by JAMES MANN & HAILEY FUCHS
The former secretary of state’s will had a few reveals, including that he died a very rich man.
Henry Kissinger was known for his monumental ego. And at the end of his life he asked for … an actual monument.
In his will, the former secretary of state, who died last year at the age of 100, requested a “monument” in his memory be erected in Arlington National Cemetery to mark the site where he is buried. His will directed his executors to “pay all amounts necessary” to erect the tribute in accordance with “then-applicable regulations.”
Kissinger’s estate documents, reported here for the first time, also provide an estimate of the considerable personal fortune — at least $80 million — that the former statesman amassed during the four decades that he ran his controversial consulting firm, Kissinger Associates. The firm, which was the first in what eventually became an industry in which former government officials leveraged contacts forged in public life to serve private clients, was especially active in arranging entrée for private business executives and their companies to China.
In fact, Kissinger’s net worth at the time of his death was likely much higher than that; the $80 million estimate included his financial investments and cash but did not include his home in northwestern Connecticut, his apartment in midtown Manhattan or his shares in his consulting business. The will and other documents related to Kissinger’s estate were quietly filed with the New York court system late last year.
Few figures in American diplomatic history have been as divisive as Kissinger. He served as national security adviser and secretary of state during the Nixon and Ford administrations and is credited with playing a key role in the establishment of diplomatic relations with China and negotiating a cease-fire in Vietnam, for which he shared in a Nobel Peace Prize.
Critics saw him as indifferent to the human costs of his policies and accused him of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the decision to carpet bomb Cambodia. Quite a few Vietnam War veterans revile him for his role in perpetuating that conflict during the Nixon years, and Bangladeshis accuse him of failing to stop massacres in what was then known as East Pakistan.
Throughout his career, Kissinger curated his reputation as one of the world’s most powerful statesmen, relishing the influence he wielded over presidents and prime ministers. He once wrote that “the appearance of power is therefore almost as important as the reality of it,” and famously said that “power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.”
Daniel Drezner, a Tufts University professor who has written extensively about Kissinger and the government consulting industry he pioneered, laughed when told that Kissinger had requested a monument in Arlington. Drezner said that underneath Kissinger’s relentless self-promotion, he was actually quite insecure.
Politico for more