“America has lost one of the most dependable and distinctive voices” on foreign affairs, said former President George W. Bush, striking a tone shared by many high-level officials past and present.

“I have long admired the man who fled the Nazis as a young boy from a Jewish family, then fought them in the United States Army,” Bush said in a statement. “When he later became Secretary of State, his appointment as a former refugee said as much about his greatness as it did America’s greatness.”

Kissinger served two presidents, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and dominated foreign policy as the United States withdrew from Vietnam and established ties with China.

[It’s interesting to see the passionate criticisms on the Left today for a man who hasn’t been in any official governmental role in nearly 50 years. Interestingly, though, China is issuing praise for Kissinger, even on social media, thanks to his role in Nixon’s grand opening to China in the second term. So is Tony Blair. That speaks volumes about the ankle-biters coming onto American social media to heap vitriol on Kissinger. — Ed]