The average person thinks morality can be applied directly to the conduct of states.

That is not always the case, because sometimes statesmen have to choose among evils.

He was a very ambitious person, a savvy bureaucratic player.

He stretched my patience.

He stretched my nerves.

The secrecy, the lying, the denial of reality.

He was a master manipulator of the press Whatever he told you, you knew something else was going on.

Nobody before or since has played such an important role in American foreign policy.

Henry Kissinger Henry Kissinger Henry Kissinger Henry Kissinger Henry Kissinger Henry Kissinger is the author of the bestseller Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy There was something about him that was different.

Heres this Harvard professor, kind of a nerdish guy.

He was a ubiquitous presence on television.

But of course, not as famous or as celebrated as he would become Kissinger was a refugee from Nazi Germany.

I have seen what can happen to a society that is based on hatred and strength and distrust.

It generated a deep pessimism about the idea that norms and rules are going to protect you.

For Kissinger, really, at the end of the day, the only thing that's going to protect you is power.

We inherited a nightmare.

We made up our mind from the beginning that we were going to try to disengage from Vietnam The relationship between Nixon and Kissinger is fascinating.

Nixon wants to bring foreign policy into the White House.

In this, he finds a perfect partner in Henry Kissinger.

Kissinger saw that there was a chance to claim power, despite the fact that he said that Nixon would be a disaster if he got elected president.

There's a wariness they have of each other, but they each see quite a bit of themselves in the other.

There's a joke that if Henry di yell at you, he didn't love you.

He was a demanding perfectionist We worked murderous hours.

He was a mentor and a tormentor.

He sought celebrity status.

And he got celebrity status.

He knew how to turn on the charm I found him quite acquainted with the Minute detail of all the dimensions.

He was very effective.

Mostly because of how smart he was.

And he had absolute certainty in his views.

In his mind, he was advancing the strength of the United States because America was the last, best hope of humanity.