‘Is Henry Kissinger Dead Yet?’ account owner says it will now educate on Kissinger's legacy

When former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger passed away at the age of 100 on November 29 2023, one Twitter/X user was thrilled.

The 'Is Henry Kissinger Dead Yet?' account was created in December 2021, and would post periodic updates on whether the much despised political figure had died yet.

And after the announcement of Kissinger's death, the account could finally post one word: "YES".

Since Kissinger's death, the account has served its purpose, and many wondered if it would simply be left as a kind of internet artefact.

Perhaps it would be dedicated to tracking the life of another public figure, seeing as the account would occasionally defer to updates on the health of figures such as Mitch McConnell.

Instead, the account broke its silence since Nov. 30 to announce that going forward "the account will be transitioning content and ownership in partnership with Legacies of War."

According to the organisation's website, Legacies of War "is an educational and advocacy organisation working to address the impact of the American Secret War and the conflict in Southeast Asia, including removal of unexploded ordnance (UXO)."

The 350,000 to 500,000 Cambodians killed by American bombs during the Vietnam war are almost entirely directly connected to Kissinger.

The account owner wrote yesterday (December 16): "I want to sincerely thank everyone for following this page and, while its initial purpose has been fulfilled, ask you to stick around a bit longer."

In an attached full statement, the account owner wrote: "I don't pretend this account started as anything more virtuous than a joke. However it is also a small example of social media's ability to unearth realities left out of textbooks and headlines.

"While valuable, there is also a danger in leaving figures like Kissinger to be interpreted through the medium of even well intended jokes and memes, like our page.

"The inherent brevity of accessible media, absorbed on platforms adjacent to entertainment, can desensitise us to understand paragons of violence as contexture to mock, rather than systems to be dismantled.

"To address this, in the coming weeks we will be sharing explainers on the history of Henry Kissinger's atrocities, as well as the institutions that enabled them."

The statement goes on to say that the account will eventually be fully taken over by the CEO of Legacies of War, Sera Koulabdara, who is also a survivor of bomb contamination in Laos.

If you want to know about Henry Kissinger and why he was so hated, you can check out our explainer here.

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