Kissinger, Henry A

Kissinger, Henry A(lfred)

(born May 27, 1923, Fürth, Ger.) German-born U.S. political scientist and foreign-policy adviser (1969–76). He immigrated with his family to the U.S. in 1938. He taught at Harvard University, where he directed the Defense Studies Program (1959–69). He was appointed assistant for national security affairs by Pres. Richard Nixon in 1968 and served as head of the National Security Council from 1969 to 1975; he was secretary of state from 1973 to 1977. He developed the policy of détente toward the Soviet Union, which led to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks agreements. He also initiated the first official U.S. contact with China. Although he at first advocated a hard-line policy on Vietnam, he later negotiated the cease-fire agreement that ended the Vietnam War, for which he shared the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1973 with Le Duc Tho (who refused it). After leaving government service, he became an international consultant, lecturer, and writer.