Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage — who passed away this week at the age of 79 — was no ideologue. In fact, he couldn’t stand them.

He was a realist, but his realism was not based on academic theories. Instead, he operated on the basis of his instinctive understanding of the national interests of his foreign interlocutors and, inevitably, his ability get along well with them even as he negotiated to protect America’s interests.

I first met Rich when I joined the Department of Defense in 1981 and he was the deputy assistant secretary for Asian affairs. He had been Sen. Bob Dole’s staffer and was widely respected on Capitol Hill.

Rich was powerfully built, so muscular that his entire surname was stitched on the upper arm of his shirtsleeve. And he was blunt; indeed, it was his very bluntness, and his colorful vocabulary, that made him so effective with even the most staid foreign diplomats.

It not merely that he was effective; he was trusted. He earned the trust of leaders in both Beijing and Taipei, which was why he played a major role in the negotiation of the 1982 third Shanghai communique, which reaffirmed America’s commitment to sell arms to Taiwan while deepening cultural, economic and scientific relations with China. He maintained excellent........

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