This is not the place to pour upon the rivers of ink being spilled over the life and legacy of Henry Alfred Kissinger. For his part, Talleyrand ranks him somewhat below Gentz in the reputation of diplomats, and feels that much if not most of this ink will dry into dust, someday. But time will tell. Rather, Kissinger is invoked here to make a certain point. McGeorge Bundy, whom the current American national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, seems to go out of his way to imitate, from his gait to his coiffure to his installation of a brother as commissar in the State Department, once impressed a successor, Zbigniew Brzezinski in a certain way. Oberving him leave a room, Brzezinski said, ‘It doesn’t matter that the man walks like a duck. Just look at his self-confidence’. Kissinger came into his own during a bleak period in America’s history, and one rather more perilous than now. Whatever one may think of him, few can deny his self-confidence, which probably exceeded that of any predecessor, including Bundy, his former boss. It was specially cruel, therefore, for the Financial Times to publish the above photograph of the current secretary of state today just below the notice of Kissinger’s death. What America and the world would give for a bit of that self-confidence now. Talleyrand is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can tell Talleyrand that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless they enable payments. © 2023 Talleyrand |