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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Bhaskar Sunkara and Jonah Walters

Henry Kissinger turns 100 this week. He should be ashamed to be seen in public

Then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Henry Kissinger in 2011.
The then US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, and Henry Kissinger in 2011. Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

Henry Kissinger turns 100 on Saturday, but his legacy has never been in worse shape. Though many commentators now speak of a “tortured and deadly legacy”, for decades Kissinger was lauded by all quarters of the political and media establishment.

A teenage Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany, Kissinger charted an unlikely path to some of the most powerful positions on Earth. Even more strangely, as national security adviser and secretary of state under Nixon and Ford, he became something of a pop icon.

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