Many political watchers say no American statesman has been as revered and as reviled as Henry Kissinger.
While his advice has been sought by every president from Kennedy to Obama, he has also been hounded by conspiracy theorists throughout his public life. Yet as Niall Ferguson shows in his biography, Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist, the view of Kissinger as a ruthless arch-realist is based on a serious misunderstanding. Mr. Ferguson argues that the true foundation of Kissinger's thought is philosophical idealism-combined with history itself. Niall Ferguson recently spoke with us about the life and career of Henry Kissinger.