GENERAL Curtis LeMay, the retired Air Force Chief of Staff, was attending a stag dinner in the country with old friends when the conversation turned to the recent appointment of Henry Kissinger as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. The general stood and grumped: "I remember him. He was a crypto-left-winger when he was teaching at Harvard and a dangerous pinko when he was serving John Kennedy." Another former general in the group arose and said, "Curt, I can forgive you occasionally for not knowing what you're talking about. But in this case it's obvious you don't know who you're talking about. You've mixed up Henry Kissinger with Arthur Schlesinger." LeMay nodded sheepishly and sat down.
Of course, it is difficult to keep track of all the intellectuals with strange-sounding names and unorthodox notions who orbit the campuses, think tanks and Government. While renowned in those circles, Henry Alfred Kissinger is not exactly, as Spiro Agnew might have said, a household name. Though he has never been a diplomat, he knows more foreign leaders than many State Department careerists. A superficial reading of some of his works makes him seem like a hawk, but many intellectual doves regard him as Richard Nixon's most astute appointment. Bonn, London and Paris may disagree on a score of issues, but they are in happy unanimity in their respect for him; even Moscow is not displeased.
Two Great Temptations
He advised three Administrations before this one, and roundly criticized key policies of the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson regimes. He has never held an important administrative job in Government but after only three weeks in his post, Kissinger has assembled a foreign-policy staff and structure in the White House basement that is already having a clear impact on the President's actions.
From the moment of his selection in December, Government officials, fellow academics and journalists have scrutinized his every move. William Buckley wrote to him: "Not since Florence Nightingale has any public figure received such universal acclamation." Senator Jacob Javits commented that Kissinger's appointment could prove to be the most significant the President has made, because "it is in foreign policy that the Nixon Administration will make its mark."