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Henry Kissinger and American Power: A Political Biography
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About This Book
The definitive biography of Henry Kissinger--at least for those who neither revere nor revile himOver the past six decades, Henry Kissinger has been America's most consistently praised--and reviled--public figure. He was hailed as a "miracle worker" for his peacemaking in the Middle East, pursuit of détente 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 the left and from the right for his indifference to human rights, complicity in the pointless sacrifice of American and Vietnamese lives, and reliance on deception and intrigue. Was he a brilliant master strategist--"the 20th century's greatest 19th century statesman"--or a cold-blooded monster who eroded America's moral standing for the sake of self-promotion? In this masterfully researched biography, the renowned diplomatic historian Thomas Schwartz offers an authoritative, and fair-minded, answer to this question. While other biographers have engaged in hagiography or demonology, Schwartz takes a measured view of his subject. He recognizes Kissinger's successes and acknowledges that Kissinger thought seriously and with great insight about the foreign policy issues of his time, while also recognizing his failures, his penchant for backbiting, and his reliance on ingratiating and fawning praise of the president as a source of power. Throughout, Schwartz stresses Kissinger's artful invention of himself as a celebrity diplomat and his domination of the medium of television news. He also notes Kissinger's sensitivity to domestic and partisan politics, complicating--and undermining--the image of the far-seeing statesman who stands above the squabbles of popular strife. Rounded and textured, and rich with new insights into key dilemmas of American power, Henry Kissinger and American Power stands as an essential guide to a man whose legacy is as complex as the last sixty years of US history itself.
Reviews
"This richly detailed investigation will find an appreciative audience among Cold War scholars and current history readers."
"readers who watched that history as it was unfolding will almost certainly find Henry Kissinger and American Power disconcertingly evenhanded in assessing how Kissinger acquired the reputation upon which so much political clout rests."
"The author downplays some of the more 'thundering moral pronouncements of condemnations' leveled at Kissinger over the years ..."
"Kissinger's ideological posture vacillated dramatically, and it is Schwartz's great strength that he deals objectively with the manifold sides of his subject's personality: Machiavellian, reckless, prone to 'creative ambiguity.' This is a sophisticated, well-textured study of a major figure in American political history."
"Still, this exhaustive yet accessible account serves as a worthwhile introduction to Kissinger and the geopolitics of the 1960s and '70s."
"The author recognizes Kissinger's (and Nixon's) accomplishments—the opening to China, triangular diplomacy with China and the Soviet Union, shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East—but sees politics and personal ambition as the driving force of policy."
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