That Henry Kissinger is still alive will come as news to some people. He’s hard of hearing, blind in one eye, and has had multiple heart surgeries. Yet, he says, he works about 15 hours a day. And – incredibly – he remains relevant on a global scale.
Koppel asked, “If you had one of your aides here pick up the phone and call Beijing and say, ‘Dr. Kissinger would like to speak with President Xi,’ would he take your call?”
“There’s a good chance that he’d take my call, yes,” he replied.
And Russian President Vladimir Putin? “Probably, yes.”
“If a president were to come to you and say, ‘Henry, would you fly to Moscow and talk to Putin?'”
“I would be inclined to do it, yes,” Kissinger said. “But I would be an advisor, not an active person.”
“I wasn’t thinking about reinstating you as Secretary of State,” Koppel laughed. “Of course, you’d be an advisor.”
“Yes, absolutely.”
In anyone else, the arrogance would be staggering. But the nimbus of photographs surrounding Kissinger displaying former U.S. presidents (living and dead) whom he has served or advised is compelling, confirmation of the old adage, “If you can do it, it ain’t braggin’.”