According to his aunt and uncle in an interview at their home, Dr. Henry Kissinger showed no signs of greatness when he was a child in pre-war Germany. He was just a nice Jewish boy. Henry, 11, is shown with his around his brother Walter, 10.
College/University
Career
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
1957
United States
Director of the Rockefeller fund project, Dr. Henry A. Kissinger. Photo by Lisa Larsen.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
1963
United States
Henry A. Kissinger attending Life Magazine-sponsored Economic Council. Photo by Ralph Morse.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
1969
United States
Close-up head and shoulder portrait of Henry A. Kissinger, as Assistant to President Nixon for National Security Affairs talking on the telephone.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
1970
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States
American diplomat Henry Kissinger attends a University of Southern California party in Hollywood, in honour of deceased lyricist Oscar Hammerstein, circa 1970. He is accompanied by actress Marlo Thomas. Photo by Frank Edwards.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
1972
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, United States
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the White House barber shop, Washington D.C., 1972. The barber is Milton Pitts. Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
1973
Paris, France
North Vietnamese Politburo Member Le Duc Tho with the United States National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger during peace talks on the Vietnam War, Paris, 24th January 1973.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
1973
Renda Huitang W Rd, Xicheng District, China, 100031
United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger accepts food from Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai during a state banquet in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
1973
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, United States
President Nixon congratulates Henry Kissinger after he was sworn in as Secretary of State 9/22 in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. He became the first foreign-born citizen of the United States to become his top country's diplomat.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
1974
London, United Kingdom
Headshot of Henry Kissinger, German-born US Secretary of State, smiling and laughing during a visit to London, England, Great Britain, 8 July 1974.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
1974
Amman, Jordan
American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, on an official visit in Amman, is offered a traditional Bedoin Keffieh, today worn by the entire Arab population of the Arabic peninsula, Iraq, Jordan, and Syria. It has become the emblem of the Palestinians. Photo by Claude Salhani.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
1975
First St SE, Washington, DC 20004, United States
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger appears before the Senate Appropriations Committee in Washington April 15 to urge approval of President Gerald Ford's request for military and humanitarian aid to South Vietnam.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
1975
United States
Kissinger and Dolly Parton. Mis-1970s.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
2006
United States
Portrait photo of Henry Kissinger in 2006.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
2012
London, United Kingdom
Henry Kissinger watches the United States vs Spain Men's Basketball Finals during the London 2012 Summer Olympics.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
2014
200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024, United States
Padma Lakshmi and Henry Kissinger attend Bloomberg Businessweek's 85th Anniversary Celebration at the American Museum of Natural History on December 4, 2014, in New York City. Photo by Kevin Mazur.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
2017
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, United States
President Donald Trump meets with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Oval Office at the White House on May 10, 2017, in Washington, DC. Photo by Molly Riley-Pool.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
2017
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, United States
President Donald Trump meets with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Oval Office at the White House on May 10, 2017, in Washington, DC. Photo by Molly Riley-Pool.
Gallery of Henry Kissinger
2019
2201 C St NW, Washington, DC 20520, United States
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger speaks during the Department of State 230th Anniversary Celebration at the Harry S. Truman Headquarters building July 29, 2019, in Washington, DC. Kissinger served as Secretary of State for former presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford from 1973 to 1977. Photo by Chip Somodevilla.
Achievements
Membership
Trilateral Commission
Henry Kissinger is a member of the Trilateral Commission.
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Henry Kissinger is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Phi Beta Kappa Society
Henry Kissinger is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.
Awards
Nobel Peace Prize
1973
Brook St, Mayfair, London W1K 4HR, United Kingdom
Henry Kissinger receiving his Nobel Peace Prize from Thomas Byrne, United States Ambassador to Norway, at Claridge's Hotel, London. Mr Byrne accepted the prize on Kissinger's behalf when the Secretary State was unable to attend the Oslo ceremony. Kissinger shared the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize with Le Duc Tho, North Vietnam's negotiator at the Vietnam peace talks.
Presidential Medal of Freedom
1977
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, United States
Wearing the Medal of Freedom just awarded him by President Ford, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger shares a hearty laugh with the Chief Executive during the ceremonies at the Organization of American States 1/13. The medal is the highest civilian award bestowed by the United States.
Medal of Liberty
1986
Governors Island, New York City, New York, United States
President and Nancy Reagan at The Opening Ceremonies of Liberty Weekend with Medals of Liberty Recipients Henry Kissinger, Franklin Chang-Diaz, I.M. Pei, Itzhak Perlman, James Reston, Kenneth Clark, Albert Sabin, An Wang, Elie Wiesel, Bob Hope, Hanna Holburn, Lee Iacocca at Governors Island, New York.
President's Medal
2012
HaNasi St 3 St, Jerusalem, Israel
Shimon Peres honors Henry Kissinger with an Award.
Bronze Star Medal
United States Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official
National Book Award in History
Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George
According to his aunt and uncle in an interview at their home, Dr. Henry Kissinger showed no signs of greatness when he was a child in pre-war Germany. He was just a nice Jewish boy. Henry, 11, is shown with his around his brother Walter, 10.
American diplomat Henry Kissinger attends a University of Southern California party in Hollywood, in honour of deceased lyricist Oscar Hammerstein, circa 1970. He is accompanied by actress Marlo Thomas. Photo by Frank Edwards.
Henry Kissinger receiving his Nobel Peace Prize from Thomas Byrne, United States Ambassador to Norway, at Claridge's Hotel, London. Mr Byrne accepted the prize on Kissinger's behalf when the Secretary State was unable to attend the Oslo ceremony. Kissinger shared the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize with Le Duc Tho, North Vietnam's negotiator at the Vietnam peace talks.
North Vietnamese Politburo Member Le Duc Tho with the United States National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger during peace talks on the Vietnam War, Paris, 24th January 1973.
Renda Huitang W Rd, Xicheng District, China, 100031
United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger accepts food from Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai during a state banquet in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, United States
President Nixon congratulates Henry Kissinger after he was sworn in as Secretary of State 9/22 in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. He became the first foreign-born citizen of the United States to become his top country's diplomat.
American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, on an official visit in Amman, is offered a traditional Bedoin Keffieh, today worn by the entire Arab population of the Arabic peninsula, Iraq, Jordan, and Syria. It has become the emblem of the Palestinians. Photo by Claude Salhani.
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger appears before the Senate Appropriations Committee in Washington April 15 to urge approval of President Gerald Ford's request for military and humanitarian aid to South Vietnam.
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, United States
Wearing the Medal of Freedom just awarded him by President Ford, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger shares a hearty laugh with the Chief Executive during the ceremonies at the Organization of American States 1/13. The medal is the highest civilian award bestowed by the United States.
Governors Island, New York City, New York, United States
President and Nancy Reagan at The Opening Ceremonies of Liberty Weekend with Medals of Liberty Recipients Henry Kissinger, Franklin Chang-Diaz, I.M. Pei, Itzhak Perlman, James Reston, Kenneth Clark, Albert Sabin, An Wang, Elie Wiesel, Bob Hope, Hanna Holburn, Lee Iacocca at Governors Island, New York.
200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024, United States
Padma Lakshmi and Henry Kissinger attend Bloomberg Businessweek's 85th Anniversary Celebration at the American Museum of Natural History on December 4, 2014, in New York City. Photo by Kevin Mazur.
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, United States
President Donald Trump meets with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Oval Office at the White House on May 10, 2017, in Washington, DC. Photo by Molly Riley-Pool.
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, United States
President Donald Trump meets with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Oval Office at the White House on May 10, 2017, in Washington, DC. Photo by Molly Riley-Pool.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger speaks during the Department of State 230th Anniversary Celebration at the Harry S. Truman Headquarters building July 29, 2019, in Washington, DC. Kissinger served as Secretary of State for former presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford from 1973 to 1977. Photo by Chip Somodevilla.
A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh, and the Problems of Peace, 1812-22
(After the fall of Napoleon, European diplomats gathered i...)
After the fall of Napoleon, European diplomats gathered in a festive Vienna with the task of restoring stability following the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. The central figures at the Congress of Vienna were the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, Viscount Castlereagh, and the Foreign Minister of Austria Klemens Wenzel von Mettern Metternich. Castlereagh was primarily concerned with maintaining balanced powers, while Metternich based his diplomacy on the idea of legitimacy - that is, establishing and working with governments that citizens accept without force. The peace they brokered lasted until the outbreak of World War I.
(In this book Professor Kissinger examines the framework o...)
In this book Professor Kissinger examines the framework of our foreign policy, the stresses to which that framework is being subjected, and the prospects for world order in an era of high international tension. The three essays were written before Professor Kissinger took leave from Harvard to serve as Assistant to President Nixon for National Security Affairs.
(Covering his first four years as National Security Advise...)
Covering his first four years as National Security Adviser, Kissinger discusses his part in formulating the Nixon Doctrine, discloses his views on the Vietnam War, and offers important insights into his relationship with Nixon.
(In this book, Henry Kissinger, the former Secretary of St...)
In this book, Henry Kissinger, the former Secretary of State under Richard Nixon, talks about a variety of world important topics like Communist Parties in Western Europe, The Energy Crisis and World Order, Nelson Rockefeller, Iran, the SALT II talks.
(In this second volume of Henry Kissinger’s “endlessly fas...)
In this second volume of Henry Kissinger’s “endlessly fascinating memoirs” (The New York Times), Kissinger recounts his years as President Nixon’s Secretary of State from 1972 to 1974, including the ending of the Vietnam War, the 1973 Middle East War and oil embargo, Watergate, and Nixon’s resignation.
This second volume of Henry Kissinger’s monumental memoirs covers his years as President Richard Nixon’s Secretary of State (1972–1974), including the ending of the Vietnam War, the 1973 Middle East War and oil embargo, Watergate, and Nixon’s resignation. Years of Upheaval opens with Dr. Kissinger being appointed Secretary of State.
Observations: Selected Speeches and Essays 1982-1984
(Reveals the former Secretary of State's main concerns in ...)
Reveals the former Secretary of State's main concerns in the field of foreign relations, discussing NATO, arms control, the Middle East, China, and Central America.
(A brilliant, sweeping history of diplomacy that includes ...)
A brilliant, sweeping history of diplomacy that includes personal stories from the noted former Secretary of State, including his stunning reopening of relations with China. The seminal work on foreign policy and the art of diplomacy. Moving from a sweeping overview of history to blow-by-blow accounts of his negotiations with world leaders, Henry Kissinger describes how the art of diplomacy has created the world in which we live, and how America’s approach to foreign affairs has always differed vastly from that of other nations. Brilliant, controversial, and profoundly incisive, Diplomacy stands as the culmination of a lifetime of diplomatic service and scholarship. It is vital reading for anyone concerned with the forces that have shaped our world today and will impact upon it tomorrow.
(A third and final volume in the best-selling memoirs of o...)
A third and final volume in the best-selling memoirs of one of the century's most influential political thinkers begins with Nixon's resignation and discusses his "shuttle" diplomacy in the Mideast, offering clear-eyed portrayals of figures such as Mao and Brezhnev.
The Kissinger Transcripts: The Top Secret Talks with Beijing and Moscow
(Expand your understanding of one of the most controversia...)
Expand your understanding of one of the most controversial Secretaries of State in United States history - Henry Kissinger. These transcripts of Kissinger's conversations, including top-secret talks with Beijing and Moscow, provide an unvarnished record of his brand of high-stakes diplomacy during the Nixon years. From the great triumphs - the opening of China and the success of the Nixon-Brezhnev Moscow summit - to the most dramatic defeats - Watergate and the decline of détente - this is an unparalleled view of some events that shaped the world and rocked the way diplomacy is conducted in the United States.
Does America Need a Foreign Policy?: Toward a New Diplomacy for the 21st Century
(In this timely, thoughtful, and important book, at once f...)
In this timely, thoughtful, and important book, at once far-seeing and brilliantly readable, America's most famous diplomatist explains why we urgently need a new and coherent foreign policy and what our foreign policy goals should be in the post-Cold War world of globalization.
Dr. Henry Kissinger covers the wide range of problems facing the United States at the beginning of a new millennium and a new presidency, with particular attention to such hot spots as Vladimir Putin's Russia, the new China, the globalized economy, and the demand for humanitarian intervention. He challenges Americans to understand that our foreign policy must be built upon America's permanent national interests, defining what these are, or should be, in the year 2001 and for the foreseeable future.
Ending the Vietnam War: A History of America's Involvement in and Extrication from the Vietnam War
(The Definitive Account Many other authors have written ab...)
The Definitive Account Many other authors have written about what they thought happened - or thought should have happened - in Vietnam, but it was Henry Kissinger who was there at the epicenter, involved in every decision from the long, frustrating negotiations with the North Vietnamese delegation to America's eventual extrication from the war. Now, for the first time, Kissinger gives us in a single volume an in-depth, inside view of the Vietnam War, personally collected, annotated, revised, and updated from his bestselling memoirs and his book Diplomacy. Here, Kissinger writes with firm, precise knowledge, supported by meticulous documentation that includes his own memoranda to and replies from President Nixon. He tells about the tragedy of Cambodia, the collateral negotiations with the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, the disagreements within the Nixon and Ford administrations, the details of all negotiations in which he was involved, the domestic unrest and protest in the States, and the day-to-day military to diplomatic realities of the war as it reached the White House. As compelling and exciting as Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August, Ending the Vietnam War also reveals insights about the bigger-than-life personalities - Johnson, Nixon, de Gaulle, Ho Chi Minh, Brezhnev - who were caught up in a war that forever changed international relations. This is history on a grand scale, and a book of overwhelming importance to the public record.
Crisis: The Anatomy of Two Major Foreign Policy Crises
(By drawing upon hitherto unpublished transcripts of his t...)
By drawing upon hitherto unpublished transcripts of his telephone conversations during the Yom Kippur War (1973) and the last days of the Vietnam War (1975), Henry Kissinger reveals what goes on behind the scenes at the highest levels in a diplomatic crisis. The two major foreign policy crises in this book, one successfully negotiated, one that ended tragically, were unique in that they moved so fast that much of the work on them had to be handled by telephone. The longer of the two sections deals in detail with the Yom Kippur War and is full of revelations, as well as great relevancy: In Kissinger's conversations with Golda Meir, Israeli Prime Minister; Simcha Dinitz, Israeli ambassador to the United States; Mohamed el-Zayyat, the Egyptian Foreign Minister; Anatoly Dobrynin, the Soviet Ambassador to the United States; Kurt Waldheim, the Secretary-General of the United Nations; and a host of others, as well as with President Nixon, many of the main elements of the current problems in the Middle East can be seen. The section on the end of the Vietnam War is a tragic drama, as Kissinger tries to help his president and a divided nation through the final moments of a lost war. It is full of astonishing material, such as Kissinger's trying to secure the evacuation of a Marine company which, at the very last minute, is discovered to still be in Saigon as the city is about to fall, and his exchanges with Ambassador Martin in Saigon, who is reluctant to leave his embassy. This is a book that presents perhaps the best record of the inner workings of diplomacy at the superheated pace and tension of real crisis.
(In this sweeping and insightful history, Henry Kissinger ...)
In this sweeping and insightful history, Henry Kissinger turns for the first time at book length to a country he has known intimately for decades and whose modern relations with the West he helped shape. On China illuminates the inner workings of Chinese diplomacy during such pivotal events as the initial encounters between China and tight line modern European powers, the formation and breakdown of the Sino-Soviet alliance, the Korean War, and Richard Nixon’s historic trip to Beijing. With a new final chapter on the emerging superpower’s twenty-first-century role in global politics and economics, On China provides historical perspective on Chinese foreign affairs from one of the premier statesmen of our time.
(Henry Kissinger offers in World Order a deep meditation o...)
Henry Kissinger offers in World Order a deep meditation on the roots of international harmony and global disorder. Drawing on his experience as one of the foremost statesmen of the modern era - advising presidents, traveling the world, observing and shaping the central foreign policy events of recent decades - Kissinger now reveals his analysis of the ultimate challenge for the twenty-first century: how to build a shared international order in a world of divergent historical perspectives, violent conflict, proliferating technology, and ideological extremism.
Henry Alfred Kissinger is an American political scientist and politician. As an Adviser for National Security Affairs and a Secretary of State, he was a major influence in the shaping of the United States foreign policy from 1969 to 1976 under Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford.
Background
Henry Alfred Kissinger was born Heinz Alfred Kissinger on May 27, 1923, in Fürth, Bayern, Germany. Kissinger's mother, Paula Stern, came from a relatively wealthy and prominent family, and his father, Louis Kissinger, was a teacher. Kissinger grew up in an Orthodox Jewish household, and during his youth, he spent two hours each day diligently studying the Bible and the Talmud. The interwar Germany of Kissinger's youth was still reeling from its defeat in World War I and the humiliating and debilitating terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. Such national emasculation gave rise to the intense German nationalism of Nazism, in which many Germans increasingly treated Germany's Jewish population as outsiders and scapegoats for their misfortunes.
As a child, Kissinger encountered anti-Semitism daily. An avid soccer fan, he defied laws banning Jews from professional sporting events to attend matches, receiving several beatings at the hands of the stadium guards. He and his friends were also regularly abused by local gangs of Nazi youth. These experiences understandably made a lasting impression on Kissinger. One of his childhood friends said, "You can't grow up like we did and be untouched. Every day there were slurs in the streets, anti-Semitic remarks, calling you filthy names."
Kissinger was a shy, introverted, and bookish child. "He withdrew," his mother remembered. "Sometimes he wasn't outgoing enough, because he was lost in his books."
Education
Kissinger excelled at the local Jewish school and dreamed of attending the Gymnasium, a prestigious state-run high school. However, by the time he was old enough to apply, the school had stopped accepting Jews. Sensing the impending tragedy of the Holocaust, his family decided to flee Germany for the United States in 1938, when Kissinger was 15 years old.
On August 20, 1938, Kissinger's family set sail for New York City by way of London. His family was extremely poor upon arrival in the United States, and Kissinger immediately went to work in a shaving brush factory to supplement his family's income. At the same time, Kissinger enrolled at New York's George Washington High School, where he learned English with remarkable speed and excelled in all of his classes. One of his teachers later recalled of Kissinger, "He was the most serious and mature of the German refugee students, and I think those students were more serious than our own." Kissinger graduated from high school in 1940 and continued on to the City College of New York, where he studied to become an accountant. In 1943 Kissinger was drafted to the United States Army.
In 1947, upon his return to the United States from Military service in Germany, Kissinger was admitted to Harvard University to complete his undergraduate coursework. Kissinger's senior thesis, completed in 1950, was a 383-page tome that tackled a vast subject matter: the meaning of history. It became Harvard lore that his daunting manuscript which, unrefined but brilliant, prompted the university to impose a rule limiting the length of future theses; however, according to Walter Issacson’s 1992 biography, this "Kissinger Rule" is most likely a myth.
Upon graduating summa cum laude in 1950, Kissinger decided to remain at Harvard to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of Government. His 1954 dissertation, A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh, and the Problems of Peace, 1812-1822, examined the efforts of Austrian diplomat Klemens von Metternich to reestablish a legitimate international order in Europe in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. Metternich proved a profound influence on Kissinger's own later conduct of foreign policy, most notably in his firm belief that even a deeply flawed world order was preferable to revolution and chaos.
After receiving his doctorate in 1954, Kissinger accepted an offer to stay at Harvard as a member of the faculty in the Department of Government. Kissinger first achieved widespread fame in academic circles with his 1957 book Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy, opposing President Dwight Eisenhower's policy of holding out the threat of massive retaliation to ward off Soviet aggression. Instead, Kissinger proposed a "flexible" response model, arguing that a limited war fought with conventional forces and tactical nuclear weapons was, in fact, winnable. He served as a member of the Harvard faculty from 1954-1969, earning tenure in 1959.
Kissinger always kept one eye outside academia on policymaking in Washington, D.C. From 1961-1968, in addition to teaching at Harvard, he served as a special advisor to Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson on matters of foreign policy. Then in 1969, Kissinger finally left Harvard when incoming President Richard Nixon appointed him as national security advisor. Serving in that role from 1969-1975, and then as Secretary of State from 1973-1977, Kissinger would prove one of the most dominant, influential, and controversial statesmen in American history.
The great foreign policy trial of Kissinger's career was the Vietnam War. By the time he became a national security advisor in 1969, the Vietnam War had become enormously costly, deadly, and unpopular. Seeking to achieve "peace with honor," Kissinger combined diplomatic initiatives and troop withdrawals with devastating bombing campaigns on North Vietnam, designed to improve the American bargaining position and maintain the country's credibility with its international allies and enemies.
On January 27, 1973, Kissinger and his North Vietnamese negotiating partner, Le Duc Tho, finally signed a ceasefire agreement to end direct American involvement in the conflict. Both men were honored with the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize, although Duc declined, leaving Kissinger the sole recipient of the award. Nevertheless, Kissinger's handling of the Vietnam War was highly controversial. His "peace with honor" strategy prolonged the war for four years, from 1969-1973, during which 22,000 American troops and countless Vietnamese died. Furthermore, he initiated a secret bombing campaign in Cambodia that ravaged the country and helped the genocidal Khmer Rouge take power there.
In addition to ending the Vietnam War, Kissinger also accomplished a host of other foreign policy achievements. In 1971, he made two secret trips to the People's Republic of China, paving the way for President Nixon's historic visit in 1972 and the normalization of Chinese-American relations in 1979.
Kissinger was also instrumental in bringing about the early 1970s détente between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1972, he negotiated the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, helping to ease tensions between the two Cold War superpowers. When détente was threatened by the October 1973 Yom Kippur War between Israel, an American ally, and Egypt, a Soviet ally, Kissinger proved crucial in leading diplomatic efforts to prevent the war from escalating into a global confrontation.
Kissinger stepped down as Secretary of State at the conclusion of the Gerald Ford administration in 1977, but he continued to play a major role in American foreign policy. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan appointed him to chair the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America, and from 1984-1990, under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush, he served on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.
Kissinger founded the international consulting firm Kissinger Associates in 1982, and he serves as a board member and trustee to numerous companies and foundations. Additionally, he has authored several books and countless articles on American foreign policy and diplomatic history. In 1986-1988 he was a member of the Commission on Integrated Long-Term Strategy of the National Security Council and Defense Department. He served as a member of the Defense Policy Board from 2001 to 2016.
Kissinger is Jewish though he is not a spiritual person.
Politics
Kissinger is a Republican. Much of his work was under President Nixon. His foreign policy was based on the concept of realpolitik. This means that politics shouldn’t have anything to do with morals or ideology.
Views
Kissinger's first priority in office was the achievement of détente with the Soviet Union and China, and playing them off against each other. Recognizing and accepting the Soviet Union as a superpower, Kissinger sought both to maintain the United States military strength and to inaugurate peaceful economic, cultural, and scientific exchanges to engage the Soviet Union in the international system. This policy flourished under Kissinger's direction and led in 1972 to the signing of the first Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I). At the same time, Kissinger successfully engineered a rapprochement with Communist China, leading to the astonishing news in 1971 that Nixon would visit China, which he and Kissinger did in 1972.
Aware that China and the Soviet Union were at sword's point, with rival claims to be the true Communists, Kissinger used the "Soviet card" to win over China by playing up the Soviet threat to the Chinese as a way of promoting closer relations with China. He even hinted at an American-China alliance to oppose the Soviets, and, with Nixon's trips to Moscow, hinted that China had better come to terms lest the United States form an alliance with Moscow. The tactics worked, resulting in a friendly relationship with both Beijing and Moscow. As part of the détente, both powers reduced or ended their aid to North Vietnam, thus allowing a settlement of the Vietnam War.
Quotations:
"The most fundamental problem of politics is not the control of wickedness but the limitation of righteousness."
"We fought a military war; our opponents fought a political one."
"Intellectuals are cynical and cynics have never built a cathedral."
"Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac."
"I've always acted alone. Americans like that immensely."
"The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer."
Membership
Henry Kissinger is a member of the Trilateral Commission, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Phi Beta Kappa Society.
Trilateral Commission
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
,
United States
Phi Beta Kappa Society
,
United States
Personality
Kissinger was a Machiavellian figure, skilled at manipulating people around him and currying favor in the media. At one point he admitted allowing secret wiretapping of his own aides' conversations. The aura of Kissinger's influence was due partly to a cultivated image of high intelligence, including a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Harvard University. He has been called "the only European-style realist" to head United States foreign policy.
Quotes from others about the person
"Henry Kissinger is possessed of a truly superior intelligence, in addition to which he has two qualities which, unfortunately, many great men lack: he is able to listen and he has a very subtle sense of humour." - Muhammad Reza Pahlav
"Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize." - Tom Lehrer
Interests
Politicians
Klemens von Metternich
Writers
Brian Glanville
Sport & Clubs
soccer, SpVgg Greuther Fürth
Connections
Henry Kissinger married Ann Fleischer in 1949 and was divorced in 1964. There were two children from this marriage, Elizabeth and David. In 1974, he married Nancy Maginnes.