Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 117
on political books
Restoring Henry
Niall Ferguson, Kissinger's authorized
biographer, begins the arduous task of
rolling his subject's fallen reputation back
up the hill. The historian Greg Grandin
kicks it right back down again.
By Michael O'Donnell
I
n 1940 the young Henry Kissinger, caught in a love quadrangle, drafted a letter to the
object of his affections. Her name was Edith. He and his friends Oppus and Kurt admired her attractiveness and had feelings for her, the letter said. But a "solicitude for your
welfare" is what prompted him to write-"to caution you against a too rash involvement
into a friendship with any one of us."
I want to caution you against Kurt because of his wickedness, his utter disregard of any
moral standards, while he is pursuing his ambitions, and against a friendship with Oppus,
because of his desire to dominate you ideologically and monopolize you physically. This does
not mean that a friendship with Oppus is impossible, I would only advise you not to become
too fascinated by him.
Kissinger disclaimed any selfish motive for writing, loftily quoted from Washington's
farewell address, and regretted with some bitterness Edith's failure to read or comment
on the two school book reports he had sent her. Would she please return them for his files?
It is unfair to judge a man's character by a jealous letter that he drafted (and did not
send) at age sixteen. Yet here, to a remarkable extent, is the future nuclear strategist, national security advisor, and secretary of state. The reference to Edith's attractiveness bespeaks the charm and flattery for which Kissinger would become famous. Secrecy and
deceit are present also: he went behind his friends' backs and coyly advised against a relationship with "any one of us," which of course really meant the other guys. By trashing
his buddies in order to get a girl, Kissinger displayed ruthlessness. The letter is written in
what Christopher Hitchens memorably described as Kissinger's "dank obfuscatory prose,"
which relies on clinical-sounding phrases like "dominate you ideologically." And, of course,
the letter betrays vanity. How could anyone fail to be dazzled by his book reports!
The conservative historian Niall Ferguson presents this letter in Kissinger: The Idealist, 1923-1968, the first volume of his massive two-part biography of the controversial
statesman. Yet Ferguson reads the letter and reaches a different conclusion. It stands
out, Ferguson writes, not because it reveals unsavory character traits that Kissinger
would display throughout his public life, but for its "analytical precision and psychological penetration." Ferguson concedes that the letter is "solipsistic," and the product of
youthful jealousy. Yet he cannot help but admire the young strategist at work: even the
boy Kissinger could analyze a series of interlocking relationships, parse the competing
interests, and make a power play.
Kissinger: The Idealist,
1923-1968
by Niall Ferguson
Penguin Press, 1008 pp.
Kissinger's Shadow:
The Long Reach of America's
Most Controversial Statesman
by Greg Grandin
Metropolitan Books, 288 pp.
F
erguson is Kissinger's authorized biographer, and in 1,000 pages he begins the task
of rescuing his subject's tarnished reputation. It is a steep climb. The foreign policy chief for Presidents Nixon and Ford has been portrayed in dozens of books and by
countless witnesses as a coddler of dictators, a cynical practitioner of realpolitik, a warWashington Monthly
117
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Washington Monthly - September/October 2015
Contents
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - Cover1
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - Cover2
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 1
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 2
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 3
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 4
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 5
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 6
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 7
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 8
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - Contents
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 10
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 11
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 12
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 13
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 14
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 15
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 16
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 17
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 18
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 19
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 20
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 21
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 22
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 23
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 24
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 25
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 26
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 27
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 28
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 29
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 30
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 31
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 32
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 33
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 34
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 35
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 36
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 37
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 38
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 39
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 40
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 41
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 42
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 43
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 44
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 45
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 46
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 47
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 48
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 49
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 50
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 51
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 52
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 53
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 54
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 55
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 56
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 57
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 58
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 59
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 60
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 61
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 62
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 63
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 64
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 65
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 66
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 67
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 68
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 69
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 70
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 71
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 72
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 73
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 74
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 75
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 76
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 77
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 78
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 79
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 80
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 81
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 82
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 83
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 84
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 85
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 86
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 87
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 88
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 89
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 90
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 91
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 92
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 93
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 94
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 95
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 96
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 97
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 98
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 99
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 100
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 101
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 102
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 103
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 104
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 105
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 106
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 107
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 108
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 109
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 110
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 111
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 112
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 113
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 114
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 115
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 116
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 117
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 118
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 119
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 120
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 121
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 122
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 123
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - 124
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - Cover3
Washington Monthly - September/October 2015 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/washingtonmonthly/20240910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/washingtonmonthly/20230910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/washingtonmonthly/20220910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/washingtonmonthly/20210910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/washingtonmonthly/20200910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/washingtonmonthly/20190910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/washingtonmonthly/20180910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/washingtonmonthly/20160910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/washingtonmonthly/20150910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/washingtonmonthly/20140910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/washingtonmonthly/20120910
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com