I mean, Kissinger did become one of the foremost experts on a whole bunch of things related to weapons proliferation and missile systems seemingly weeks faster than anyone else in that administration, so I don't know if I just want to put it down to "exploited the system". Obviously Kissinger used said expertise to further his own goals and do everything humanly possible to prevent other people from attaining theirs, so it's not an endorsement of his procedures when I refer to him as intelligent.

If I were to give Kissinger some type of credit, he didn't seem to consider black people / other minorities in America to be his direct enemies, unlike Nixon. But being slightly less racist than Richard Nixon isn't exactly a high bar to clear.