Washington: Henry Kissinger, A diplomatic powerhouse whose role as national security adviser and secretary of state under two presidents left an indelible mark on US foreign policy and awarded him the controversial Nobel Peace Prize Achieved, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 100.
Kissinger died at his home in Connecticut, according to a statement from his geopolitical consulting firm, Kissinger Associates Inc. No mention was made of the situation.
It said they would be buried in a private family service, followed by a public memorial service in New York City at a later date.
Kissinger was active before his centenary, attending meetings in the White House, publishing a book on leadership style، And testified before a Senate committee about the nuclear threat posed by North Korea. In July 2023, he made a surprise visit to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Between the Cold War during the 1970s, Serving as National Security Adviser and Secretary of State under Republican President Richard Nixon, he was involved in many far-reaching global events of the decade.
US President Richard Nixon and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger speak on Air Force One during a trip to China on February 20, 1972. Reuters / Richard Nixon Presidential Library / Handout
US President Richard Nixon and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger speak on Air Force One during a trip to China on February 20, 1972. Reuters / Richard Nixon Presidential Library / Handout
US diplomatic launch with China as a result of efforts by German-born Jewish refugees, historic US-Soviet arms control talks، Relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors expanded, and the Paris Peace Agreement with North Vietnam.
With Nixon’s resignation in 1974 amid the Watergate scandal, Kissinger’s era as a key architect in US foreign policy came to an end. Nevertheless, he remained a diplomatic force as Secretary of State under Nixon’s successor, President Gerald Ford, and continued to offer strong opinions throughout his life.
While many praised Kissinger for his outstanding and extensive experience, others praised him for his anti-communist dictatorships، In Latin America in particular, he pleaded guilty to war crimes for his support. In its last years، His journey was limited by attempts by other nations to arrest or question past US foreign policy.
Its 1973 Peace Prize — was jointly awarded to Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam، Which would reject it — was one of the most controversial so far. Two members of the Nobel Committee resigned after questions arose about the US covert bombing of Cambodia.
Ford called Kissinger a “super secretary of state” but also noted his gait and self-confidence, which critics were more likely to call paranoia and egoism. Ford even said, “Henry never made a mistake in his mind.”
US President Gerald Ford, Nelson A. Rockefeller and Henry A. Kissinger stand around the Oval Office Desk before heading to Roosevelt Room for the National Security Council meeting on the situation in South Vietnam، In the White House in the United States, April 28, 1975. — Gerald R Ford Library / Handout by Reuters
US President Gerald Ford, Nelson A. Rockefeller and Henry A. Kissinger stand around the Oval Office Desk before heading to Roosevelt Room for the National Security Council meeting on the situation in South Vietnam، In the White House in the United States, April 28, 1975. — Gerald R Ford Library / Handout by Reuters
“He had the thinnest skin of any public figure I ever knew,” Ford said in an interview shortly before his death in 2006.
With his strong impressions and a gravel, German-speaking voice, Kissinger had a picture of both a full-fledged academic and a female man، Who used to run stars around Washington and New York in his bachelor days. He said the power was the ultimate aphrodisiac.
Speaking of policy, Kissinger was hesitant about personal matters، Although he once told a journalist that he sees himself as a shepherd hero, he goes alone.
Harvard Faculty
Heinz Alfred Kissinger was born on May 27, 1923, in Firth, Germany, and moved to the United States with his family in 1938 before the Nazi campaign to exterminate European Jews.
Making Henry his English name, Kissinger became a natural American citizen in 1943, serving in the army in Europe during World War II، And studied at Harvard University on a scholarship, earning a master’s degree in 1952 and a doctorate in 1954. He remained at Harvard faculty for the next 17 years.
For most of that time, Kissinger served as a consultant to government agencies، Including in 1967 when he served as mediator for the State Department in Vietnam. He used his contacts with President London Johnson’s administration to convey information about the peace talks to the Nixon camp.
When Nixon’s promise to end the Vietnam War helped him win the 1968 presidential election, he brought Kissinger to the White House as a national security adviser.
But the process of shifting the “Vietnameseization” — war load from 500,000 troops to South Vietnamese — was long and bloody; large-scale US bombing of North Vietnam، Due to the mining of northern ports, and the bombing of Cambodia.
Kissinger declared in 1972 that “peace is at hand” In Vietnam, however, the Paris Peace Accords, signed in January 1973, were slightly more than a prelude to the last communist occupation of the South two years later.
In 1973, in addition to his role as National Security Adviser, Kissinger was named Secretary of State —, which gave him unchallenged authority in foreign affairs.
A fierce Arab-Israeli conflict began Kissinger on his first so-called “shuttle” mission, which was very personal، High pressure is a brand of diplomacy for which they became famous.
Thirty-two days spent in the shuttle between Jerusalem and Damascus helped Kissinger conclude a lasting separation agreement between Israel and Syria in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
In an effort to reduce Soviet influence, Kissinger approached his main communist rival China and made two trips there، Including a secret visit that included a meeting with Prime Minister Zhou N. Lai. The result was Nixon’s historic summit with Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing and the final form of relations between the two countries.
Winston Lord, the former US ambassador to China, who served as Kissinger’s special assistant, called his former boss a ” tireless advocate of peace” “The United States has lost a great champion in the national interest,” Reuters was greeted.”
Strategic Weapons Agreement
The Watergate scandal that forced Nixon to resign barely stole Kissinger، Who were not attached to the cover-up and continued as Secretary of State in the summer of 1974 when Ford took office. But Ford replaced him as a national security adviser in an effort to hear more voices on foreign policy.
Later that year, Vladimir Vostok moved to the Soviet Union with Kissinger Ford، Where the president met with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and agreed on a basic framework for a strategic arms deal. The agreement limited Kissinger’s initial efforts to capture, which eased US and Soviet tensions.
But Kissinger’s diplomatic abilities had their limits. In 1975, he was accused of failing to persuade Israel and Egypt to secede from the second round in Sinai.
Henry Kissinger visited Washington DC on January 20، In a meeting with US President Gerald Ford and members of Congress in the White House cabinet room in the United States, he pointed to the map of Sinai. 1977. — Gerald R. Ford Library/Handout by Reuters
Henry Kissinger visited Washington DC on January 20، In a meeting with US President Gerald Ford and members of Congress in the White House cabinet room in the United States, he pointed to the map of Sinai. 1977. — Gerald R. Ford Library/Handout by Reuters
And in the 1971 India-Pakistan war, Nixon and Kissinger were sharply criticized for leaning towards Pakistan. Kissinger was heard saying “bastard” — to Indians who later said they regret it.
Like Nixon, he feared the spread of leftist ideology in the Western Hemisphere، And in response, his actions have caused deep skepticism on Washington by many Latin Americans for years to come.
In 1970, he worked with the CIA to plan how to destabilize and oust the Marxist but democratically elected Chilean president, Salvador Allende, While he said in a memo in the wake of Argentina’s bloody uprising in 1976 that military dictators should be encouraged.
When Ford lost to a Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976, Kissinger’s days in the government power suite were largely over. The next Republican in the White House, Ronald Reagan, distanced himself from Kissinger, whom he considered out of his conservative circle.
After leaving the government, Kissinger set up a high-value, high-powered consulting firm in New York, advising the world’s corporate elite. He served on company boards and various forums on foreign policy and security, wrote books, and became a regular media observer on international affairs.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and George ahead of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Global Challenges and US National Security Strategy on Capitol Hill Schultz surrounded Washington January 29, 2015. — Reuters
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and George ahead of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Global Challenges and US National Security Strategy on Capitol Hill Schultz surrounded Washington January 29, 2015. — Reuters
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, President George W. Bush elected Kissinger to head the committee of inquiry. But the outcry from Democrats who saw a conflict of interest with many clients of their consulting firm forced Kissinger to step down.
Divorced from his first wife, Anne Fleischer, in 1964, he married Nancy Magnus, an aide to New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. He had two۔
