Henry Kissinger drew crowds, controversy at the National Press Club
Henry Kissinger, perhaps the most consequential U.S. diplomat of the 20th Century, was a frequent speaker at the National Press Club stretching from the 1970s into the 21st Century.
His death Wednesday, Nov. 29, at the age of 100, sparked renewed assessments of his controversial tenure as the top foreign policy strategist for Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and as an unofficial adviser to subsequent presidents.
As a member of the Club's speakers' committee during the 1990s, I arranged several luncheons featuring the former Secretary of State. His appearances were always sold out, often controversial and always colorful. Love him or hate him, there was no denying his "star" power at luncheons and numerous book events.
One of his talks came at the bequest of former President Ford at a Ford Foundation press awards ceremony. Prior to speaking, Kissinger told me that Ford "was probably the most normal person to ever serve as president, probably because he didn't run for the office." It was a line I used in ever subsequent Ford Foundation awards program introduction.
Kissinger was notoriously thin-skinned, a trait evidenced by his reaction to one line I wrote for his introduction by the Press Club president. "You watch, this is going to get ugly," he whispered in his thick German accent. As is customary before formal introductions, luncheon attendees were asked to "silence your cells phones (and in the 1990s) pagers out of respect for our speaker." The introduction I penned and which the Club president read referred to Kissinger as "perhaps the most significant Secretary of State of the 20th Century." I figured he might object to the "perhaps," but he seemed to let that pass. While I never liked heaping criticism on an invited guest, I felt journalistic objectivity required at least a nod to his controversial background. So the introduction noted that critics especially objected to his support for opponents of left-wing Chilean President Salvador Allende. Though hardly a ringing denunciation, Kissinger turned to me and said: "See, what did I tell you!" I did not confess that I authored the line. When he got to the podium, Kissinger's first words were that "Judging from that introduction, the only respect the speaker will get is turning off your cell phones and pagers." Everyone laughed, including Kissinger.
Although Kissinger's relations with the press were often contentious, he loved the attention and never lacked a retort. Nor did he suffer fools. One always felt as though in the present of a tough history professor when talking to him. But I couldn't resist raising a personal note with him during one of our meetings. "You and my brother have something very unusual in common," I told him. "Oh, and what is that?" he asked. "You were both born in Germany and went back with the U.S. Army." Kissinger left Germany in 1938 and served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946, including as stint an overseer of an occupied town. My brother left with my mother at age two in 1928 and won the Bronze Star leading Patton's troops across the Saar River in December, 1944. Both were 19-year-old staff sergeants.
Perhaps Kissinger's first formal appearance at the Club was on Jan. 6, 1977, when he gave a "farewell address" after serving Presidents Nixon and Ford. It was most memorable for the belly dancer hired by Club President Robert Alden to entertain Kissinger in the same style as had Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Kissinger loved it. Although billed as a farewell address, it was only the beginning of Kissinger's Press Club appearances, often promoting one of the many books he authored.