David Rockefeller on Henry Kissinger and His Influence

And you mentioned, uh, David, um, Henry Kissinger, and I think

he first, uh, was noticed by the Rockefeller family

after he, um, wrote a, um, a very erudite work on, uh,

nuclear weapons and nuclear war back in the late 1950s-

Nuclear weapons and foreign policy-

Right

... he was doing, yes

... it was then published. And, uh, from that time on, he became

pretty close to the Rockefeller family.

Well, he did. Um, actually, I guess I was the first one who got

to know him because, uh, he was a member of an organization called

the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

And there was a, a study group at that time that

he, as then a, um, young instructor

at Harvard, uh, presided at. I was so impressed

by him that, uh, I introduced him to my brother,

Nelson, who was then governor of New York and

was then

considering, uh,

seeking the presidency of the United States.

They became great friends, and actually, uh,

Henry was... became Nelson's foreign policy advisor

as long as he was in public life

and I think has... is one of the remarkable

international statesmen in the world today.

Even 30 years after he was secretary of state, he is

still asked by heads of state when he travels the world,

uh, for their, for his advice.

Let me go back to the time you said when you came here,

it transformed your life. Was there a course, a

professor who really made that difference for you?

Yes, uh, there was, um, one course, one

seminar of, um, Henry Kissinger,

um, which really opened my eyes. I wasn't accepted to the

seminar, but I sat in. I think he let me in because I was

German. And, uh, and it was relatively

shortly after the war, so were not too many Germans here.

And, uh, this created a friendship which has, um,

uh-

That's good

... endured until today. And, uh, you know, uh, Henry has been

several times in, in Davos. Um, and I

think it was mainly,

uh, participating in his seminars that I developed my interest

for geopolitical affairs.