Sen. Cotton on Kissinger: Great Statesman

In the wake of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s death Wednesday night, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., called him a great statesman of the ages.

“Henry Kissinger was a great American,” Cotton said. “From his valiant service on the front lines of World War II to his unprecedented time as both secretary of state and national security adviser to his role as an informal adviser to elected leaders, Henry Kissinger dedicated his life to America’s national interests.”

“I appreciated our conversations and time together, and I benefited from his counsel and encouragement,” he said.

“Once a historian who chronicled the exploits of men like Metternich, Talleyrand, and Castlereagh, Henry Kissinger now joins their ranks as great statesmen of all the ages,” Cotton said referencing Austrian Chancellor Klemens von Metternich; French Foreign Minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand; and Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, usually known as Lord Castlereagh.

An influential presence in American foreign policy for 60 years, Kissinger, 100, died at his home in Connecticut Wednesday evening.

As one of the most iconic figures in modern history, he advised presidents from John F. Kennedy to Donald Trump, and was the only person ever to hold the positions of secretary of state and White House national security adviser simultaneously.

Having fled Nazi Germany with his family in his teens, Kissinger was also the first foreign-born individual and the first Jew to serve as secretary of state.

Heinz Alfred Kissinger was born in the Bavarian city of Fuerth on May 27, 1923. In 1938, his family settled in Manhattan, where Heinz changed his name to Henry.

Kissinger had two children from his first marriage, Elizabeth and David.

Information from Reuters contributed to this report.

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