[L]

February 19, 1982

Dear Dr. Kissinger,

Although I live a few thousand miles away from the United States,
I was really upset by the news that you had to undergo an open heart
surgery. But when I read that you are recuperating after three bypass
operations I was relieved.

Much I had read about your peace-making efforts both in Vietnam
and the Middle East, which the former culminated in the Vietnam cease-
fire and the latter in the historic visit of the late President Sadat
to Jerusalem, which brought to an end generations of animosity and
hatred between the Egyptians and the Jews. As the greatest peace-maker
of the 20th century, I had always considered you as a diplomat par
excellence till I read White House Years where I found in you a person
full of compassion for the cause of peace and brimming with respect for
the person who had modestly contributed to supporting your efforts. I
refer to your eloquent and fulsome praise in the first chapter of White
House Years of Nelson Rockefeller. Seldom have I come across such an
expression of gratitude to a person who is already dead and to whom
such an outstanding book of yours has been dedicated. If Prince Metter-
nich was the subject of your thesis whose pattern of quiet diplomacy
you followed during your negotiations over Vietnam and the Middle East,
you certainly outdistanced the Prince because your voice for a stable
world peace reverberated throughout the chancelleries of the world
whereas Metternich's was limited to Europe.