Henry Kissinger and American Power: A Political Biography

About this book

Henry Kissinger and American Power effectively separates the man from the myths. The Christian Science Monitor (Best Books of the Month) The definitive biography of Henry Kissingerat least for those who neither revere nor revile him. Over the past six decades Henry Kissinger has been one of Americas most lavishly praisedand most reviledpublic figures. He was hailed as a miracle worker for his peacemaking in the Middle East pursuit of dtente with the Soviet Union negotiation of an end to the Vietnam War and secret plan to open the United States to China. He was assailed from both the left and the right for his complicity in the pointless sacrifice of American and Vietnamese lives indifference to human rights and reliance on deception and intrigue. Was he a brilliant master strategistthe 20th centurys greatest 19th-century statesman (Robert Kaplan The Atlantic)or a cold-blooded monster who eroded Americas moral standing for the sake of self-promotion? In this masterfully researched biography the renowned diplomatic historian Thomas A. Schwartz offers an authoritative and evenhanded answer to this question. While other biographers have engaged in hagiography or demonology Schwartz takes a measured view of his subject. He recognizes Kissingers important successes and insights into the foreign policy issues of his time but also acknowledges his failures his penchant for backbiting and his reliance on ingratiating and fawning praise of the president as a source of his own power. Throughout Schwartz stresses Kissingers artful invention of himself as a celebrity diplomat and his domination of the medium of television news. He also notes Kissingers sensitivity to domestic and partisan politics complicatingand underminingthe image of the far-seeing statesman who stood above the squabbles of popular strife. Rounded and textured and rich with new insights into key dilemmas of American policy Henry Kissinger and American Power is an essential guide to a man whose legacy is as complex as the last sixty years of U.S. history itself.