American Experience, Kissinger
PBS Western Reserve (WNEO 45.1 / WEAO 49.1):
Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 27-28, at 9 PM
Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 28-29, at 2 AM
A new two-part, three-hour biography, offers an incisive portrait of Henry Kissinger, the enigmatic powerbroker who served in the topmost echelons of American diplomacy. Whether celebrated or reviled, Kissinger’s contradictions reflect those at the heart of America’s foreign policy during the second half of the 20th century, a period in which America became the unchallenged superpower in the world yet often pursued policy at odds with its own highest ideals. As historian and Kissinger biographer Niall Ferguson says in the film, “Nobody, before or since, has played such an important role in American foreign policy. We’ve had to recognize it’s Henry Kissinger’s world.”
Featuring interviews with dozens of Kissinger’s proteges and colleagues, including Roger Morris, John Negroponte, Winston Lord, and Morton Halperin, as well as historians and journalists including Hedrick Smith, Sally Quinn and Fareed Zakaria, Kissinger is written and produced by Barak Goodman, co-produced by Nora Neus and Michael Shorris, and executive produced by Cameo George.
When Henry Kissinger died on November 29, 2023, newspapers devoted pages to his obituary and scores of world leaders praised his legacy. Yet the mere mention of his name can elicit seething contempt or reverent admiration. From his childhood in Hitler’s Germany to his years as a Nazi hunter in the United States Army, from his swift rise to the highest rungs of American foreign policy to his surprising reign as Washington’s most sought-after celebrity bachelor, Kissinger was a source of fascination. By examining his life up to and throughout his tortured relationship with President Richard Nixon, the film endeavors to understand precisely what drove Kissinger’s relentless drive for power. It is a story of deep contradictions — of Kissinger’s obsession with securing American supremacy, staving off nuclear war, and checking the power of our enemies, even while consorting with dictators and tolerating widespread violation of human rights.
