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Henry Kissinger

Exclusive: Kissinger sees 'painful' need for better leaders. Will they arrive in time?

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger says today's world leaders fall short of "transcendent."
Susan Page
USA TODAY

At age 99, Henry Kissinger finds himself worried about the country and the world.

The former secretary of state has written yet another book, his 19th, this one profiling six leaders who managed tumultuous change in the aftermath of two World Wars. Does he see any comparably "transcendent" leaders that, in his view, the times today demand?

After a pause, Kissinger replied with a single word: "No." 

After a moment, he added one more. "Painful," he said.

"In fairness to the current leaders, they haven't had quite the occasion yet, either," he went on in an interview with USA TODAY at his office on Manhattan's Park Avenue. "But you could argue, and I would argue, that great leaders make the occasion."

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