Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has died at the age of 100, it was announced on Wednesday evening.
Kissinger, the foreign policy giant during the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, has died at his home in Connecticut, his consulting firm said.
In a statement, Kissinger Associates said: “Henry Kissinger, a distinguished American scholar and statesman, died today at his home in Connecticut.”
Although he was over 100 years old, he still attended White House meetings, published a book on leadership, and testified before a Senate committee about the nuclear threat from North Korea.
In July 2023, he made a surprise visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has died at the age of 100, it was announced on Wednesday evening
Vice presidential candidate Gerald R. Ford (right) listens as President Richard Nixon speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Saturday, October 13, 1973. Kissinger is pictured on the left
Kissinger, who was a foreign policy giant during the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, has died at his home in Connecticut, his consulting firm said
In the 1970s, as Secretary of State under Republican President Richard Nixon, he was involved in many of the decade’s landmark global events.
The German-born Jewish refugee’s efforts led to China’s diplomatic opening, groundbreaking arms control talks between the United States and the Soviet Union, expanded relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and the Paris Peace Accords with North Vietnam.
Kissinger’s reign as the chief architect of U.S. foreign policy ended with Nixon’s resignation in 1974.
Still, he continued to be a diplomatic force under President Gerald Ford and held strong opinions for the rest of his life – and continued to be active in politics after his 100th birthday in May of this year.
Kissinger was praised for his brilliance and extensive experience during his diplomatic years. In his final years, his travels were restricted by attempts by other nations to question him about past U.S. foreign policy.
Kissinger divorced his first wife, Ann Fleischer, in 1964 before marrying Nancy Maginnes, an adviser to New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, in 1974.
He had two children with his first wife.
The German-born Jewish refugee’s efforts led to China’s diplomatic opening, groundbreaking arms control talks between the United States and the Soviet Union, expanded relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and the Paris Peace Accords with North Vietnam
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger speaks during a meeting following the assassinations of Ambassador Francis E. Meloy Jr. and Economic Adviser Robert O. Waring in Beirut at the White House in Washington DC, USA, June 17, 1976
President Donald Trump meets with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Oval Office of the White House on May 10, 2017
President Gerald Ford and Henry Kissinger confer on the train before a summit with Soviet leaders in Vladivostok, Russia, November 23, 1974
Henry Kissinger waves during the 20th anniversary celebration of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies (HNC) at Nanjing University June 23, 2007
Kissinger won the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize with North Vietnam’s Le Duc Tho – but it was one of the most controversial in the award’s history.
They were chosen because of their work on the Paris peace talks, which sought to agree on the withdrawal of US troops, a ceasefire and the preservation of the South Vietnamese government.
Two members of the Nobel Committee resigned over the election and Tho declined the prize, saying their work had not yet brought peace.
In addition to his role as national security adviser, Kissinger was named secretary of state in 1973, giving him unchallenged authority in foreign affairs.
A worsening Arab-Israeli conflict led Kissinger to undertake his first so-called “Shuttle” mission, the kind of highly personal, high-pressure diplomacy for which he became famous.
Thirty-two days commuting between Jerusalem and Damascus helped Kissinger forge a long-term disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
To reduce Soviet influence, Kissinger turned to his main communist rival, China, and made two trips there, including a secret one to meet with Prime Minister Zhou Enlai.
The result was Nixon’s historic summit in Beijing with Chairman Mao Zedong and the eventual formalization of relations between the two countries.
US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger accepts food from Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai during a state banquet at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing
Princess Diana is greeted by Henry Kissinger as she arrives at a charity gala in New York on December 11, 1995
President Barack Obama speaks with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during a meeting on the New START Treaty
He was born Heinz Alfred Kissinger in May 1923 and moved to the United States with his family in 1938 before the Nazis exterminated Europe’s Jews.
Kissinger changed his name to Henry and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1943.
The Kissingers settled in Washington Heights on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and he enrolled in the local public high school.
He served in the Army in Europe during World War II and attended Harvard University on a scholarship, where he earned a master’s degree in 1952 and a doctorate in 1954.
He was on the Harvard faculty for the next 17 years.
Kissinger last worked in a presidential administration in 1977, but maintained a relationship with George W. Bush. The then-president appointed Kissinger to head a commission to investigate the attacks of September 11, 2001, but resigned because he would not reveal the names of his consulting firm’s clients.