Henry Alfred Kissinger has been his official name for years, but the German - from origine - with Jewish background should have actually gone through life as (geopolitical) ’Heinz.’ But well, try pronouncing that German name in ’American English’….. Kissinger himself can probably still pronounce his original name correctly, as he was 15 years old when he left Hitler's Germany with his parents in 1938. That year, a pogrom against Jews took place in Berlin, which went down in history as the ’Reichskristallnacht.’ So, the Kissinger family not left but ’fled’ just in time...
For baby boomers, Kissinger's bronze voice was part of their regular news diet. Countless times, Kissinger was shown on (black-and-white) TV, shaking hands with Chinese leader Mao Zedong, Israel's Prime Minister Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher, Marshal Tito, and so on. Most former U.S. Secretaries of State are no longer regularly seen with important (world) leaders, but that's not the case for ’Dr. K’ (one of his nicknames). You could say that Kissinger never retired; even in his old age, he had meetings with Putin, Angela Merkel, Xi Jinping and others.
The (international) media extensively covered the work and life of the American ’Realpolitik’ statesman this week, with some posing the question of whether Kissinger should be labeled as a ’bastard’ or a ’hero’. Initially, of course, he was seen as a hero because he was the driving force behind the peace negotiations with the North Vietnamese, which led to the end of combats between the Viet Cong and the South Vietnamese. For his efforts, Kissinger even received the Nobel Peace Prize.
OK, but the Viet Cong was only willing to negotiate after Kissinger had ordered heavy bombardment of the North Vietnamese region, resulting in numerous civilian casualties. Supply lines in Cambodia and Laos were also heavily targeted. And in case the American bombers still had some bombs on board on their way back, they were simply dropped over the territory of Laos/Cambodia. Based on this account, the term ’bastard’ is an understatement for the Jewish/German American…..
Of course, Kissinger is neither of the two, he simply served the geopolitical interests of the United States. Nothing more, nothing less. However, it's a bit more than less due to his towering ambition. It's no secret that he always aspired to the presidency, but the U.S. Constitution always stood in his way. While he obtained U.S. citizenship in 1943, his cradle had been in Germany. That didn't stop him from making decisions without prior discussion with his boss President Richard Nixon. For example, in 1973, he decided to raise global nuclear alert due to the unrest in the Middle East. The famous Nixon Doctrine is also credited to Kissinger, Nixon only declared the text of the doctrine….. ’Henry the K.’ - another charming nickname - was a great geopolitical player, and his ’leitmotif was maintaining and expanding the geopolitical power of the country he served.
By establishing diplomatic ties with China - starting in 1972 with a ping-pong match between China and the U.S. - Kissinger ensured that the world became less bipolar. With two rivaling superpowers (the Soviet Union and China) that were also neighbors, the position of the Americans would be better served. Kissinger was not only a ’Realpolitik’ politician but above all a power politician. Everyone must decide for themselves whether being a power politician should be judged as negative or positive. Or (once again) neither of both.
Finally, here are a few famous quotes from "Heinz," and the first one says it all about him:
’Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.’
’In this book, I am very honest about myself. On page 850, I already write about my first mistake.’
’The nice thing about being famous is that people think it's their fault when you bore them.’
’You can't imagine how painful it was for me to see how much can be achieved without me.’
’We do the illegal immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.’
Well, that's how geopolitics works. Just look at the current state of the world...
PS: Did you know that Kissinger is a great lover of jazz? The satirists of Monty Python once ’honored’ him years ago with a jazzy-style song. According to John Cleese and his ’pythons’, Kissinger has ’bigger tits than Cher’. Check the following link!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVGV6lvNTR4&ab_channel=MontyPython-Topic