What do you think?
Rate this book
The White House Years / Years of Upheaval / Diplomacy / Years of Renewal
4 HARDBACK BOOKS! THE MEMOIRS. A RARE TO FIND IN A SET WITH A NICE DUST JACKET. THE WHITE HOUSE YEARS, 1979, YEARS OF UPHEAVAL, 1982, DIPLOMACY, 1994, YEARS OF RENEWAL, 1999. THE UNABRIDGED 1ST EDITION. EARLY PRINT. HARDBACK BOOKS, DUST JACKETS AND PAGES ARE IN WONDERFUL CONDITION. GIFT QUALITY. YOU WILL RECEIVE 4 BOOKS. RAPID SHIPPING BY EXPEDITED, AND BY PRIORITY AIR MAIL, AND TO APO.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1979
About the author
Henry Kissinger
289 books2,006 followersHenry Alfred Kissinger (born Heinz Alfred Kissinger) was a German-born American bureaucrat, diplomat, and 1973 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the Richard Nixon administration. Kissinger emerged unscathed from the Watergate scandal, and maintained his powerful position when Gerald Ford became President.
A proponent of Realpolitik, Kissinger played a dominant role in United States foreign policy between 1969 and 1977. During this period, he pioneered the policy of détente.
During his time in the Nixon and Ford administrations he cut a flamboyant figure, appearing at social occasions with many celebrities. His foreign policy record made him a nemesis to the anti-war left and the anti-communist right alike.
A proponent of Realpolitik, Kissinger played a dominant role in United States foreign policy between 1969 and 1977. During this period, he pioneered the policy of détente.
During his time in the Nixon and Ford administrations he cut a flamboyant figure, appearing at social occasions with many celebrities. His foreign policy record made him a nemesis to the anti-war left and the anti-communist right alike.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 28, 2024
THE FIRST PART OF KISSINGER'S MEMOIRS, PUBLISHED IN 1979
[NOTE: This review pertains only to the first volume, "White House Years.']
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger (born 1923) is a German-born American political scientist, diplomat, and writer; he and Vietnamese diplomat Le Duc Tho were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the Paris Peace Accords of 1973 (Tho refused it, however). The follow-up to this volume was 'Years of Upheaval.' This book covers the period January 1969-January 1973, during President Nixon's first term. He said in the Foreword, "The period covered in this volume was marked by domestic division and international turmoil; it witnesses America's passage into a world in which we were no longer predominant though still vastly influential."
He said, "Communist policy is often described as diabolically clever, complicated, following well thought-out routes toward world domination. This was not my impression. On the contrary, I found Soviet diplomacy generally rigid; nor is subtlety the quality for which Soviet diplomacy will go down in history." (Pg. 413) About Vietnam, he spoke of "the dilemmas of extricating ourselves from a war we inherited, whipsawed between an implacable domestic opposition and an implacable Hanoi; and the Nixon Administration's style of government... (Nixon) was prepared to make decisions without illusion. Once convinced, he went ruthlessly and courageously to the heart of the matter; but each controversial decision drove him deeper into his all-enveloping solitude." (Pg. 482)
About the release of the Pentagon Papers, he said, "The documents, of course, were in no way damaging to the Nixon Presidency... Our nightmare at that moment was that Peking might conclude our government was too unsteady, too harassed, and too insecure to be a useful partner. The massive hemorrhage of state secrets was bound to raise doubts about our reliability in the minds of other governments... I not only supported Nixon in his opposition to this wholesale theft and unauthorized disclosure; I encouraged him." (Pg. 730)
Of the economic crises of 1971, he wrote, "My own participation in the economic deliberations during this period was peripheral. From the start I had not expected to play a major role in international economics, which---to put it mildly---had not been a central field of study for me. Only later did I learn that the key economic policy decisions are not technical but political." (Pg. 950)
He records how Nixon (through his Chief of Staff Haldeman), immediately after he won re-election, instructed every member of the White House staff to submit his resignation immediately, and to fill out a form listing the documents in their possession. "The audience was stunned. It was the morning after a triumph and they were being, in effect, fired. Victory seemed to have released a pent-up hostility so overwhelming that it would not wait even a week to surface... What propelled Nixon into a course so degrading to his closest associates has never been satisfactorily explained..." (Pg. 1406-1407)
Obviously, one can't do justice to such a book within the confines of an Amazon review. But this book (and its successor) are essential documents of this political era.
[NOTE: This review pertains only to the first volume, "White House Years.']
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger (born 1923) is a German-born American political scientist, diplomat, and writer; he and Vietnamese diplomat Le Duc Tho were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the Paris Peace Accords of 1973 (Tho refused it, however). The follow-up to this volume was 'Years of Upheaval.' This book covers the period January 1969-January 1973, during President Nixon's first term. He said in the Foreword, "The period covered in this volume was marked by domestic division and international turmoil; it witnesses America's passage into a world in which we were no longer predominant though still vastly influential."
He said, "Communist policy is often described as diabolically clever, complicated, following well thought-out routes toward world domination. This was not my impression. On the contrary, I found Soviet diplomacy generally rigid; nor is subtlety the quality for which Soviet diplomacy will go down in history." (Pg. 413) About Vietnam, he spoke of "the dilemmas of extricating ourselves from a war we inherited, whipsawed between an implacable domestic opposition and an implacable Hanoi; and the Nixon Administration's style of government... (Nixon) was prepared to make decisions without illusion. Once convinced, he went ruthlessly and courageously to the heart of the matter; but each controversial decision drove him deeper into his all-enveloping solitude." (Pg. 482)
About the release of the Pentagon Papers, he said, "The documents, of course, were in no way damaging to the Nixon Presidency... Our nightmare at that moment was that Peking might conclude our government was too unsteady, too harassed, and too insecure to be a useful partner. The massive hemorrhage of state secrets was bound to raise doubts about our reliability in the minds of other governments... I not only supported Nixon in his opposition to this wholesale theft and unauthorized disclosure; I encouraged him." (Pg. 730)
Of the economic crises of 1971, he wrote, "My own participation in the economic deliberations during this period was peripheral. From the start I had not expected to play a major role in international economics, which---to put it mildly---had not been a central field of study for me. Only later did I learn that the key economic policy decisions are not technical but political." (Pg. 950)
He records how Nixon (through his Chief of Staff Haldeman), immediately after he won re-election, instructed every member of the White House staff to submit his resignation immediately, and to fill out a form listing the documents in their possession. "The audience was stunned. It was the morning after a triumph and they were being, in effect, fired. Victory seemed to have released a pent-up hostility so overwhelming that it would not wait even a week to surface... What propelled Nixon into a course so degrading to his closest associates has never been satisfactorily explained..." (Pg. 1406-1407)
Obviously, one can't do justice to such a book within the confines of an Amazon review. But this book (and its successor) are essential documents of this political era.
Displaying 1 of 1 review