American Experience 37x7 - Kissinger: Part Two – TheOpportunist

Nixon's secret plan to end the Vietnam War had shown itself tobe a mirage, and body counts kept rising. Only a brave,secret gambit to visit Mao Zedong's China shifted the politicalconversation. In 1971, Kissinger secretly entered China viaPakistan, clandestinely organizing a summit for PresidentNixon and stunning the American public.  The opening to Chinaremade the global chessboard, sidelining the Soviet Union anddeep-freezing the Cold War in a new "triangular diplomacy." ButKissinger's policies were often concerned with global stabilityrather than with human rights. When a genocide erupted in EastPakistan, perpetuated by the same leader who helped Nixonreach China, Kissinger looked the other way. His eyes were onMoscow, where Nixon would soon meet Brezhnev for a series ofconsequential weapons negotiations. Kissinger's policiescontinued to have far-reaching human implications across theglobe. When Chileans democratically elected the socialistSalvador Allende, Kissinger funded an effort to prevent himfrom reaching office, then directed the CIA to destabilize hisgovernment. Allende was deposed in a coup that led to hisdeath; Kissinger embraced the subsequent dictator, Pinochet,reassuring Nixon that America's "hand doesn't show." Kissingermanaged a final act before leaving the Nixon administration,seizing the opportunity of the Yom Kippur War to push theSoviet Union out of the Middle East and negotiating peace dealsbetween Israel, Egypt, and Syria. On the cover of Newsweek,Kissinger was heralded as "Super-K," the peacemaking celebrityin an administration collapsing beneath Watergate.  It was thezenith of Kissinger's fame, and his 50 following years out ofoffice were rife with debate. Today, his legacy is still beingwritten.