Leadership

Henry Kissinger served in the US Army during the Second World War and subsequently held teaching posts in history and government at Harvard University for twenty years. He served as national security advisor and secretary of state under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and has advised many other American presidents on foreign policy. He received the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Medal of Liberty, among other awards. He was the author of numerous books and articles on foreign policy and diplomacy, including most recently Leadership, On China, and World Order. He served as chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc., an international consulting firm. He died in 2023.

The New York Times bestseller

Henry Kissinger, consummate diplomat and statesman, examines the strategies of six great twentieth-century figures and brings to life a unifying theory of leadership and diplomacy

An extraordinary book, one that braids together two through lines in the long and distinguished career of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger...In Leadership he presents a fascinating set of historical case studies and political biographies that blend the dance and the dancer, seamlessly. - James Stavridis, The Wall Street Journal

Leaders, writes Henry Kissinger in this compelling book, think and act at the intersection of two axes: the first, between the past and the future; the second, between the abiding values and aspirations of those they lead. They must balance what they know, which is necessarily drawn from the past, with what they intuit about the future, which is inherently conjectural and uncertain. It is this intuitive grasp of direction that enables leaders to set objectives and lay down a strategy.
 
In Leadership, Kissinger analyses the lives of six extraordinary leaders through the distinctive strategies of statecraft, which he believes they embodied. After the Second World War, Konrad Adenauer brought defeated and morally bankrupt Germany back into the community of nations by what Kissinger calls the strategy of humility. Charles de Gaulle set France beside the victorious Allies and renewed its historic grandeur by the strategy of will. During the Cold War, Richard Nixon gave geostrategic advantage to the United States by the strategy of equilibrium. After twenty-five years of conflict, Anwar Sadat brought a vision of peace to the Middle East by a strategy of transcendence. Against the odds, Lee Kuan Yew created a powerhouse city-state, Singapore, by the strategy of excellence. And, though Britain was known as the sick man of Europe when Margaret Thatcher came to power, she renewed her country s morale and international position by the strategy of conviction.
 
To each of these studies, Kissinger brings historical perception, public experience and because he knew each of the subjects and participated in many of the events he describes personal knowledge. Leadership is enriched by insights and judgements that only Kissinger could make and concludes with his reflections on world order and the indispensability of leadership today.

BRILLIANT COMBINATION OF AUTHOR AND SUBJECT: Focusing on the strategies of Adenauer, De Gaulle, Nixon, Yew, and Thatcher, Kissinger presents a compelling portrait of some of the most influential leaders of the last century. This unforgettable analysis of leadership, past and future, will become a touchstone for readers today, and in the years to come. LEGENDARY STATESMAN: Kissinger served as National Security Advisor and then Secretary of State under Nixon and Ford, and has advised many other American presidents on foreign policy. He received the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Medal of Liberty, among other awards. IN THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENED: Kissinger grounds his book not only in his study of history, but his own career - these are leaders he has known personally, and he leads with personal insight and unparalleled firsthand experience. This is the book we've been waiting for him to write. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR: Kissinger's most recent books, World Order and On China, were both New York Times bestsellers.