“We Have This Space Problem:” Big Data, Multi-Dimensionality and the Kissinger Correspondence

“Quantifying Kissinger” is a digital analysis of the National Security Archive’s Henry A. Kissinger Correspondence Collection comprising more than 18,600 now-declassified meeting memoranda and teleconference transcripts of the former US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. This poster will demonstrate the capability of multidimensional data visualizations to enhance historical interpretation and understanding of complex big data archives and data sets. Specifically, this poster’s virtual and physical visualizations leverage the use of additional spatial and/or temporal dimensions, including the use of animation and interactivity, to facilitate a distant, but nuanced, reading of Kissinger and his correspondence.