More than once during this period, Nixon wondered if he should get rid of Kissinger. But the national security assistant had made himself indispensable. Apart from his intellectual agility, Kissinger had demonstrated a willingness to break rules and to screen out sentimental worries about death and destruction that was as thoroughgoing as Nixon’s own. Like the president, Kissinger had the capacity for drowning out unpleasant truths in a torrent of words.
