Henry Kissinger and American Power
A Political Biography
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
[Henry Kissinger and American Power] effectively separates the man from the myths." —The Christian Science Monitor | Best books of August 2020
The definitive biography of Henry Kissinger—at least for those who neither revere nor revile him
Over 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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Vanderbilt University historian Schwartz (coeditor, The Strained Alliance) examines the eventful career and divisive legacy of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in this even-handed biography. After sketching Kissinger's flight from Nazi Germany, WWII military service, Harvard education, and arrival in Washington, D.C., Schwartz focuses on the period from 1969 to 1977 when Kissinger served, first as national security advisor and then as secretary of state, in the Nixon and Ford administrations. Deployed by Nixon as an envoy to China, Russia, and Vietnam, Kissinger ensured that credit for foreign policy achievements would go to the White House rather than the State Department. Schwartz skillfully illustrates the complex dynamics between the two men as Kissinger's fame and regard rose, culminating in a Nobel Peace Prize, and Nixon's influence ebbed during the Watergate scandal. Schwartz provides succinct explanations of key strategies such as "triangular diplomacy," but the book's comprehensive coverage of all the international conflicts Kissinger dealt with doesn't allow for too much deep analysis. Schwartz also treats controversies, such as allegations that Kissinger leaked privileged information about peace talks with North Vietnam to Nixon's camp during the 1968 election, rather lightly. Still, this exhaustive yet accessible account serves as a worthwhile introduction to Kissinger and the geopolitics of the 1960s and '70s.