Henry Kissinger's Blurb for Jared Kushner in Time Is the Recommendation Letter No Student Wants
APRIL 20 2017 5:12 PM
By Katy Waldman
Time tapped former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to write up a complimentary blurb for Jared Kushner, a senior adviser in the White House and one of this year’s 100 most influential people. The blurb is nice, in an A-for-effort kind of way. No, really! It is a perfectly adequate endorsement, written in legible English sentences. It says that “transitioning the presidency between parties” is hard and confers an extra burden of responsibility on those close to the POTUS. It says that Kushner is close to the POTUS. It says that Kushner went to college and then graduate school and then worked in business. It says that he’s likely to “make a success” of a “role” that potentially entails, um, flying into the sun.
Here, read for yourself:
Transitioning the presidency between parties is one of the most complex undertakings in American politics. The change triggers an upheaval in the intangible mechanisms by which Washington runs: an incoming President is likely to be less familiar with formal structures, and the greater that gap, the heavier the responsibility of those advisers who are asked to fill it.
This space has been traversed for nearly four months by Jared Kushner, whom I first met about 18 months ago, when he introduced himself after a foreign policy lecture I had given. We have sporadically exchanged views since. As part of the Trump family, Jared is familiar with the intangibles of the President. As a graduate of Harvard and NYU, he has a broad education; as a businessman, a knowledge of administration. All this should help him make a success of his daunting role flying close to the sun.
Kissinger has a background in academia; surely he is well-versed in the art of the Insincere Recommendation Letter. One begins by summarizing the circumstances that bring one to this moment of feigned support. There’s a new president in town, intangible mechanisms are shifting, when X thing happens, Y other things happen, the most important of which is that I just used up 60 of my 150 words, thank god. Then, one alludes to the fact that one is aware of the recommendee’s existence. Kissinger first met Kushner “18 months ago, when he introduced himself after a foreign policy lecture I had given.” Notice that “introduced himself”—what was Kissinger supposed to do, run away? Anyway, since being buttonholed by this person who not only exists but transverses a space (impressive!), Kissinger reveals that he has corresponded with him “sporadically.”
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http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/04/20/henry_kissinger_gives_jared_kushner_an_a_for_effort_in_his_times_most_influential.html
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