Henry Alfred Kissinger born Heinz Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat, politician, political scientist, and geopolitical consultant. He served as United States secretary of state and national security advisor in the presidential administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and played a prominent role in United States foreign policy between 1969 and 1977.
Easton Press Henry Kissinger books
Diplomacy - Signed Limited First Edition (2500 first edition copies) - 1994
Years of Upheaval - 2 volumes - 1996
The White House Years - Signed Limted Editions (2 volumes) - 1996
Years of Renewal - Signed Limited Edition (2500 copies) - 1999
Does America Need a Foreign Policy? - Signed Limited Edition (1500 copies) - 2001
Crisis - Signed Limited Edition - 2003
Ending the Vietnam War - Signed Limited Edition - 2003
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A proponent of Realpolitik, Kissinger played a dominant role in United States foreign policy between 1969 and 1977. During this period, he pioneered the policy of détente. He negotiated a settlement ending the war in Vietnam, but due to a combination of causes, the cease-fire proved unstable; no lasting peace resulted beyond the retreat of American troops.
In the Nixon and Ford administrations he cut a flamboyant figure, appearing at social occasions and seminars with many celebrities. He described himself as perhaps the only National Security Adviser to have a fan club. His foreign policy record made him a nemesis to the anti-war left and the anti-communist right alike (witness the Operation Condor section below).
Henry Kissinger biography
Kissinger was born Heinz Alfred Kissinger in Fürth, Bavaria, Germany, to Jewish parents Louis Kissinger (1887-1982), a schoolteacher, and Paula Stern (1901-1998). His surname was first taken by his great-great-grandfather, Meyer Löb, in 1817 after the city of Bad Kissingen. In 1938, fleeing Nazi persecution, his family moved to New York. Here he (or maybe his parents) changed his name to Henry because Heinz sounded too German. Kissinger was naturalized a U.S. citizen on June 19, 1943, while in military training at Camp Croft in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
He spent his high school years in the Washington Heights section of upper Manhattan, but never lost his pronounced German accent, perhaps due to childhood shyness which made him hesitant to speak. Henry Kissinger attended George Washington High School at night and worked in a shaving-brush factory during the day. While attending City College of New York, in 1943, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, trained at Clemson College in South Carolina, and became a German interpreter for the 970th Counter Intelligence Corps, with the rank of sergeant.
Henry Kissinger received his A.B. degree summa cum laude at Harvard College in 1950, where he studied under William Yandell Elliott. He received his A.M. and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard University in 1952 and 1954, respectively. In 1952, while still at Harvard, he served as a consultant to the Director of the Psychological Strategy Board. His doctoral dissertation was "Peace, Legitimacy, and the Equilibrium (A Study of the Statesmanship of Castlereagh and Metternich)."
Kissinger remained at Harvard as a member of the faculty in the Department of Government and at the Center for International Affairs. He became Associate Director of the latter in 1957. In 1955, he was a consultant to the National Security Council's Operations Coordinating Board. During 1955 and 1956, he was also Study Director in Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. He released his Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy the following year. From 1956 to 1958 he worked for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund as director of its Special Studies Project. He was Director of the Harvard Defense Studies Program between 1958 and 1971. He was also Director of the Harvard International Seminar between 1951 and 1971. Outside of academia, he served as a consultant to several government agencies, including the Operations Research Office, the Rand Corporation, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and the Department of State.
Keen to have a greater influence on American foreign policy, Kissinger became a supporter of, and advisor to, Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York, who sought the Republican nomination for President in 1960, 1964 and 1968. After Richard Nixon won the presidency in 1968, he made Kissinger National Security Advisor.
With his first wife, Ann Fleischer, he had two children, Elizabeth and David. Henry and Ann divorced in 1964. He married Nancy Maginnes in 1973. They live in Kent, Connecticut. He was the head of Kissinger Associates, a consulting firm.
He had triple coronary bypass heart surgery in May 1982.
He has a brother, Walter, who is one year younger.
Kissinger was a fan of the New York Yankees baseball team. A life long soccer fan, Kissinger was a supporter and honorary member of the German soccer club Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth from his hometown, where he was a member in his youth. During the 1970s, Kissinger was among the many celebrity fans of the New York Cosmos.
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.
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 Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. The talks concluded with a rapprochement between the United States and the People's Republic of China, and the formation of a new strategic anti-Soviet Sino-American alliance. He was awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for helping to establish a ceasefire and U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam. The ceasefire, however, was not durable.
Kissinger favored the maintenance of friendly diplomatic relationships with anti-Communist military dictatorships in the Southern Cone and elsewhere in Latin America.
Détente and the opening to China
As National Security Advisor 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 Johnson Administration but were postponed in protest to the invasion by Warsaw Pact troops of Czechoslovakia in August 1968.Kissinger sought to place diplomatic pressure on the Soviet Union. He made two trips to the People's Republic of China in July and October, 1971 (the first of which was made in secret) to confer with Premier Zhou Enlai, then in charge of Chinese foreign policy. This paved the way for the groundbreaking 1972 summit between Nixon, Zhou, and Communist Party of China Chairman Mao Zedong, as well as the formalization of relations between the two countries, ending 23 years of diplomatic isolation and mutual hostility. The result was the formation of a tacit strategic anti-Soviet alliance between China and the United States. While Kissinger's diplomacy led to economic and cultural exchanges between the two sides and the establishment of Liaison Offices in the Chinese and American capitals, with serious implications for Indochinese matters, full normalization of relations with the People's Republic of China would not occur until 1979, for reasons including the following: Watergate overshadowed the latter years of the Nixon presidency. Second, the United States also continued to recognize the Republic of China government on Taiwan. Nevertheless, the idea of opening to China is often cited as Kissinger's international masterstroke, and the ultimate reward for his faith in realpolitik.
Vietnam War
Kissinger's involvement in Indochina started prior to his appointment as National Security Adviser to Nixon. While still at Harvard he had worked as a consultant on foreign policy to both the White House and State Department and, in the summer of 1967, had acted as one of a series of intermediaries between Washington and Hanoi in a peace initiative. In the autumn of 1968, he used his contacts with the Johnson administration to tip off the Nixon camp about an anticipated breakthrough in the Paris talks, which Nixon feared could cost him the campaign.Nixon had been elected in 1968 on the promise of achieving "peace with honor" and ending the Vietnam War. In office, and assisted by Kissinger, Nixon implemented a policy of Vietnamization that aimed to gradually withdraw U.S. troops while expanding the combat role of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) so that it would be capable of independently defending South Vietnam against the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam and North Vietnamese army (Vietnam People's Army or PAVN). Kissinger played a key role in a secret American bombing campaign of Cambodia to target PAVN and Viet Cong units launching raids against South Vietnam from within Cambodia's borders and resupplying their forces by using the Ho Chi Minh trail and other routes, as well as the 1970 Cambodian Incursion and subsequent widespread bombing of Cambodia. Some argue that the bombing campaign inadvertently contributed to the chaos of the Cambodian Civil War, which saw the forces of dictator Lon Nol unable to retain foreign support to combat the growing Khmer Rouge insurgency that would overthrow him in 1975.
Kissinger was awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize along with North Vietnam diplomatic representative Le Duc Tho for their work in negotiating the ceasefires contained in the Paris Peace Accords on "Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam," even though the North Vietnamese quickly broke the terms of the agreement. The conflict would continue for two more years after the American withdrawal. Tho rejected the award, saying that peace had not been really restored in South Vietnam. Kissinger wrote to the Nobel Committee that he accepted the award "with humility" but, having recently been appointed Secretary of State, did not collect the award in person, citing pressure of work, and the U.S. Ambassador to Norway accepted it on his behalf. The conflict continued until an invasion of the South by North Vietnam resulted in a North Vietnamese victory in 1975 and the subsequent rise to power of Pathet Lao in Laos and the more independent Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
1971 Indo-Pakistan War
Under Kissinger's guidance, the United States supported Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. Kissinger was particularly concerned about Soviet expansion into South Asia as a result of a treaty of friendship recently signed by India and the Soviet Union, and sought to demonstrate to the People's Republic of China (Pakistan's ally and an enemy of both India and the Soviet Union) the value of a tacit alliance with the United States.In recent years, Kissinger has come under fire for private comments he made to Nixon during the Indo-Pakistan War in which he described then-Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as a "bitch." Kissinger has since expressed his regret over the comments.
1973 Yom Kippur War
In 1973, Kissinger negotiated the end to the Yom Kippur War, which had begun with an attack against Israel by Egyptian and Syrian forces. According to Kissinger, if Israel had initiated the war, they would not have received "so much as a nail" in aid from the United States.[citation needed] Kissinger has published lengthy and dramatic telephone transcripts of his activities during this period in the 2002 book Crisis. Under Nixon's direction, and against Kissinger's initial opposition, the U.S military conducted the largest military airlift in history. American action contributed to the 1973 OPEC embargo against the United States and its Western European allies, which was lifted in March 1974.Israel regained the territory it lost in the early fighting and gained new territories from Syria and Egypt, including land in Syria east of the previously captured Golan Heights, and additionally on the western bank of the Suez Canal, although they did lose some territory on the eastern side of the Suez Canal that had been in Israeli hands since the end of the Six Day War. Kissinger pressured the Israelis to cede some of the newly captured land back to the Arabs, contributing to the first phases of lasting Israeli-Egyptian peace. The move saw a warming in U.S.–Egyptian relations, bitter since the 1950s, as the country moved away from its former pro-Soviet stance and into a close partnership with the United States. The peace was finalized in 1978 when U.S. president Jimmy Carter mediated the Camp David Accords, during which Israel returned the Sinai in exchange for an Egyptian agreement to recognize Israeli statehood and end hostility.
1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus
In 1974 the junta which then ruled Greece staged an abortive coup against the president Archbishop Makarios III and Turkey launched an invasion "to restore constitutional order" on Cyprus.In a White House memorandum of a conversation from February 20, 1975, Kissinger said: “In all the world the things that hurt us the most are the CIA business and Turkey aid.” According to The Raw Story, the context and the time period suggests Kissinger had supported illegal financial and military aid to Turkey for the 1974 Cyprus invasion.
Latin American policy
The United States continued to recognize and maintain relationships with anti-Communist and non-Communist governments, democratic and authoritarian alike. John F. Kennedy's Alliance for Progress was ended in 1973. In 1974, negotiations about new settlement over Panama Canal started. They eventually led to Torrijos-Carter Treaties and handing the Canal over to Panamanian control.Kissinger initially supported the normalization of United States-Cuba relations, broken since 1961 (all U.S.–Cuban trade was blocked in February 1962, a few weeks after the exclusion of Cuba from the Organization of American States under U.S. pressure). However, he quickly changed his mind and followed Kennedy's policy. After Fidel Castro's involvement in the struggle in Angola and Mozambique, Kissinger made it clear that unless Cuba withdrew its forces relations would not be normalized.
Intervention in Chile
Chilean Socialist presidential candidate Salvador Allende was elected by a majority in 1970, causing serious concern in Washington due to his openly Marxist and pro-Cuban politics. The Nixon administration authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to instigate a military coup that would prevent Allende's inauguration and presumably call new elections, but the plan was not successful. The extent of Kissinger's involvement in or support of these plans is a subject of controversy.United States-Chile relations remained frosty during Salvador Allende's tenure; following the complete nationalization of the partially U.S.-owned copper mines and the Chilean subsidiary of the U.S.-based ITT Corporation, as well as other Chilean businesses. The U.S. implemented partial economic sanctions, claiming that the Chilean government had greatly undervalued fair compensation for the nationalization by subtracting what it deemed "excess profits." The CIA provided funding for the mass anti-government strikes in 1972 and 1973; during this period, Kissinger made several controversial statements regarding Chile's government, stating that "the issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves" and "I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go Communist due to the irresponsibility of its people." These remarks sparked outrage among many commentators, who considered them patronizing and disparaging of Chile's sovereignty.
In September 1973, Allende died during a military coup launched by Army Commander-in-Chief Augusto Pinochet, who became President. A document released by the CIA in 2000 titled "CIA Activities in Chile" revealed that the CIA actively supported the military junta after the overthrow of Allende and that it made many of Pinochet's officers into paid contacts of the CIA or U.S. military, even though some were known to be involved in human rights abuses, until Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter defeated President Gerald Ford in 1976 and implemented a tough stance against any state that violated human rights, regardless of its friendliness toward America.
Intervention in Argentina
Kissinger took a similar line as he had toward Chile when the Argentine military, led by Jorge Videla, toppled the democratic government of Isabel Perón in 1976 and consolidated power, launching brutal reprisals and "disappearances" against political opponents. During a meeting with Argentine foreign minister César Augusto Guzzetti, Kissinger assured him that the United States was an ally, but urged him to "get back to normal procedures" quickly before the U.S. Congress reconvened and had a chance to consider sanctions.Africa
In 1974 a leftist military coup overthrew the Caetano government in Portugal in the Carnation Revolution. The National Salvation Junta, the new government, quickly granted Portugal's colonies independence. Cuban troops in Angola supported the Marxist-Leninist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in its fight against anti-Communist UNITA and FNLA rebels during the Angolan Civil War (1975-2002). Kissinger supported UNITA, led by Jonas Savimbi, the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) insurgencies, as well as the CIA-supported invasion of Angola by South African troops. In 1976 South African troops withdrew due to U.S. Congressional opposition.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 South Africa withdrawing 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 minority-rule.
East Timor
The Portuguese decolonization process brought American attention to the former Portuguese colony of East Timor, which lies within the Indonesian archipelago and declared its independence in 1975. Indonesian president Suharto was a strong American ally in the South East Asia and began to mobilize his army, preparing to annex the nascent state, which had become increasingly dominated by the popular leftist and Chinese-supported FRETILIN party. In December 1975, Suharto discussed the 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. U.S. arms sales to Indonesia continued, and Suharto went ahead with the annexation plan, meeting resistance from the East Timorese. The Indonesian army responded with indiscriminate massacres; the 2005 report of the UN's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor reports a figure of at least 102,800 death during the occupation: 18,600 unlawful executions and 84,200 starvation deaths. The Indonesian government's annexation of East Timor as its 27th province was not accepted by the United Nations or the majority of countries.
Source and additional information: Henry Kissinger