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President Joe Biden offered his condolences to the family of Henry Kissinger on Thursday, nearly 24 hours after the former secretary of state passed away at 100.
In remembrance of Kissinger, Biden acknowledged that he had substantial disagreements with him but praised the “fierce intellect” he witnessed from the late U.S. official during his early days in the Senate.
“I’ll never forget the first time I met Dr. Kissinger. I was a young Senator, and he was Secretary of State – giving a briefing on the state of the world,” Biden said in a statement. “Throughout our careers, we often disagreed. And often strongly. But from that first briefing – his fierce intellect and profound strategic focus was evident.
“Long after retiring from government, he continued to offer his views and ideas to the most important policy discussion across multiple generations,” Biden added. “Jill and I send our condolences to his wife Nancy, his children Elizabeth and David, his grandchildren, and all those who loved him.”
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby urged reporters not to read too much into Biden’s delayed statement on Kissinger’s death, calling his death a “huge loss.”
“This was a man who, whether you agreed with him or not, whether you held the same views of him or not, he served in World War II, served his country bravely in uniform and for decades afterward, which I think we can all be grateful for and appreciate,” Kirby said.
Kissinger served under former Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford as secretary of state in the 1970s and is known most widely for popularizing realpolitik — foreign policy determined by expediency.
Under his tenure, the U.S. reopened diplomatic relations with China, ended the Vietnam War, and devastated Cambodia in a bombing campaign dubbed Operation Freedom Deal.
Luca Cacciatore | editorial.cacciatore@newsmax.com
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.