Kissinger on Kissinger: Reflections on Diplomacy, Grand Strategy, and Leadership by Winston LordMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Maybe it is my ear, or maybe it is Kissinger's accent and age, but for at least most of my adult life, it seems like I could have used subtitles for most of his comments. Such issues are dispensed with in these transcribed interviews. This fairly brief read is called an "oral history" as it makes up for in content what it may lack in length. For instance, from "One: Statesmanship":
But as a general proposition, by the time you know all the facts, it is too late to affect them.
This is generally about meeting Nixon and working with Nixon against Russia and towards thawing the relationship with China:
He [Nixon] had one maxim that I often cite, which is you pay the same price for doing something halfway as for doing it completely. So you might as well do it completely . It characterizes many of his decisions.
One interesting recollection:
You have to remember that this was a period of frenetic leaking.
Has that period ever ended?
Maybe this is a point where even the transcriber was confused, but Kissinger seems to refer to three significant assassinations of 1968. OK, RFK and MLK and then who was he thinking? George Lincoln Rockwell?
[I received an ARC to review this]
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