Henry Kissinger

Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat, political scientist, and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 7th national security advisor from 1969 to 1975 and as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977, working under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

Born in Germany, Kissinger moved to the United States in 1938 as a Jewish refugee fleeing Nazi persecution. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and later attended Harvard University, where he became a professor and an expert on nuclear weapons and foreign policy.

As a diplomat, Kissinger followed a practical approach called Realpolitik. He helped open relations with China, worked to end the Yom Kippur War through "shuttle diplomacy", and negotiated the Paris Peace Accords to end American involvement in the Vietnam War. For his work on the accords, he received the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize. After leaving government, Kissinger wrote many books on diplomatic history and international relations and gave advice to American presidents from both major political parties.

Early life and education

Henry Kissinger was born Heinz Alfred Kissinger on May 27, 1923, in Fürth, Bavaria, Weimar Germany. His parents were Paula Stern and Louis Kissinger, and he had a younger brother named Walter. The Kissinger family was German-Jewish. In 1933, when Henry was nine, Adolf Hitler became the leader of Germany. This made life very hard for Jewish families like Kissinger’s. Henry and his friends were often harassed and beaten. Because of unfair laws against Jewish people, Henry could not go to a special high school, and his father lost his teaching job.

In 1938, when Henry was 15, his family left Germany to escape danger. They first stopped in London before moving to New York City in September. Henry spent his high school years in Washington Heights, Manhattan. Even though he adjusted to life in America quickly, he kept a strong German accent because he felt shy about speaking. After his first year of high school, he worked in a factory during the day and went to school at night.

Henry studied accounting at the City College of New York while still working. His studies stopped in early 1943 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He became a U.S. citizen while stationed in South Carolina. During World War II, he served in Europe. Because he spoke German well, he was assigned to important tasks, including helping to set up a civilian government in a German city after the war. His experiences during the war and growing up in Nazi Germany shaped his views on international relations later in life.

Academic career

Portrait of Kissinger as a Harvard senior in 1950

Henry Kissinger studied political science at Harvard College, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree with top honors in 1950. He later completed a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy at Harvard University in 1951 and 1954. While still a student, Kissinger worked as a consultant and started a magazine called Confluence.

Kissinger’s doctoral dissertation focused on peace and international agreements among major powers. He taught at Harvard and directed the Harvard International Seminar for many years. He also wrote books about foreign policy and nuclear weapons. Later, he advised several government agencies and became a foreign policy advisor for political campaigns, eventually becoming a key advisor to President Nixon.

Foreign policy

Kissinger served as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State under President Richard Nixon and continued as Secretary of State under Nixon's successor Gerald Ford. With the death of George Shultz in February 2021, Kissinger was the last surviving member of the Nixon administration Cabinet.

The relationship between Nixon and Kissinger was unusually close, and has been compared to the relationships of Woodrow Wilson and Colonel House, or Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Hopkins. In all three cases, the State Department was relegated to a backseat role in developing foreign policy. Kissinger and Nixon shared a penchant for secrecy and conducted numerous "backchannel" negotiations, such as that through the Soviet Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Dobrynin, that excluded State Department experts.

A proponent of Realpolitik, Kissinger played a dominant role in United States foreign policy between 1969 and 1977. In that period, he extended the policy of détente. This policy led to a significant relaxation in U.S.–Soviet tensions and played a crucial role in 1971 talks with the People's Republic of China premier Zhou Enlai. The talks concluded with a rapprochement between the United States and China, and the formation of a new strategic anti-Soviet Sino-American alignment. He was jointly awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize with Lê Đức Thọ for helping to establish a ceasefire and U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam.

Détente and opening to the People's Republic of China

Vietnam War

Kissinger discussed being involved in Indochina prior to his appointment as National Security Adviser to Nixon. According to Kissinger, his friend Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., the Ambassador to Saigon, employed Kissinger as a consultant, leading to Kissinger visiting Vietnam once in 1965 and twice in 1966, where Kissinger realized that the United States "knew neither how to win or how to conclude" the Vietnam War. Kissinger also stated that in 1967, he served as an intermediary for negotiations between the United States and North Vietnam, with Kissinger providing the American position, while two Frenchmen provided the North Vietnamese position.

When he came into office in 1969, Kissinger favored a negotiating strategy under which the United States and North Vietnam would sign an armistice and agreed to pull their troops out of South Vietnam while the South Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were to agree to a coalition government. Kissinger had doubts about Nixon's theory of "linkage", believing that this would give the Soviet Union leverage over the United States and unlike Nixon was less concerned about the ultimate fate of South Vietnam. Though Kissinger did not regard South Vietnam as important in its own right, he believed it was necessary to support South Vietnam to maintain the United States as a global power, believing that none of America's allies would trust the United States if South Vietnam were abandoned too quickly.

In early 1969, Kissinger was opposed to the plans for Operation Menu, the bombing of Cambodia, fearing that Nixon was acting rashly with no plans for the diplomatic fall-out, but on March 16, 1969, Nixon announced the bombing would start the next day. As he saw the president was committed, he became more supportive. Kissinger played a key role in bombing Cambodia to disrupt raids into South Vietnam from Cambodia, as well as the 1970 Cambodian campaign and subsequent widespread bombing of Khmer Rouge targets in Cambodia.

Kissinger being sworn in as Secretary of State by Chief Justice Warren Burger, September 22, 1973. Kissinger's mother, Paula, holds the Bible as President Nixon looks on.

The Paris peace talks had become stalemated by late 1969 owing to the obstructionism of the South Vietnamese delegation. The South Vietnamese president Nguyễn Văn Thiệu did not want the United States to withdraw from Vietnam, and out of frustration with him, Kissinger began secret peace talks with Le Duc Thọ in Paris parallel to the official talks that the South Vietnamese were unaware of. In June 1971, Kissinger supported Nixon's effort to ban the Pentagon Papers saying the "hemorrhage of state secrets" to the media was making diplomacy impossible.

On August 1, 1972, Kissinger met Thọ again in Paris, and for first time, he seemed willing to compromise, saying that political and military terms of an armistice could be treated separately and hinted that his government was no longer willing to make the overthrow of Thiệu a precondition. On the evening of October 8, 1972, at a secret meeting of Kissinger and Thọ in Paris came the decisive breakthrough in the talks. Thọ began with "a very realistic and very simple proposal" for a ceasefire that would see the Americans pull all their forces out of Vietnam in exchange for the release of all the POWs in North Vietnam. Kissinger accepted Thọ's offer as the best deal possible, saying that the "mutual withdrawal formula" had to be abandoned as it had been "unobtainable through ten years of war ... We could not make it a condition for a final settlement. We had long passed that threshold". In the fall of 1972, both Kissinger and Nixon were frustrated with Thiệu's refusal to accept any sort of peace deal calling for withdrawal of American forces. On October 21 Kissinger and the American ambassador Ellsworth Bunker arrived in Saigon to show Thiệu the peace agreement. Thiệu refused to sign the peace agreement and demanded very extensive amendments that Kissinger reported to Nixon "verge on insanity".

Though Nixon had initially supported Kissinger against Thiệu, H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman urged him to reconsider, arguing that Thiệu's objections had merit. Nixon wanted 69 amendments to the draft peace agreement included in the final treaty and ordered Kissinger back to Paris to force Thọ to accept them. Kissinger regarded Nixon's 69 amendments as "preposterous" as he knew Thọ would never accept them. As expected, Thọ refused to consider any of the 69 amendments, and on December 13, 1972, left Paris for Hanoi. Kissinger by this stage was worked up into a state of fury after Thọ walked out of the Paris talks and told Nixon: "They're just a bunch of shits. Tawdry, filthy shits".

On January 8, 1973, Kissinger and Thọ met again in Paris and the next day reached an agreement, which in main points was essentially the same as the one Nixon had rejected in October with only cosmetic concessions to the Americans. Thiệu once again rejected the peace agreement, only to receive an ultimatum from Nixon which caused Thiệu to reluctantly accept the peace agreement. On January 27, 1973, Kissinger and Thọ signed a peace agreement that called for the complete withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Vietnam by March in exchange for North Vietnam freeing all the U.S. POWs. Along with Thọ, Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1973, for their work in negotiating the ceasefires contained in the Paris Peace Accords on "Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam", signed the previous January.

By the summer of 1974, the U.S. embassy reported that morale in the ARVN had fallen to dangerously low levels and it was uncertain how much longer South Vietnam would last. In August 1974, the U.S. Congress passed a bill limiting American aid to South Vietnam to $700 million annually. By November 1974, Kissinger lobbied Leonid Brezhnev to end Soviet military aid to North Vietnam. The same month, he also lobbied Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai to end Chinese military aid to North Vietnam. On April 15, 1975, Kissinger testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee, urging Congress to increase the military aid budget to South Vietnam by another $700 million to save the ARVN as the PAVN was rapidly advancing on Saigon, which was refused. Kissinger maintained at the time, and until his death, that if only Congress had approved of his request for another $700 million South Vietnam would have been able to resist.

Interview with Oriana Fallaci

On November 4, 1972, Kissinger agreed to an interview with Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci. Kissinger, who rarely engaged in one-on-one interviews with the press and knew very little about Fallaci, accepted her request after reportedly being impressed with her 1969 interview with Võ Nguyên Giáp. The interview turned out to be a political and public relations disaster for Kissinger as he agreed that Vietnam was a "useless war", implied that he preferred to have dinner with Lê Đức Thọ over Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (in her 1976 book Interview with History, Fallaci recalled that Kissinger agreed with many of her negative sentiments towards Thiệu in a private discussion before the interview), and engaged in a now infamous exchange with the hard-pressing Fallaci, with Kissinger comparing himself to a cowboy leading the Nixon administration:

Fallaci: I suppose that at the root of everything there's your success. I mean, like a chess player, you've made two or three good moves. China, first of all. People like chess players who checkmate the king.
Kissinger: Yes, China has been a very important element in the mechanics of my success. And yet that's not the main point. The main point. ... Well, yes, I'll tell you. What do I care? The main point arises from the fact that I've always acted alone. Americans like that immensely. Americans like the cowboy who leads the wagon train by riding ahead alone on his horse, the cowboy who rides all alone into the town, the village, with his horse and nothing else. Maybe even without a pistol, since he doesn't shoot. He acts, that's all, by being in the right place at the right time. In short, a Western.
Fallaci: I see. You see yourself as a kind of Henry Fonda, unarmed and ready to fight with his fists for honest ideals. Alone, courageous ...
Kissinger: Not necessarily courageous. In fact, this cowboy doesn't have to be courageous. All he needs is to be alone, to show others that he rides into the town and does everything by himself. This amazing, romantic character suits me precisely because to be alone has always been part of my style or, if you like, my technique. Together with independence. Oh, that's very important in me and for me. And finally, conviction. I've always been convinced that I had to do whatever I've done. And people feel it, and believe in it. And I care about the fact that they believe in me when you sway or convince somebody, you shouldn't confuse them. Nor can you even simply calculate. Some people think that I carefully plan what are to be the consequences, for the public, of any of my initiatives or efforts. They think this preoccupation is always on my mind. Instead the consequences of what I do, I mean the public's judgment, have never bothered me. I don't ask for popularity, I'm not looking for popularity. On the contrary, if you really want to know, I care nothing about popularity. I'm not at all afraid of losing my public; I can allow myself to say what I think. I'm referring to what's genuine in me. If I were to let myself be disturbed by the reactions of the public, if I were to act solely on the basis of a calculated technique, I would accomplish nothing.

Nixon was enraged by the interview, in particular the comedic "cowboy" comparison which infuriated Nixon. For several weeks afterwards, he refused to see Kissinger and even contemplated firing him. At one point, Kissinger, in desperation, drove up unannounced to Nixon's San Clemente residence but was rejected by Secret Service personnel at the gates. Kissinger later claimed that it was "the single most disastrous conversation I have ever had with any member of the press". Fallaci described the interview with the evasive, monotonous, non-expressive Kissinger as the most uncomfortable and most difficult she ever did, criticizing Kissinger as a "intellectual adventurer" and a self-styled Metternich.

Bangladesh Liberation War

Further information: Bangladesh Liberation War, 1971 Bangladesh genocide, and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Nixon supported Pakistani dictator Yahya Khan in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Kissinger sneered at people who "bleed" for "the dying Bengalis" and ignored the first telegram from the U.S. consul general in East Pakistan, Archer K. Blood, and 20 members of his staff, which informed the U.S. that their allies West Pakistan were undertaking, in Blood's words, "a selective genocide" targeting the Bengali intelligentsia, supporters of independence for East Pakistan, and the Hindu minority. In the second, more famous, Blood Telegram the word 'genocide' was again used to describe the events, and further that with its continuing support for West Pakistan the U.S. government had "evidenced ... moral bankruptcy". As a direct response to the dissent against U.S. policy, Kissinger and Nixon ended Archer Blood's tenure as United States consul general in East Pakistan and put him to work in the State Department's Personnel Office. Christopher Clary argues that Nixon and Kissinger were unconsciously biased, leading them to overestimate the likelihood of Pakistani victory against Bengali rebels.

Kissinger was particularly concerned about the expansion of Soviet influence in the Indian subcontinent as a result of a treaty of friendship recently signed by India and the Soviet Union, and sought to demonstrate to China (Pakistan's ally and an enemy of both India and the Soviet Union) the value of a tacit alliance with the United States.

Europe

As National Security Adviser under Nixon, Kissinger pioneered the policy of détente with the Soviet Union, seeking a relaxation in tensions between the two superpowers. As a part of this strategy, he negotiated the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (culminating in the SALT I treaty) and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party. Negotiations about strategic disarmament were originally supposed to start under the Lyndon Johnson administration but were postponed in protest upon the invasion by Warsaw Pact troops of Czechoslovakia in August 1968.

Nixon felt his administration had neglected relations with the Western European states in his first term and in September 1972 decided that if he was reelected that 1973 would be the "Year of Europe" as the United States would focus on relations with the states of the European Economic Community (EEC) which had emerged as a serious economic rival by 1970. Applying his favorite "linkage" concept, Nixon intended henceforward economic relations with Europe would not be severed from security relations, and if the EEC states wanted changes in American tariff and monetary policies, the price would be defense spending on their part. Kissinger in particular as part of the "Year of Europe" wanted to "revitalize" NATO, which he called a "decaying" alliance as he believed that there was nothing at present to stop the Red Army from overrunning Western Europe in a conventional forces conflict. The "linkage" concept more applied to the question of security as Kissinger noted that the United States was going to sacrifice NATO for the sake of "citrus fruits".

Israeli policy and Soviet Jewry

Kissinger, shown here with Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong, negotiated rapprochement with China.

According to notes taken by H. R. Haldeman, Nixon "ordered his aides to exclude all Jewish-Americans from policy-making on Israel", including Kissinger. One note quotes Nixon as saying "get K. [Kissinger] out of the play—Haig handle it".

In 1973, Kissinger did not feel that pressing the Soviet Union concerning the plight of Jews being persecuted there was in the interest of U.S. foreign policy.

Arab–Israeli conflict

Main article: Yom Kippur War

In September 1973, Nixon fired William P. Rogers as Secretary of State and replaced him with Kissinger. He would later state he had not been given enough time to know the Middle East as he settled into the State Department. Kissinger later admitted that he was so engrossed with the Paris peace talks to end the Vietnam war that he and others in Washington missed the significance of the Egyptian-Saudi alliance. Egyptian president Anwar Sadat expelled Soviet advisors from Egypt in May 1972, attempting to signal to the U.S. that he was open to disentangling Egypt from the Soviet sphere of influence; Kissinger offered secret talks on a settlement for the Middle East, though nothing came of the offer. By March 1973, Sadat had moved back towards the Soviets, closing the largest arms package between Egypt and the Soviet Union and allowing for the return of Soviet military personnel and advisors to Egypt.

On October 6, 1973, at 6:15 am, assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs Joseph Sisco, informed Kissinger that Egypt and Syria were about to go to war with Israel. Sisco had been warned by U.S. ambassador to Israel, Kenneth Keating, who two hours previously had been urgently summoned by Israel's Prime Minister Golda Meir who believed conflict was imminent. Prioritising détente, Kissinger's first phone call (at 6:40 am) was to Soviet ambassador and good friend Anatoly Dobrynin. He would later make calls to British ambassador Rowland Baring and the U.N. secretary-general Kurt Waldheim. Kissinger did not inform President Richard Nixon or White House chief of staff Alexander Haig about the start of the Yom Kippur War until either 8:35 or 9:25 am. as both were spending the weekend at Key Biscayne discussing Spiro Agnew's imminent resignation. According to Kissinger his urgent calls to the Soviets and Egyptians were ineffective.

On October 12, under Nixon's direction, and against Kissinger's initial advice, while Kissinger was on his way to Moscow to discuss conditions for a cease-fire, Nixon sent a message to Brezhnev giving Kissinger full negotiating authority. Kissinger wanted to stall a ceasefire to gain more time for Israel to push across the Suez Canal to the African side, and wanted to be perceived as a mere presidential emissary who needed to consult the White House all the time as a stalling tactic.

Kissinger promised the Israeli prime minister Golda Meir that the United States would replace its losses in equipment after the war, but sought initially to delay arms shipments to Israel, as he believed it would improve the odds of making peace along the lines of United Nations Security Council Resolution 242. In 1973, Meir requested $850 million worth of American arms and equipment to replace its materiel losses. Nixon instead sent some $2 billion worth. The arms lift enraged King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, and he retaliated on October 20, 1973, by placing a total embargo on oil shipments to the United States, to be joined by all of the other oil-producing Arab states except Iraq and Libya.

On November 7, 1973, Kissinger flew to Riyadh to meet King Faisal and to ask him to end the oil embargo in exchange for promising to be "even handed" in the Arab-Israeli dispute. Despite Kissinger's efforts to charm him, Faisal refused to lift the oil embargo. Only on March 19, 1974, did the King end the oil embargo, after Sadat reported to him that the United States was being more "even handed" and after Kissinger had promised to sell Saudi Arabia weapons that it had previously denied under the grounds that they might be used against Israel.

Kissinger pressured the Israelis to cede some of the newly captured land back to its Arab neighbors, contributing to the first phases of Israeli–Egyptian non-aggression. In 1973–1974, Kissinger engaged in "shuttle diplomacy" flying between Tel Aviv, Cairo, and Damascus in a bid to make the armistice the basis of a permanent peace. Kissinger's first meeting with Hafez al-Assad lasted 6 hours and 30 minutes, causing the press to believe for a moment that he had been kidnapped by the Syrians. In his memoirs, Kissinger described how, during the course of his 28 meetings in Damascus in 1973–74, Assad "negotiated tenaciously and daringly like a riverboat gambler to make sure he had exacted the last sliver of available concessions". As for the others Kissinger negotiated with, Kissinger viewed the Israeli politicians as rigid, while he had a good relationship and was able to develop a sense of assurance with Sadat. Kissinger's efforts resulted in two ceasefires between Egypt and Israel, Sinai I in January 1974, and Sinai II in September 1975.

Kissinger had avoided involving France and the United Kingdom, the former European colonial powers of the Middle East, in the peace negotiations that followed the Yom Kippur War, being primarily focused on minimizing the Soviet Union's sway over the peace negotiations and on moderating the international influences on the Arab-Israeli conflict. President Pompidou of France was concerned and perturbed by this development, viewing it as an indication of the United States' ambitions of hegemonically domineering the region.

Persian Gulf

A major concern for Kissinger was the possibility of Soviet influence in the Persian Gulf. In April 1969, Iraq came into conflict with Iran when Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi renounced the 1937 treaty governing the Shatt-al-Arab river. On December 1, 1971, after two years of skirmishes along the border, President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr broke off diplomatic relations with Iran. In May 1972, Nixon and Kissinger visited Tehran to tell the Shah that there would be no "second-guessing of his requests" to buy American weapons. At the same time, Nixon and Kissinger agreed to a plan of the Shah's that the United States together with Iran and Israel would support the Kurdish peshmerga guerrillas fighting for independence from Iraq. Kissinger later wrote that after Vietnam, there was no possibility of deploying American forces in the Middle East, and henceforward Iran was to act as America's surrogate in the Persian Gulf. Kissinger described the Ba'athist regime in Iraq as a potential threat to the United States and believed that building up Iran and supporting the peshmerga was the best counterweight.

Turkish invasion of Cyprus

Latin American policy

In 1970, Kissinger parroted to Nixon the United States Department of Defense's position that the country should maintain control over the Panama Canal, which was a reversal of the commitment by the Lyndon Johnson administration. Later, in the face of international pressure, Kissinger changed his stance, viewing the past hardline position in the Panama Canal issue as a hindrance to American relations with Latin America and an international setback that the Soviet Union would approve of. Kissinger in 1973 called for "new dialogue" between the United States and Latin America, then in 1974, Kissinger met Panama military leader Omar Torrijos and an agreement on eight operating principles for an eventual handover of the Panama Canal to Panama was made between Kissinger and Panamanian foreign minister Juan Antonio Tack, which angered the United States Congress, but ultimately provided a framework for the 1977 U.S.–Panama treaties.

Cuba

Intervention in Bolivia

Main article: 1971 Bolivian coup d'état

Following the uprising of October 7, 1970, General Juan José Torres came to power in Bolivia, forming a left-wing nationalist government with an "anti-imperialist" stance. His policies, which included the nationalization of some American-owned property, led to the U.S. exerting external pressure over his government.

On June 11, 1971, Nixon and Kissinger discussed the possibility of supporting a coup in Bolivia, and later in July, the 40 Committee approved covert funding towards Torres's opposition. Torres was successfully overthrown by the Nationalist Popular Front, led by Hugo Banzer, on August 21, 1971.

Intervention in Chile

Main article: 1973 Chilean coup d'état

President Ford, General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, and Kissinger speaking informally at the Vladivostok Summit in 1974

Chilean Socialist Party presidential candidate Salvador Allende was elected in 1970, causing serious concern in Washington, D.C., due to his socialist and pro-Cuban politics. The Nixon administration, with Kissinger's input, authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to encourage a military coup that would prevent Allende's inauguration, but the plan was not successful.^: 115 ^: 495 ^: 177 Prior to Allende's election Kissinger had said that "I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go Communist because of the irresponsibility of its own people".

On September 11, 1973, Allende died during an army attack on the presidential palace that was an element of a military coup launched by Army Commander-in-Chief Augusto Pinochet, who then became the head of the military junta which replaced Allende.

Argentina

Brazil's nuclear weapons program

Kissinger was in favor of accommodating Brazil while it pursued a nuclear weapons program in the 1970s. Kissinger justified his position by arguing that Brazil was a U.S. ally and on the grounds that it would benefit private nuclear industry actors in the U.S. Kissinger's position on Brazil was out of sync with influential voices in the U.S. Congress, the State Department, and the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

Rhodesia

In September 1976, Kissinger was actively involved in negotiations regarding the Rhodesian Bush War. Kissinger, along with South Africa's prime minister John Vorster, pressured Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith to hasten the transition to black majority rule in Rhodesia. With FRELIMO in control of Mozambique and even the apartheid regime of South Africa reducing its support, Rhodesia's isolation was nearly complete. According to Smith's autobiography, Kissinger told Smith of Mrs. Kissinger's admiration for him, but Smith stated that he thought Kissinger was asking him to sign Rhodesia's "death certificate". Kissinger, bringing the weight of the United States, and corralling other relevant parties to put pressure on Rhodesia, hastened the end of white minority rule.^{[better source needed]}

Portuguese Empire

In contrast to the unfriendly disposition of the previous Kennedy and Johnson administrations towards the Estado Novo regime of Portugal, particularly with regards to its attempts to maintain the Portuguese Colonial Empire by waging the Portuguese Colonial War against anti-colonial rebellions in defense of its empire, the Department of State under Kissinger adopted a more conciliatory attitude towards Portugal. In 1971, the administration of President Nixon successfully renewed the lease of the American military base in the Azores, despite condemnation from the Congressional Black Caucus and some members of the Senate. Though privately continuing to view Portugal contemptibly for its perceived atavistic foreign policy towards Africa, Kissinger publicly expressed thanks for Portugal's agreement to use its military base in Lajes in the Azores to resupply Israel in the Yom Kippur War. Following the fall of the far-right Portuguese regime in 1974, Kissinger worried that the new government's hasty decolonization plan might benefit radical factions such as the MPLA in Angola. He also expressed concern that the inclusion of the Portuguese Communist Party in the new Portuguese government could legitimize communist parties in other NATO member states, such as Italy.

East Timor

Main article: Indonesian occupation of East Timor

The Portuguese decolonization process brought U.S. attention to the former Portuguese colony of East Timor, which declared its independence in 1975. Indonesian president Suharto regarded East Timor as rightfully part of Indonesia. In December 1975, Suharto discussed invasion plans during a meeting with Kissinger and President Ford in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. Both Ford and Kissinger made clear that U.S. relations with Indonesia would remain strong and that it would not object to the proposed annexation. They only wanted it done "fast" and proposed that it be delayed until after they had returned to Washington. Accordingly, Suharto delayed the operation for one day. Finally on December 7, Indonesian forces invaded the former Portuguese colony. U.S. arms sales to Indonesia continued, and Suharto went ahead with the annexation plan. According to Ben Kiernan, the invasion and occupation resulted in the deaths of nearly a quarter of the Timorese population from 1975 to 1981.

Western Sahara

The Kissingerian doctrine endorsed the forced concession of Spanish Sahara to Morocco. At the height of the 1975 Sahara crisis, Kissinger misled Gerald Ford into thinking the International Court of Justice had ruled in favor of Morocco. Kissinger was aware in advance of the Moroccan plans for the invasion of the territory, materialized on November 6, 1975, in the so-called Green March.

Zaire

Kissinger was involved in furthering cooperation between the U.S. and the Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and held multiple meetings with him. Kissinger later described these efforts as "one of our policy successes in Africa" and praised Mobutu as "courageous, politically astute" and "relatively honest in a country where governmental corruption is a way of life".

Later roles

After Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 because of the Watergate scandal, Henry Kissinger kept his jobs as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the new president, Gerald Ford. However, his role became smaller when Brent Scowcroft took over as National Security Advisor in November 1975. Ford explained that he wanted Kissinger to focus only on being Secretary of State so there could be better advice from different people.

Kissinger meeting with President Ronald Reagan in the White House family quarters, 1981

After leaving office in 1977, Kissinger joined groups like the Trilateral Commission and kept working as a consultant, speaker, and writer. In 1982, he started his own consulting company, Kissinger Associates. He also worked with many important organizations and universities over the years.

In 2002, Kissinger was asked to help investigate the September 11 attacks but stepped down because of possible conflicts of interest. He continued to share his ideas on world issues, including peace efforts and international relations, until his passing in 2023.

Public perception

A 2014 survey of experts in international relations named Kissinger as the most successful Secretary of State in the 50 years before 2015. In 1972, a magazine noted that Kissinger often seemed suspicious and that his jokes about being overly careful felt a bit too true. He was often seen with famous movie stars, which led some to say he acted like someone trying too hard to be cool.

Historian Jeffrey Kimball suggested that Kissinger and President Nixon planned for South Vietnam to eventually fall, but hoped to delay it long enough to save face for the United States. Other historians have debated this idea, with some saying it was misunderstood. In discussions about Vietnam, Kissinger admitted that the peace agreement might not help South Vietnam much, but he denied planning for its defeat.

During the 2016 presidential race, Kissinger’s name came up. One candidate, Hillary Clinton, spoke highly of him, while another, Bernie Sanders, openly disagreed with her, stating he would not seek Kissinger’s advice.

In China, many remembered Kissinger fondly for his sharp understanding of global affairs.

Family and personal life

Henry Kissinger married Anneliese "Ann" Fleischer in 1949, and they had two children named Elizabeth and David before divorcing in 1964. Later, he married Nancy Maginnes in 1974. They lived in Kent, Connecticut, and New York City. Kissinger enjoyed soccer and helped grow the sport in the United States. He worked with famous players like Pelé and supported teams such as SpVgg Fürth and Bayern Munich.

Death

Henry Kissinger passed away from heart failure at his home in Kent, Connecticut, on November 29, 2023, at the age of 100. At the time of his death, he was the last remaining member of the U.S. Cabinet who served under President Richard Nixon. He is survived by his wife, Nancy, two children, and five grandchildren. His funeral was held privately, and he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Many leaders around the world shared their thoughts about Kissinger after his death. In China, he was highly respected for helping to start friendly relations between the United States and China. Leaders in Britain, Europe, Russia, and Israel also praised his work as a diplomat. However, some people criticized his decisions during his time in government.

Awards, honors, and associations

Henry Kissinger was given many awards for his work. In 1973, he and Lê Đức Thọ were offered the Nobel Peace Prize for helping end part of the Vietnam War, though Lê Đức Thọ did not accept it. Kissinger donated his prize money to charity and did not attend the ceremony. He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 from President Gerald Ford.

Kissinger was honored with many other awards, including the National Book Award in 1980 and the Medal of Liberty in 1986. He became an honorary member of groups such as the Harlem Globetrotters and the International Olympic Committee. He was also part of many important organizations and served on the board of some companies.

Notable works

Henry Kissinger wrote many books and articles about history, politics, and foreign policy. Some of his important works include:

In 1950, he completed his bachelor's thesis at Harvard University.
In 1957, he finished his PhD thesis.
He wrote memoirs titled The White House Years in 1979, Years of Upheaval in 1982, and Years of Renewal in 1999.
Some of his other books are Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy (1957), Diplomacy (1994), and On China (2011).