Biden on Henry Kissinger’s Death: ‘We Often Disagreed. And Often Strongly’
President Joe Biden issued a brief statement on Henry Kissinger’s death on Thursday, a day after the former secretary of state died at the age of 100.
“I’ll never forget the first time I met Dr. Kissinger. I was a young Senator, and he was Secretary of State —giving a briefing on the state of the world. Throughout our careers, we often disagreed. And often strongly,” Biden said in his statement.
“But from that first briefing — his fierce intellect and profound strategic focus was evident,” he continued. “Long after retiring from government, he continued to offer his views and ideas to the most important policy discussion across multiple generations. Jill and I send our condolences to his wife Nancy, his children Elizabeth and David, his grandchildren, and all those who loved him.”
Kissinger is one of the most controversial figures in the history of U.S. politics — a key figure in shaping America’s foreign policy strategy, and a war criminal responsible for the deaths of millions of people around the world.
However, many politicians, major publications, and even the New York Yankees have glossed over his atrocities and lionized him in their remembrances.
Rudy Giuliani wrote that Kissinger “was not just the foremost expert on foreign policy, but he was a great teacher and someone Im proud to call a friend,” while fellow former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg called Kissinger’s death “a loss for our country and the world – and for all of us who were fortunate enough to call him a dear friend and mentor.”
“There is no doubt he’ll be hailed as a geopolitical grand strategist, even though he bungled most crises, leading to escalation,” Yale University historian Greg Grandin told Rolling Stone before Kissinger’s death. “He’ll get credit for opening China, but that was De Gaulle’s original idea and initiative. He’ll be praised for detente, and that was a success, but he undermined his own legacy by aligning with the neocons. And of course, he’ll get off scot free from Watergate, even though his obsession with Daniel Ellsberg really drove the crime.”
More from Rolling Stone
Media, Conservatives Team Up to Lionize War Criminal Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved by America's Ruling Class, Finally Dies
Best of Rolling Stone
