Private wife, public man

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33514, 20 April 1974, Page 6

Private wife, public man

“Henry has said that she has been his lifeline J and she is very much that.” said a close < associate of the woman 1 who became Mrs Henry ‘ Kissinger. j Most of the friends of the < former Nancy Maginnes, re- I specting what one of them j called “her mania for privacy," are reluctant to have 'a their names used, although I their comments are, with < few exceptions, positive and 5 flattering, says the “New ; York Times.” s “A mutual friend once! made some innocuous re-L mark about her that was re-', ported in the press and|j Nancy was furious,” recalled a former colleague who|] worked with her for some I, years on the foreign affairsij research staff, of NelSon A. I Rockefeller when he was! Governor of New York. '* “She is so private,” an-|' other friend said. “She has' the attitude that people of!' good taste stay in the back-!' ground. She must have been mortified by all those star- ' lets capitalising on Dr Kis-| singer.” Although Dr Kissinger’s I name has been linked with ■ movie personalities from Jill! St John to Liv Ullman, there | was never any doubt among! those who knew them both,’ that if the Secretary of State! were to remarry—he was di-i vorced from the former Ann Fleischer in 1964 after 15 years of marriage—his bride would be the tall, blonde,; chain-smoking Nancy! Maginnes. “She’s been in love with, ! him a long time and she ac-! cepts him as he is,” a Rockefeller associate said. “During the 1968 Republi-i can campaign, they used to meet a lot and we were all amused,” she recalled. “You couldn’t miss them. She was so tall and he was so small.”

Mrs Kissinger is nearly 6 Feet tall. Dr Kissinger is 5 Feet 8 inches. Mrs Kissinger, who now directs international studies For the Commission on Critical Choices for Americans, which is headed by Mr Rockefeller, met Dr Kissinger about 10 years ago when both were working for the governor. To the men and women who know her well, Mrs Kissinger is an intelligent, capable and warm woman, with a great deal of charm, a good sense of humor, and in “iron sense of integrity.” “She’s a very good balance for him. and terribly devoted to him,” commented Mrs Max Ascoli, wife of the former publisher of “The Reporter,” who has entertained the couple on a number of occasions. “They seem to be very comfortable 'together. Some couples get along well but there is a lot of tension beneath the surface. They aren’t like that.” A colleague also commented on Mrs Kissinger’s interest in clothes. “A lot of us were on a budget,” she said. “But she always had elegant clothes and beautiful jewellery. To most of us, she came out of the designer floor at Saks Fifth Avenue or Bergdorf’s.” Mrs Kissinger, who would normally wear a size 8, but generally settles on a size 10 or 12 because of her height, has a “special” saleswoman at Saks and counts Adolfo and Bill Blass among her favourite designers. “She’s a woman you can’t visualise in blue jeans,” said an acquaintance who had not yet seen the informal photograph of Mrs Kissinger’s honeymoon attire during a boat ride in Acapulco. “She could almost be a Rockefeller wife. They all kind of look alike in a way.” “Her idea of a really good

{evening,” one friend said “would be to go on to a small {gathering of knowledgeable {people who were interested | ip foreign affairs. i “Conversation tended to {turn to ideas when Nancy | was present,” another [woman friend said. “The talk {wouldn’t lapse into gossip.” : A woman once acquainted with Mrs Kissinger remembers that “she was a little [bit awesome but people liked {her. I “She had a tremendous amount of power and responsibility and she used it,” recalled a colleague. “It was off-putting to some people but no one ever quarrelled with the output of her work. She was a personal friend, as ! well as an employee of the 1 i Governor, .and there was al-

ways Kissinger in the background. “When I first knew her, I remember thinking that of all the people I knew, she would marry a Senator or someone powerful. She has that kind of presence.” Mrs Kissinger, who is 39, has two older brothers, Bristol and David Maginnes. She was raised in White Plains and ' attended the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry and Mount Holyoke College .in South Hadley, Mass. She studied toward a doctoral degree in history at ; the University of California ■ at Berkeley but never comI pleted her thesis. Her father, the late Albert > Bristol Maginnes, was a ! lawyer who specialised in • wills, trusts and estates.