Niall Ferguson on Kissinger the Idealist

Recorded on October 7, 2015 - Niall Ferguson discusses the first half of Henry Kissinger's life, beginning with his being a young boy in Germany to becoming an intellectual celebrity at Harvard and finally an adviser to both Nelson Rockefeller and John Kennedy, leading Kissinger to becoming a national security adviser to Richard Nixon in 1968.

[@ForceSmart]

Very, very interesting. Thanks. Kissinger is certainly a fascinating individual and I always greatly appreciate Ferguson's take on issues and the type of historical issues he studies (econ, military, international relations, etc) are particularly interesting to me. I'll look forward to a Part 2 in a few years. =)

[@erniereyes1994]

This was a very intellectually vibrant and stimulating conversation between two extraordinary minds.

[@tannykeeler9728]

CAN’T WAIT FOR VOL II

[@newcjon]

Interesting talk. I had only heard the Hitchens view on Kissinger. If Hitchens is 10% right then I think Ferguson might get a shock when he comes to write his second volume.

[@mzk1489]

I always felt sorry for Kissinger's parents, a nice religious Jewish couple in the Orthodox Jewish community in Washington Heights, and he not only went so far from the faith but caused so much harm to Israel. Fuerth, which also produced the New York Times family, has the distinction of never having expelled its Jewish residents, unlike so many other German towns. This was because it had three different jurisdictions so whichever expelled its Jews would be at a competitive disadvantage.

[@kingpriapatius5832]

I am a very big Kissinger fan. The idea that HENRY is IDEALIST is LAUGHABLE.

[@tyzxcj34]

37:45 Kissinger on the world today.

[@mzk1489]

When Kissinger joined Nixon, he was still the idealist, as Moynihan tells how he immediately spoke about how strongly the US needed to support Israel. Yet during the Yom Kippur War, he and Nixon decided Israel had to "bleed", leading to the rows of dead Jews (and Druze) in Israeli cemeteries, all killed within weeks of the start of the war.

+mzk1 You need to read the book "The General's son" writen by an ex-israeli soldier whos name is Miko Peled. There you will find what has happened in reality and how the zionist have become totalitarians and criminals.

[@usazar]

The defense of Kissinger is bad enough... outright praise is unbelievable. The violation of the Logan act before the 1968 cost 22000 US lives. This is glorious partisan reading of History by an otherwise respected individual is sad

[@mzk1489]

+usazar How did he violate the Logan act?

[@usazar]

Kissinger, with Nixon, sabotaged the 1968 peace treaty in Paris (to defeat Humphrey) . Kissinger secretly informed Nixon of imminent peace (he was an advisor to LBJ). Then ironically won the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the same treaty in 1973. What happened between 1968 & 1973? 22000 American soldiers died in Nam, i'd love to see Ferguson lecture their family members on the greatness of Kissinger. He is truly a man with no scruples and certainly no patriot.

[@jerry12314]

+usazar Conspiracy theories and sensationalism. Vietnam war was being fought years before 1968. American military were already there since the early 1960's. Many Americans were lost because of how the war was being fought (defensive) and these useless treaties the US and South Vietnam agreed with North Vietnam in which the communists routinely broke and ultimately did the same by invading South Vietnam in 1975 breaking the 1973 cease-fire. No such thing as imminent peace. The commies fought to win and the US didn't, and that's the real loss; for both Americans and the South Vietnamese who were slaughtered by a vengeful Reds after they won.

[@domsooch]

31:00

[@akmonra]

Not to mention the millions of people in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.

[@vuzi808]

peter robinson is such a good interviewer. too bad uncommon knowledge only invites rightwingers on. was christopher hitchens the only non-conservative ever to be on this?

[@akmonra]

The day Kissinger dies should be made into a federal holiday.