Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy

When Henry Kissinger died in November 2023 at the age of 100, there was a large volume of public commentary on his legacy and what his many decades in the inner circle of US foreign policy says about the nation at large. He was the last major figure of his kind to have witnessed firsthand the transformation of the United States into a global power, and none had such an influence over its conduct over so long a period of time as Kissinger did. Many people therefore view his passing as the end of an era, with many speculating that the United States would never again hold the degree of global power it had during Kissinger’s time in government.

His ascent from a Jewish childhood in Nazi Germany to the pinnacle of American government and high society is, furthermore, a compelling success story, and with his Bavarian accent (which seemed to thicken with age), many considered him to have a particular insight into American politics as a non-American. As the US relationship with China grew thicker and more complicated, Kissinger was that rare voice who could speak credibly about each country to the other, having been pivotal in Nixon’s “opening” to China from 1971 to 1972. Across the political spectrum, he loomed as an extremely insightful and skilled diplomat whose many achievements (which he details in many chapters of this book) speak to a bygone age of bipartisan investment in the national interest.

Critics of Kissinger necessarily admit his importance and sparkling intellect, most often conceding accomplishments like the opening to China and the settlement of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. They also accuse Kissinger, however, of prolonging and escalating the Vietnam War, particularly during the US’s secret and illegal invasion of Cambodia in 1970. He also allegedly authorized the 1973 coup against democratically elected Chilean president Salvador Allende, ushering in a brutal dictatorship under Auguste Pinochet, and he also supported Indonesian President Suharto as he waged a bloody campaign in East Timor. Kissinger would both dismiss and heatedly engage with these critics over the many decades following his departure from government service.

Nor did controversy end with his return to private life. As head of Kissinger Associates, many speculated that he used his considerable influence as a public intellectual to steer policy toward his clients, although there is no evidence of corruption or undermining of another President’s foreign policy. Offered a seat on the 9/11 Commission investigating how the attacks happened and how the government missed so many warning signs, Kissinger declined to avoid submitting a list of his clients to Congress. He voiced support for the Iraq War, and he upset many who viewed him as the representative of an older Republican party when he eventually supported Donald Trump. While both the extent of his successes and failures are up for dispute, as well as his personal responsibility for each, the very duality of Kissinger’s legacy seems to play no small part in driving the perpetual fascination with him, as few figures in comparable positions have merited the same level of scrutiny and impassioned debate.