HENRY KISSINGER WHITE HOUSE YEARS FOREWARD

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84B00890R000700020025-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 28, 2005
• Sequence Number: 25
• Publication Date: October 7, 1981
• Content Type: MISC

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OIS 81-871/3
Director.. of Information
1206 Aires Building
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.-1. OCT 1981 ,
TO: (Officer designation, room number, ?and - .:.:
building)
.
DATE
OFFICER'S
? INITIALS.
. ?
COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom
to whom. Draw a. line across column after each comment.)
* .
' ':
RECEIVED
FORWARDED
DA
-Harry/Bill:-
:The attached
taken from
-
-Etr. Kissinger's
71tan _See an.
'attention to
;material used
-reviewed or
:publish. Subsequently,
'really jumped
_double standards
and clearance
'information
in the publication
.former government
whole issue
with the passage
:is this kind
publicity that
:need when ET.
Yvolume of memoirs-.is,published.
._ I think
track in asking
:Manuscript.
:not willing
.,.-,script, then
-alternative
:Chapters of
portions concerning
:.material so
proper context,
,. .,?
,.. ,.. .
lam sending
for the purpose
information
Foreword was
:
'
.-.
ADDA
?
,
,
.
-'
the first volume of
memoirs-....' As you
page 3; he gave scant
how classified
in the book was
cleared for him to -
the press
on the issue. of
for the review
of classified -_
which was to be used.:
of books by
employees. The
died down, of course,
of time, but it.
of negative .
the CIA does not
Kissinger's second
. .
we are on the right
to see the entire
.!If Dr Kissinger is
to shate?the.manu-,
the next best:_:
is. to at. see -
the -book or all the '-
declassified
we-can put it in the
_
..
this to you only
of background -
.,
'.3.:
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.,
.. ,..
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FORM
'1-79
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lease-2171T6102/1A-RDP84B008411,00070002002
Foreword
Fe?Soil better or worse I was called upon to play a prominent role
-a ?
ri m the making and execution of United States foreign policy.
i first as President Nixon's Assistant for National Security Af-
fairs and later as Secretary of State under President Nixon and President
Ford. This book is an account of our foreign policy during the first term
of Richard Nixon's Presidency ? from my appointment as national
security adviser after the November 1968 election through the end of the
Vietnam negotiations, roughly coincident with Nixon's second inaugu-
ration in January 1973. Inevitably, it is history seen through my
eyes ? a portrayal of what I saw and thought and did ? and inevitably
I have had to select and compress. A complete record in the historian's
sense must await the publication of other documents, memoirs, and
biographies ? not all of American origin.
The period covered in this volume was marked by domestic division
and international turmoil; it witnessed America's passage into a world in
which we were no longer predominant though still vastly influential. It
was a painful transition, not. I hope, without achieveinent, that began
the process of a new and in the long run perhaps even more seminal
American contribution to the prospects of free societies. For some, the
treatment in this volume of controversial matters, especially the Viet-
nam war, will be the view from a side of the barricades unfamiliar to
them. It is put forward here as honestly as possible, with the intention to
reconcile, not to score retrospective debating points. As a nation we can
transcend our divisions only by recogniying that serious people mannad
both sides of those barricades.
In a subsequent volume I intend to cover the period from January
1973 to January 1977, during most of which I was Secretary of State.
That volume will discuss such matters as Watergate and the resignation
of Richard Nixon; the October 1973 Middle East war and the "shuttle
diplomacy- that followed; international economic problems such as the
oil crisis and the North-South dialogue; Southern Africa; the fall of Sal-
vador Allende and our Latin American policy; the Communist takeover
of Indochina; negotiations on SALT II; the evolution of our relations
with China; the Presidency of Gerald Ford and the 1976 election cam-
paign; and others. On some topics I may hark back to events in the
1969-1972 period that were omitted here for reasons of space or con-
tinuity. Readers who hold this weighty volume in their hands may find it
?777:17t.err"
'7"
4144
Foreword
hard to believe that anything was left out, but will perhaps be grateful
that some matters were indeed deferred to a second volume.
In writing this account I have tried to keep reliance on memory to a
minimum; I have been able to refer to much documentary.evidence and,
for part of this period, to a diary I kept. I intend to leave an annotated
copy of this volume with my papers for the use of scholars who may
someday pursue the period in greater detail.
One of the paradoxes of the age of the memorandum and the Xerox
machine, of proliferating bureaucracies and compulsive record-keeping,
is that the writing of history may have become nearly impossible.
When an historian deals with previous centuries, the problem is to
find sufficient contemporary material; when he writes of modern diplo-
macy, the problem is to avoid being inundated by it. If a scholar of
impeccable credentials and unassailable objectivity were given free run
of the millions of documents of any modern four-year period, he would
have the greatest difficulty knowing where to begin. The written record
would by its very volume obscure as much as it illuminated; it would
provide no criteria for determining which documents were produced to
provide an alibi and which genuinely guided decisions, which reflected
actual participation and which were prepared in ignorance of crucial
events. Before the era of instantaneous communication, instructions to a
negotiator had to be conceptual and therefore they gave an insight into
the thinking of statesmen; in the age of the teletype they are usually
tactical or technical and therefore are silent about larger purposes and
premises. Official files of our period would not necessarily disclose
what decisions were taken by "backchannels" bypassing formal proce-
dures or what was settled orally without ever becoming part of the for-
mal record. A participant's account of conversations can easily be ex
post facto self-justification. (Dean Acheson once said that he never read
a report of a conversation in which the author came out second best in
the argument.) By a selective presentation of documents one can prove
almost anything. Contemporary practices of unauthorized or liberalized
disclosure come close to ensuring that every document is written with an
eye to self-protection. The journalist's gain is the historian's loss.
The participant in great events is of course not immune to these ten-
dencies when he writes his account. Obviously, his perspective will be
affected by his own involvement; the impulse to e\plain merges with the
impulse to defend. But the participant has at least one vital contribution
to make to the writing of history: He will know which of the myriad of
possible considerations in fact influenced the decisions in which he was
involved; he will be aware of which documents reflect the reality as he
perceived it; he will he able. to recall what v.iews were taken seriously,
which were rejected, and thereasoning behind the choices made. None
of this proves that his judgment was right ? only what it was based
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Foreword ?
upon. If done with detachment, a participant's memoir may help future
historians judge how things really appeared, even (and perhaps espe-
cially) when in the fullness of time more evidence becomes available
about all dimensions of the events.
I owe a deep debt of gratitude to those who helped me in the prepara-
tion of this book. Peter W. Rodman, friend, confidant, and invaluable
associate for a decade and a half, supervised the re-search,- undertook
major research himself, and helped with editing, checking, and many
other chores. Without him this work could never have been completed.
William 0. Hyland, another trusted associate and longtime friend, con-
tributed enormously to the research, especially on Europe, East-West
relations, and SALT. Rosemary Neaher Niehuss and Mary E. Brownell,
also colleagues of mine in government, were exceptionally skilled, ded-
icated, and helpful in their research and review of the manuscript.
Winston Lord and William D. Rogers permitted me to impose on
their friendship to read the entire book. They made innumerable wise
suggestions and an invaluable editorial contribution. Others who read
portions of .the manuscript were Brent Scowcroft, Lawrence S. Eagle-
burger, David Ginsburg, Richard Helms, John Freeman, Samuel Hal-
pern, Jessica Catto, and John Kenneth Galbraith. I will not pretend that
I took all the suggestions of such a diverse group. But I thank them
warmly for their efforts.
Harold Evans, assisted by Oscar Turnill, read through the entire vol-
ume with a brilliant editorial eye; they taught me what skilled and intel-
ligent editing can contribute to organization and to lightening prose.
Betsy Pitha and the late Ned Bradford of Little, Brown were meticulous
and helpful in going over the manuscript. The index was expertly pre-
pared by Melissa Clemence. Catherine De Sibour, Kathleen Troia, and
Jeffrey Yacker assisted with the research.
I owe ,appreciation to Daniel J. Boorstin. the Librarian of Congress,
and the men and women of the Manuscript Division: John C. Broderick,
Paul T. Heffron, John Knowlton, and their dedicated staff. They have
my gratitude for their courtesy and assistance with my papers, of which
they are now the custodians. The working arrangements they provided
were a great boon to me and my staff. Treatment of classified materials
in this book has been worked out with the office of the national security
adviser, Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, to whom I express my appreciation.
President Nixon has kindly given his permission to cite some materials
from his Presidential files.
I am especially grateful to my personal assistant, M. Christine Vick,
who took charge of organizing the handling of the manuscript, and
typed it through several drafts, even while managing to keep my day-
to-day business in order. Cheryl Womble and Mary Beth Baiuta assisted
in the typing with dedication. All worked many extra hours.
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xxiv foreword
?
My wife Nancy encouraged me with her advice and love; as always
she served as my conscience.
I have dedicated this volume to Nelson A. Rockefeller. He was my
friend for twenty-five years until his untimely death in January of this
year.
I alone am responsible for the contents of this book, as indeed I am
for my?actions as described herein.
Washington, D.C.
June 1979
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NEW YORK TIMES
lease 20a61/E/091A-RDP84B00841.000700020025-4
BOSTON, June 3? In the foreword
to 'White House Years" Henry Kissin-
eer wrote: "Treatment of classified
materials in this book has been worked
cut with the office of the national se-
curity adviser, Dr. Zbizoilew Breezin-
sid. to whom I expmes my apprecis.
boo." The acanowledgment smexed
routine: It Wa31108. ? . ?
The P'assage caught the eye of a pub-
lisher, Robert L Bernstein, president
of Random Hamra. He wrote Brzextn.
ski and askett"bove the clearing of the
-1' ABROAD AT HOME
Kissinger book was actually accom- ? ;???:.
pLLsieed.'"Ihe staff secretary of the. r .
National Security Council, Christine e ? ? By Anthony. Lewis ?-? -
Dodson. replied: -
"Prior to the publication of his book ?
Dr The interesting point in the episode
. Kissinger fcrrwarded to. Dr. . e -
Brzezinaki's office a very email part eV; e parate
? treatment of former Government ()fri-
ths raanuscriPt then PrePareci" in the. - cials who write
form of disconnected brief excerpts. books about their ex-
perien. Robert Bernstein was curl-
These eacerpte were reviewed fOr pos. cars about the handling of classified
sible classification problems; they . material in the Kissinger book b,,3.
were edited to indicate what we would f hat d hancened
recildre to dear thePublicatial bi?st7uo wthors , Faran S?nepp. Tiatoecmceeon-f
those excerpts. : ; ' , trast was stegeering '- ? -? ?
"The edited Manu&ript was reee - ?
turned. and further oral comments - XI-winger, arho had been privy to the
were made to a 'member of Dr. Kissin- llighast sea-eta in the American 5'17-
tern, made wholeeale use of classified
gees staff to the effect that after the?
required changme
documents in his book. Some experts
vre were eimring
say that it disclmes more current or.
what. we saw and that N.S.C. clear-
ance of the book would have to await a recent national security material than
review of the total manuscript. any ever Published' -
"Dr. Kissin8m. never. submitted any .1.. As iNliss Dodson's letter indicates, thee
? further materials for review. It Is our .N.? 6ov-el-merit was given a chance to
judgment, therefore, that the passagea'? make only a partial judgment on small
you quote from the book's foreword.' portions of the manuscript. What was
vastly overstates, at least by !mom. used was largely Kiseinger's treilateral
tion, the degree of classification . decision. Yet he has not tem d(
view to which the book was sublected =Weed by any official for allegedly
by Dr. Etrzezinski.soke.., ? ? .,comproralsing national security. He
Government employees do not usu.. has not been sued- No court has Icr--
ally use language as: colorful a3 ? tured him. And he Is expected to make
4`vastly crvesstates?in official coma? _ more than $3 million ?? the hc4k-
spoodence. Evidently the National... Frank Snepp was a line C.I.A. officer
Security Council staff, and perhaps. in Vietnam. Aftecw .rd he wrote a hook,
Brzeeleskil, felt that they had been ' "Deceit l-aava1.?? criticizing Awed-
med. !They resented Kissingees can policy at. the end of the war. Be.
bland little effort to deceive the public ;arse he did not show the manuscript to
Into believing that his use of classified ? the agency, as he had promised to do,
material in the book had their official the Government sued him for damages.
approval. ? ???':. ? ? It did not allege that he had dIsclmed.
' ? A . , ? . .
The
ssin
Secret*k
any classified information at all. But It
said the prearedent of publiehing with-
out approval was dangerous.
The Supreme Court foural that Sr.epp
had violated a "fiduciary obit gation" to
show officials his manuscript?an ?bile
wition arising not from his promise but
from the secret r.ature of his work.
Without giving Snepp's lawyers a
chance to argue. the point, the Court
summarily decided that the Govern-
ment was entitled to take all of Snepp's
earniage on the book, about 4140,003.
U the law declared by the Supreme
Court in the Snepp case applies to any-
tine else, it surely must apply to Henry
Kissinger. Hardly anyone had greater
access to secrets and hence had a
greater "fiduciary obligation" to show
the Government his manuscript ? all
of the manuscript?before publication.
Here Is a chance for the Justice De-
partment to collect upwards of $5 mil-
lion. Will it sue Kissinger? I think we
shall wait a long time until either the
Department or the Supreme Court treat
Henry Kissinger as they do the power-
less Frank Seepes of this world.
? There is also an Important historical
point about the treatment of classified ?
material in "White House Years," a
paint made by Theodore Draper when
be reviewed the book for the quarterly
Die-sent. On inquiry at the State Depart-
ment, Draper fcenad that Kissinger's
qectedoes from secret documeeite had ;
- been declassified nnly those :
quotations, net the entire documents.
Thus no one else could see the content of
these passages to judge wise:tier ICissin- ?
ger had dealt with the material fairly.
"This 33,7:tem is a political and intel- :
. lectual outrage," Draper wrote. "It en- !
ablen political figures to control the his- ;
tory of their own deeds or misdeeds. Na
partial quotation can be properly un-
derstood without its context . .
? "What la declas.eiBed furor, should
be declassified for all. Whether-Or not
the pr...-mt declassific-adco system is
good or bad is not here the qution; the
real issue is whether Government ofti- '
(-fall should be permitted to make a
IMOCkx-ny of it." . ?t
. .
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10 June 9 0
7 ? e
7.4.11ssin tYc.,1 Cleur mce
? /b
Dthruti NITS .
c .
.? ? BY George Lardner Jr.-.
%Vast:Lira:Du P.M &tat; Wrtter
Former secretary. of state. Henry A. Kissinger
*:%-astly oyeretated, at least by implication," the ex-
tent to which hitherto classified-. information had
been cleared for publication ,in his memoirs, accord-
ing to correspondence-Tnade public yesterday: '
-;"...The assessment was made by an official of the Na-
tional Security Council in response to-an inquiry by
the publishers..ot another-book whose author was
-Luccessfullr sued by the: government for failieg to
ebtain.prpRer clearance: .
Kissinger, ii-the?foreworclet his book -The White
House. Years,".: wrote that "treatinent-of classified
?materials in this book has,been worked out with the
.affiees of the national security adviser. Dr.. Zbigniew
Drezezinski, to whom I express. my_ appreciation."
On May. 2U...however.; the-% staff .secretaryi of the
NSC, Christine Dodson. ?.wrota- to the head of ther
publishing firm R.anclom House that. Kissinger sub-
mitted orily;"a very small part of the manuscript"
for review._ and this was. in the forar of discon-
nected; brief excerpts." 2. - .
-After some -required changes" were specified.
she wrote, "Kissinger never submitted any- further_
materiais for review. It is? our judgment, therefore:
17.5
? that the passage you quote from the bookre fore-
word vastly overstates, at least 'or implication. tile-,
degree of classification review to which, the boor:
was subjected by Dr. Brzezinski's,office.J ?
The NSC. letter was sent to Robert-.L. Bernstein.
:president of Random House, which had. published
-."Decent Interval," a book by former CIA officer
;.1Prank Snepp -critical of American policy in Viet-
nam. ?
In a far-reaching ruling in February: the Supreme,
,Court held that Snepp had breached his posib.on
? trust with the CIA by failing to submit the 000k to
? the agency for prepublication review:. --. ? . .
The court majority also said that "even-in the ab-
sence ofi an express agreement' such ns the-one
Snepp signed with the CIA, the government can ill-
_ pose restrictions on the release of Conficnntiai*infor-
- ? matton, even when no government-secrets are cam-.
promised. '4 ;?
-?- Snepp has been ordered to ?relinqutsii his profit's.-
from the book, which are currentlyzestimated at.
about S140,000.
? Kissinger. who is expected to make about S.3
lion from his book, could not: be- reecheci.for cone-
. ment. 'The White House Years": was.published last.
* fall by Little, Brown & Co. Kissinger owns the-
worldwide book and -7,er?ia1iration rigtts. . , . ?
?
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