Kiss(ass)inger
September 21, 2008 at 10:11 am
A classic Henry Kissinger anecdote in today’s Post:
Stuart Spencer on President Gerald Ford’s 1976 gaffe proclaiming that there was “no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe”:[I] was sitting next to [National Security Adviser] Brent Scowcroft in the holding room watching this. I heard [Ford] say it, and I didn’t think anything about it. Brent, in his style, punched me and said, “You’ve got a problem.” I said, “What’s the problem?” He said, “What Jerry just said about Poland. He means ‘emotionally.’ . . . There are x-number of divisions in Poland.” . . . I said, “How many is that?” He said, “Some 240,000.” I go, “Oh God, these are Russians, 240,000 Russians, and they don’t have control of Poland?”
I go out. By this time, [White House Chief of Staff Dick] Cheney and I were spastic. We get back to the house. Henry [Kissinger] is already there, secretary of state. He’s saying, “You were wonderful, Mr. President. You did a wonderful job.” He gets through, and Dick and I say, “Goddam, what are you talking about, Henry?”
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