27 Years Ago In Time

By Melissa August, Jeffrey Kluger, Ellin Martens, Benjamin Nugent, Sora Song and Heather Won Tesoriero

Colin Powell is not the first Secretary of State to come into the job with high expectations. HENRY KISSINGER, named Richard Nixon's man at State in 1973, had a portfolio of diplomatic successes and "the unmistakable aura of a true celebrity."

According to a recent Gallup poll, Kissinger is the man Americans admire most in the world today. Abroad he has achieved the kind of celebrity status seldom enjoyed by anyone but top movie stars; in fact, he has become in some places almost a cult figure. His round, expressive face draws more instant recognition in many nations than even that of the local ruler. Government leaders, like so many shy fans, inveigle ways to be photographed with him. Arab sheiks, fascinated as much by the machismo image of his well-publicized dates with actresses Jill St. John and Marlo Thomas as by his statesmanship, insist on being briefed by no one else...Meeting other Western Hemisphere foreign ministers in Mexico City recently, the Secretary of State was so sought-after by his Latin American counterparts that they even pursued him to the men's room to carry out impromptu discussions.

--TIME, April 1, 1974