Henry Kissinger

Henry Alfred Kissinger (born Heinz Alfred Kissinger; May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was a German-born American diplomat and political scientist who served as the United States National Security Advisor from 1969 to 1975 and as the 56th Secretary of State from 1973 to 1977. Born to a Jewish family in Fürth, Germany, Kissinger emigrated to the United States in 1938 to escape Nazi persecution, became a naturalized citizen in 1943, and served in the U.S. Army during World War II, participating in intelligence operations against Nazi Germany. After earning a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1954, he rose as an academic expert on nuclear strategy and foreign policy before entering government service as a consultant under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.

As National Security Advisor and later Secretary of State under Presidents Nixon and Ford, Kissinger shaped U.S. foreign policy through realpolitik, emphasizing balance-of-power dynamics over ideological crusades. His initiatives included secret negotiations leading to President Nixon's 1972 visit to China, which initiated normalized relations between the two powers and altered global geopolitics. He advanced détente with the Soviet Union, culminating in the 1972 SALT I arms control agreement limiting strategic nuclear weapons. In Vietnam, Kissinger negotiated the 1973 Paris Peace Accords, which facilitated the withdrawal of U.S. forces and earned him a shared Nobel Peace Prize with North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho, though the prize was controversial amid ongoing conflict and Tho declined it. Following the 1973 Yom Kippur War, his shuttle diplomacy between Arab states and Israel secured interim cease-fires and disengagement agreements.