Kissinger: A Biography

- A couple of repetitive paragraphs early on were hard on the ear. Otherwise it was really well written.
- Isaacson’s description of Kissinger’s relationship with power and deception was really helpful. Kissinger valued order and stability over everything else, including truth, and justice. He seems to have been a rare instance of central European political philosophy having a hand on the wheel of American foreign policy.

A fascinating book, on a complex individual, Walter Isaacson’s, Kissinger is a full life biography on Henry Kissinger. At 855 pages of text followed by archival family and professional photos, this is not a short book, but it is an outstanding presentation on a complex man.

Henry Kissinger’s family escaped Nazi Germany, and he later served as soldier in World War II in Europe in counter intelligence. Henry Kissinger was educated and earned his doctorate at Harvard and later served as a professor at Harvard. A Nelson Rockefeller Republican and conservative he went to serve in both the Nixon administration and later the Ford Administration, first as Nixon’s National Security Adviser and later served as both his National Security show more Adviser and Secretary of State simultaneously and later continued to serve Gerald Ford as Secretary of State relinquishing his role as National Security Adviser..

Kissinger was an old school European pragmatic who served to advance the interests of the United States as a nation rather than as a moral crusader, although he believed in the long term the pragmatic approach could serve both means. Henry Kissinger was decried by the conservatives as to liberal and by the liberals a too conservative. Neither a hawk nor a dove, he espoused whichever would best achieve his goals.

He worked tirelessly to extricate the United States from Vietnam but endorsed an escalation in the bombing North Vietnam as well as Cambodia and Laos to further his goal and ultimately was able to negotiate and sign the Paris Peace Accords which earned him Nobel Peace Prize and allowed for a 2 year gap between the signing of the accords and the military conquest of South Vietnam by North Vietnam.

Among his other accomplishments were his and Richard Nixons restarting relations with Communists China and achieving detente with the Soviet Union. He also served to stabilize relations in the Middle East between Israel, Egypt, and Syria in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War. He often engaged in duplicitous behavior to achieve his goals and would often tell half truths to make each side believe he supported their agenda.

It would be hard to find Henry Kissinger as likable, but he was certainly an intriguing and complex individual who ranks with Dean Acheson and George Marshall among the most influential and important Secretary of States of the 20th century. He was it able to balance the isolationist and interventionists to maintain a period of peace in the post Vietnam years.

An incredible 4.5 to 5 star book in a fascinating individual. show less

This a very readable biography of Kissinger as a political thinker and as an influential advisor to President Nixon. It also attempts to explain quite a bit about his personality, not entirely to his advantage. It caused me to recall many of the events of 40 years ago (really, 40 years?), and to understand the back story far more that I had at time time.

In reading Isaacson's biography of Kissinger, I got what I wanted: a realistic look into the West Wing and the political environment around the Nixon White House. And I don’t like it. President Nixon was a sneaky, lying man. And Henry Kissinger believed in doing whatever was necessary to get the end result he wanted.

If you are interested in the international affairs surrounding Nixon's presidency, you won't be disappointed by this biography. Isaacson's analysis and portrayal of Kissinger is incredibly well researched and thorough. He does a great job of avoiding his own commentary and opinion.

However, I ultimately didn't like learning about Henry Kissinger. To me, it seemed that Henry A. Kissinger was a man without morals. He was not show more a likeable man for me.

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Published in 1992, this was Isaacson’s 2nd major book; it followed THE WISE MEN: SIX FRIENDS AND THE WORLD THEY MADE. Kissinger is a fascinating man; this bio was very interesting, well written, and definitely worth my time. And I’m delighted to have finally read it; it’s been sitting on my shelves for years.

It is an excellent, accurate account of one of the most important figures in American Foreign Policy. From his childhood in Furth, Germany to the halls of power in Washington, Kissinger, the man, is revealed in a less than flattering profile. Kissinger's realpolitik views on foreign policy lead the US through the perilous times from Vietnam to the Middle East wars of the seventies. His influence and stature is felt even today. Though some will see him as the essential statesman, others see him as a war criminal. He has defended his policies and thinks only history will decide the true measure of his contribution.

i expected to snooze through this but no. it brings back the nixon years. kissinger is presented with flaws and strengths.