UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2014-20439 Doc No. C05775307 Date: 08/31/2015 administration since Richard Nixon. When Nixon wanted foreign policy advice, everyone knew where he got it from: Henry Kissinger, variously his national security adviser and secretary of state. In contrast, Mr Obama has no big foreign policy strategist. Even insiders give different answers when asked to whom he turns for advice on the big international questions. But almost all agree with the following observation. "The truth is that President Obama is his own Henry Kissinger no one else plays that role," says a senior official. "Every administration reflects the personality of the president. This president wants all the trains routed through the Oval Office." Fifteen months after he took office, the character and structure of Mr Obama's foreign policy machinery is still evolving. But from interviews with dozens of insiders and outsiders, including senior officials both authorised and unauthorised to speak, and three former national security advisers, it is clear the buck not only stops with, but often floats for quite a long time around, Mr Obama himself.