Henry Kissinger shaped politics like no other, writes NIALL FERGUSON

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

69% : (It is a startling fact that he covered 650,000 miles in his three years as secretary of state, visiting an amazing 57 countries.)
66% : Then-Sen. Joe Biden (center) with Henry Kissinger and then-Sen. John Kerry in January 2007Henry Kissinger served as Secretary of State for Richard Nixon - the two men in the Oval Office in October 1973George W. Bush paid tribute to Henry Kissinger and released a portrait he painted of himIn order to appreciate the scale of Kissinger's historical achievement, you must first go back to the end of that 'annus horribilis', 1968 - a time when it seemed that the United States would not only lose the Cold War, but that it might also tear itself apart.
58% : Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, in 1972Kissinger delivering remarks at the US State Department's 230th Anniversary Celebration in Washington, DC in 2019Henry Kissinger with Joe Biden in June 2007 when Biden was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations CommitteeChinese President Xi Jinping, right, talks to former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, June 2023Second, the haters come from both ends of the political spectrum - from both the so-called progressive Left and from the neo conservative or populist Right.
56% : Each of his three volumes of memoirs, which cover only his time in government, is more than 1,000 pages long.
55% : For it is not enough to say that a particular course of action in foreign policy had costs.
54% : Henry Kissinger, who died on Wednesday night at the age of 100, was the most enduringly influential secretary of state in the history of the United States.
52% : Henry Kissinger, arguably the most identifiable secretary of state in modern times, died at the age of 100 on Wednesday having witnessed first hand some of the most significant historical events that went on to shape our world today.
52% : He went on to see the liberation of the Ahlem concentration campA portrait of Kissinger as a Harvard senior in 1950 after returning home from the warIsraeli Prime Minister Golda Meir (left) standing with US President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, outside of White House, November 1, 1973African National Congress President Nelson Mandela gives former Kissinger a welcome hug upon his arrival for their meeting on April 13, 1994 in JohannesburgKissinger waves at delegates during the Republican convention on July 17, 1980 in Detroit, where Reagan was nominatedPresident Barack Obama speaks during a meeting on the new START Treaty as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger looks on November 18, 2010 in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DCUnlike his successors in Washington today, Kissinger was not afraid to raise the nuclear alert level to its highest yet - DEFCON 3 - when the Soviets seemed on the brink of sending troops to the Middle East.
50% : Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger with his children Elizabeth (14) and David (12) on March 24, 1974 in Bonn.
50% : Former British prime minister Tony Blair speaks to former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger during a ceremony marking one year since the death of the late Israeli president Shimon Peres on September 14, 2017 in JerusalemGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel joins former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on the stage during a conference titled '70 Years of Marshall Plan' organized by the German Marshall Funds of the United States at the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin on June 21, 2017Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and former US Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger smile as they meet in Russia in 2004
49% : A Code Pink demonstrator dangles a set of handcuffs in front of former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at the Armed Services Committee on global challenges and U.S. national security strategy on Capitol Hill in Washington, US January 29, 2015
49% : It was a revolution Kissinger foresaw, as is clear from a 1968 essay he wrote on the implications of computerisation for government.
47% : READ MORE HERE - Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: Former US Secretary of State passes away at home in Connecticut AdvertisementAnd there was almost certainly no way of exiting Vietnam that would have guaranteed South Vietnam a long life as an independent state, especially after Congress terminated all U.S. aid to the government in Saigon.
46% : The extraordinary legacy of Henry Kissinger who fled the Nazis and became America's most influential Secretary of State AdvertisementWhat were the chances of such a man not merely gaining admission to study at Harvard, America's most prestigious university, but going on to become a tenured professor there?What were the chances of his then becoming national security adviser and secretary of state under two Republican presidents, and for a time holding both posts concurrently - a unique feat?
45% : What were the chances of a teenage refugee who arrived in New York in 1938 - who started his life in America working in a shaving-brush factory - going on to hold the highest office in the executive branch of government for which a foreign-born citizen is eligible?Henry Kissinger shakes hands with Mao Zedong in Beijing in 1975 as US President Gerald Ford looks on in the backgroundKissinger stands with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during a visit to Washington in 1975The diplomat has drinks with Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev during a visit to Moscow in 1974Kissinger embraces Russian president Vladimir Putin during a meeting in St Petersburg in 2012
45% : On his way to summit talks in Moscow, he stopped in Bonn to meet Bundeskanzler Brandt and Federal Minister Scheel in Schloss GymnichHenry Kissinger and his wife Nancy watch a football match in Washington, April 1974President George W. Bush (centre) poses with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (left) and his wife Nancy upon arrival at Kissinger's home April 25, 2008
41% : Ford and Kissinger spent two days in talks with the leaders of the USSR in November 1974President Jimmy Carter (left) meets Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Vice President Walter Mondale in 1976The role of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was not decisive, just as it had not been decisive in 1970, when the CIA had failed to prevent Allende coming to power.
38% : Joe Biden with Henry Kissinger in February 2009 when Biden was Vice PresidentKissinger smiles at American actress and model Raquel Welch in New York in 1970President Nixon toasting with Leonid Brezhnev and Kissinger in Moscow, Russia, in 1974Kissinger, here with then-president Donald Trump in 2017, was a controversial political figureChinese President Xi Jinping (L) is introduced by former U.S. National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at a policy speech to Chinese and United States CEOs during a dinner reception in Seattle on September 22, 2015
37% : Perhaps not surprisingly, after everything he had seen, Kissinger was deeply distrustful of enthusiasm and idealism, which he believed led to anarchy and chaosFormer Secretary of State and titan of US politics Henry Kissinger died at the home he shared with Nancy (seen together at the White House, 1997) in Connecticut aged 100 on WednesdayIn the dining car on the train from Vladivostok to the airport, President Gerald Ford, left, discusses the progress on the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (S.A.L.T.) agreement with Kissinger, left.

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