The former US Secretary of State from 1973 to 1977 died at the age of 100 in Connecticut in the eastern United States.
Henry Kissinger, a major figure in American diplomacy with some controversial facets who was secretary of state under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, has died at the age of 100, his organization announced in a press release on Wednesday.
Henry Kissinger, a key player in world diplomacy during the Cold War, “died today at his home in Connecticut,” the same source said.
This small man with a gravelly voice and a strong German accent is a sign of the aura and influence of the man who led the foreign policy of Presidents Nixon and Ford and, despite his advanced age, was until recently consulted by the entire political class by heads of state around the world or receive for conferences.
“American Realpolitik”
Most recent example: In July, he traveled to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, who praised a “legendary diplomat” for facilitating rapprochement between China and the United States in the 1970s.
No one had more influence on American foreign policy in the second half of the 20th century than this formidable negotiator, who was as sensitive as he was authoritarian.
As a pragmatic initiator of “American realpolitik” and a true “hawk,” Henry Kissinger is one of those complex characters who attract admiration or hatred.
National Socialism had a profound impact on the young German Jew Heinz Alfred Kissinger, born on May 27, 1923 in Fürth, Bavaria, who had to flee to the USA with his family at the age of 15. The son of a school teacher, who was naturalized as an American at the age of 20, joined military counterintelligence and the American army, which he followed to Europe as a German interpreter.
After World War II, wanting to resume his studies, he went to Harvard, where he earned a degree in international relations before teaching there and becoming one of its directors. At this time, Democratic Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson began regularly following the advice of this brilliant and ambitious professor.
But the man with the thick glasses established himself as the face of world diplomacy when Republican Richard Nixon appointed him to the White House in 1969 as national security adviser and then as secretary of state – he held both positions from 1973 to 1975 and remained at the State Department under Gerald until 1977 Ford.
At this point, during secret trips to organize Nixon’s historic visit to Beijing in 1972, he initiated an American “realpolitik” by initiating détente with the Soviet Union and a thawing of relations with Mao’s China.
He also led negotiations with Le Duc Tho to end the Vietnam War, always in the greatest secrecy and parallel to the bombings on Hanoi.
His critics consider him a war criminal
The signing of a ceasefire won him the Nobel Peace Prize with North Vietnam in 1973. But Duc Tho declined the award, one of the most controversial in the history of the Nobel Prize. On the contrary: Kissinger’s critics have long called for him to be brought to justice for war crimes.
They denounce the more sulphurous and less open aspect of his foreign policy, particularly his involvement in the massive bombings in Cambodia or his support for Indonesian President Suharto, whose invasion of East Timor in 1975 resulted in 200,000 deaths.
But it is the CIA’s role in Latin America, often under its direct leadership, that has tarnished its image, beginning with the 1973 coup in Chile that brought Augusto Pinochet to power after the death of Salvador Allende. Over the years, the archives have revealed the contours and extent of the “Condor Plan” to eliminate opponents of the South American dictatorships of the 1970s and 80s.
Despite these episodes, the author of 2014’s “The Order of the World”, father of two children and married to the philanthropist Nancy Maginnes since 1974, has always remained influential.
In January 2023, he advocated continued support for Ukraine, which he said should join NATO.