State and US peace negotiator for Bosnia, Richard Holbrooke (L), delivers statements Oct. 31, 1995, upon arrival at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to host the Proximity Peace Talks near Dayton, Ohio. Paul J. Richards—AFP/Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 2, 2015 3:00 PM UTC The documentary _The Diplomat_ premieres on HBO on Monday, marking the signature achievement of the late diplomat Richard Holbrooke’s career: the signing of the Dayton Accords, which ended the war in Bosnia in 1995. [_The Diplomat_](http://www.thediplomatfilm.com/) examines the legacy of its title subject, as viewed by his son, David, a filmmaker. Before the agreement, the ongoing war in Bosnia had been raging for years, despite cease-fires in Croatia and the first use of force by NATO to maintain a no-fly zone near Sarajevo. President Bill Clinton involved the U.S. military and, finally, in the middle of 1995, it seemed possible that peace might be negotiated. TIME [noted](http://time.com/vault/issue/1995-10-02/page/48/) that thanks to Holbrooke’s work as the U.S.’s chief negotiator on Bosnia, October 1995 brought the opening of “the most inviting window of opportunity for peace that Bosnia \[had\] seen in years.” As the clock ticked on a limited-time cease-fire, Presidents Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia, Alija Izetbegovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Franjo Tudjman of Croatia came to a conference center at an Air Force base near Dayton, Ohio, chosen for its remoteness. “Since August, the tightly wound Holbrooke has been at the center of the action,” TIME [observed:](http://time.com/vault/issue/1995-11-06/page/56/) --- > “” --- By the end of the month, Holbrooke’s “[brilliant head knocking](http://time.com/vault/issue/1995-12-11/page/54/)” had succeeded. The peace agreement was a major milestone in Clinton’s presidency and in Holbrooke’s professional life. It was also, TIME [noted](http://time.com/vault/issue/1995-11-27/page/46/), proof that there was a place for the world power to use its influence for good. Holbrooke knew the moment’s significance, according to Joe Klein, TIME political columnist, who appears in the HBO film. When the diplomat died in 2010, Klein wrote, “He was a pushy romantic with a grand sense of his nation’s purpose and power, a driving desire to use that power — peacefully, through diplomacy, to make a better world.” **_Read Joe Klein’s full remembrance of Richard Holbrooke:_** [Fond Farewells](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2036683%5F2036477%5F2036912,00.html) ## Transcript Those people who travel into dangerous areas, they're taking great risks. But life is always risks. [ MUSIC ] My father's life was a public one. There was much about his career I didn't understand. So I set out to know him better in death than I did in life. You guys are ready? His career as a diplomat spanned 50 years of American foreign policy. When he showed up, it changed the story completely. You have to make Milosevic and Isakovich talk to each other. This was my first diplomatic assignment from my new husband. Kosovo. It was like Holbrooke- Milosevich round two. That's exactly what it was. In Afghanistan, it's going to be a long, difficult struggle. He knew where he was going and no one should get in his way. And those things didn't work with Obama. I've inquired, what's the bottom line? And he said, it can't work. Your father was larger than life. When people talked about him, they would say, did you see what Holbrook did? Did you see what Holbrook said? He was so intent upon making his case. And I'd push open the door to the ladies' room and he follows me in! It would be more energy every time he walked in a room. My father's life as a diplomat constantly pulled him away from our family. This is dad's book. How's he sign it? Ambassador dad. [ LAUGH ] He was brilliant and demanding and petulant in the course of an hour. This was a big part of who he was. Richard Holbrooke is the most alive person any of us have ever encountered and will ever encounter. Hunter. And the world seems to be coming apart again. Why do we have to lose one person who seems to be able to put things together? As I went around the world working to understand my father's life and legacy. 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