"He lied more than I thought he did—and I thought he lied a lot." — Tom Wells on Henry Kissinger
In our Epstein age, everyone seems to have access to everyone else's dirtiest secrets. But half a century ago, in the Watergate era, it was harder to get one's hands on the secret files, phone calls and other private data. But historian Tom Wells has done exactly that with the private phone calls of Henry Kissinger. Wells' new book, The Kissinger Tapes, is based on transcripts of Kissinger's secretly recorded phone conversations—recordings he made primarily for his memoirs and to keep track of what he told to whom.
Wells came to the project as a Kissinger critic but found himself respecting certain things about him: particularly his stamina, the work ethic and political skills. What Wells didn't expect was to discover that Kissinger lied even more than most of us assume. Especially about Vietnam and Cambodia. The most damning revelation is his callousness. Kissinger reveled in body counts, Wells reports. He even supported American planes indiscriminately bombing Vietnam so as to hit something. Anything. Anyone.
So was Kissinger evil? Or was he, to borrow from Arendt's account of the Adolf Eichmann trial, banal? Whereas Eichmann might have been following orders, Henry Kissinger was following his own career. One was an efficient bureaucrat, the other a supreme networker. Neither had any sensitivity to human suffering.
Five Takeaways
• He Lied More Than Expected: Wells came already critical. But Kissinger lied even more than he'd assumed. About the wiretaps. About Cambodia. He kept saying he knew nothing. He did.
• The Callousness Is Stunning: Nixon: "I don't care about the civilian casualties." Kissinger remarked that if planes dropped bombs without aiming, they'd have to hit something. This wasn't indifference. It was gratification.
• Morality Was Not Part of the Calculation: They secretly armed Pakistan during the Bangladesh genocide—up to 3 million dead—because they needed a channel to China. The opening to Beijing mattered more than the slaughter.
• He Was Supremely Two-Faced: Deferential to Nixon's face. Nasty behind his back. He and Defense Secretary Laird came to respect each other's deviousness.
• Evil or Banal?: Eichmann followed orders. Kissinger followed his career. One was an efficient bureaucrat. The other a supreme networker. Neither had any sensitivity to human suffering.
About the Guest
Tom Wells is a historian and author of The War Within: America's Battle Over Vietnam. He is based in New Mexico.
References
The Kissinger Tapes by Tom Wells: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DK3JZCXN
About Keen On America
Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States.
Website: https://keenon.tv/ Substack: https://keenon.substack.com/ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@KeenOnShow
Chapters:
00:00:00 Introduction: The age of Epstein vs. the age of Kissinger
00:01:31 Why did Kissinger secretly record his calls?
00:02:54 Did you come to this as a Kissinger hater?
00:05:43 He lied more than I thought he did
00:06:08 Breaking news: The callousness
00:07:47 Realpolitik vs. indifference to human suffering
00:09:47 Did Kissinger recognize moral critics?
00:11:06 What kind of man was Kissinger?
00:14:18 His relationship with Nixon
00:15:15 Who did Kissinger trust?
00:16:40 His private life and playboy reputation