At a dinner party in 2002, the ABC News anchor Peter Jennings buttonholed Mr. Kissinger, asking him, “How does it feel to be a war criminal, Henry?”, according to Ms. Walters, who described the evening in a 2006 interview with New York magazine. Mr. Kissinger said nothing in reply; his wife was deeply hurt.But the real question here is, "How does it feel to be at a dinner party, hosted by celebrity journalist Barbara Walters, with war criminal Henry Kissinger, Peter?"
It is notable and it tells us much that Jennings obviously committed a social faux pas, even if one we can chuckle about it, and not Barbara Walters for being Henry's dear friend.
Everyone knew what Kissinger was responsible for. It isn't secret or in dispute. And yet there he always was, sitting at the dinner table, a dinner which Peter almost ruined!
The question stunned the dinner guests, who included Time Inc. editor Henry Grunwald, who also died last year, and former ABC chairman Thomas Murphy. Grunwald told Jennings the comment was “unsuitable,” but Jennings persisted. “I tried to change the subject, but it was a very uncomfortable moment,” says Walters. “Nancy [Kissinger's wife] reacted very strongly and hurt.”
Henry Grunwald, father of Mandy, of Clintonworld fame.
Blinken will never lack dinner invitations, either.