Kissinger

While looking for something else, I stumbled on this record of a lunch I attended in 1976, between US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Andrew Peacock, Australian Foreign Minister.

Peacock with Shirley MacLaine
who when asked about their
relationship replied that all she
would say was that he was the only
politician she knew who had a Gucci
toothbrush.

Kissinger 1976, source.
""Power is the
ultimate aphrodisiac"
source

My recall of the occasion has been of Kissinger's regard for countries as no more than proxy for his global ambitions, rather than as having their own character and interests.  More alarming in the room than in prior reading and radio and TV.

In the record, Peacock comes across much as he was, skating and fawning. Also anxious about China, as his successors remain, not least because they fear more than they know.

Kissinger much more 'clear headed' about China than Peacock, also ruthless and angry about things done to the Nixon and Ford administrations by the Congress. 'Clear headed' in not getting the jitters but also clear headed in his ruthless Metternichian view of states. Though regarding Metternich as an ideal, without Metternich's notions of balance of power,  more concerned with dominance.

There is no mention of Kissinger's excitement when Peacock told him of John Ridley's access to porn on the hotel TV in New York and his inquiries about how and where to access it.