Henry Kissinger Gets the Full TSA Patdown

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Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger leaves the U.S. Capitol building on Tuesday, November 1, 2011.

What do toddlers in wheelchairs and former Secretaries of State have in common? They can’t escape the clutches of the TSA. So don’t think you can run through that line.

Freelance journalist Matthew Cole was at LaGuardia Airport last Friday when he came upon something you definitely don’t see every day: a TSA agent patting down Henry Kissinger, Nobel Laureate and former Secretary of State.

(MORE: TSA Agent Shown Searching a Wheelchair-Bound 3-Year-Old)

According to the Washington Post:

In the search area, Kissinger was subjected to what Cole called “the full Monty” of the usual groping. “He stood with his suit jacket off, and he was wearing suspenders. They gave him the full pat-down. None of the agents seemed to know who he was,” he says.

But despite the treatment, Kissinger took it swimmingly in stride. He went on to ask his aide to find out what the airline would be serving for breakfast, joking whether schnitzel was available. After the news broke, he released a statement Tuesday praising the TSA. As Politico reported:

[Kissinger said] it’s “not unusual” for him to be patted down during airport security screening. He says he wears a brace on his foot and can’t remove his shoes.

Kissinger praised agents of the federal Transportation Security Administration for their “professionalism” and “courtesy” while performing what he calls “an important job.”

(MORE: Six-Year-Old’s TSA Pat-Down: Careful or Crossing the Line?)

 

Erica Ho is a contributor at TIME and the editor of Map Happy. Find her on Twitter at @ericamho and Google+. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.