• Henry Kissinger, a diplomatic powerhouse whose roles as a National Security Adviser and Secretary of State under two US Presidents left an indelible mark on US foreign policy and earned him a Nobel Peace Prize, passed away on November 29. He was 100.

• During the 1970s in the midst of the Cold War, he had a hand in many of the epoch-changing global events of the decade while serving as National Security Adviser and Secretary of State under President Richard Nixon.

• His efforts led to the US diplomatic opening with China, landmark US-Soviet arms control talks, expanded ties between Israel and its Arab neighbours, and the Paris Peace Accords with North Vietnam.

• Kissinger’s reign as the prime architect of US foreign policy waned with Nixon’s resignation in 1974 amid the Watergate scandal. 

• Still, he continued to be a diplomatic force as Secretary of State under Nixon’s successor, President Gerald Ford.

• While many hailed Kissinger for his brilliance and broad experience, others branded him a “war criminal” for his support for anti-communist dictatorships, especially in Latin America.

The diplomatic powerhouse

• Heinz Alfred Kissinger was born in Furth, Germany, on May 27, 1923, and moved to the United States with his family in 1938. 

• Anglicising his name to Henry, Kissinger became a naturalized US citizen in 1943, served in the Army in Europe in World War II, and attended Harvard University on a scholarship, earning a master’s degree in 1952 and a doctorate in 1954. He was on Harvard's faculty for the next 17 years.

• During much of that time, Kissinger served as a consultant to government agencies, including in 1967 when he acted as an intermediary for the State Department in Vietnam. 

• He used his connections with President Lyndon Johnson’s administration to pass on information about peace negotiations to the Nixon camp.

• When Nixon’s pledge to end the Vietnam War helped him win the 1968 presidential election, he brought Kissinger to the White House as National Security Adviser.

• Christmas 1972 saw heavy bombing raids carried out over the North Vietnamese capital Hanoi by American B-52 bombers. All over the world, thousands of people took to the streets in protest. The man who ordered the bombing was at the same time spearheading ceasefire negotiations. The armistice took effect in January 1973. 

• In 1973, in addition to his role as National Security Adviser, Kissinger was named Secretary of State.

• An intensifying Arab-Israeli conflict launched Kissinger on his first so-called “shuttle mission”, a brand of highly personal, high-pressure diplomacy for which he became famous.

• Thirty-two days spent shuttling between Jerusalem and Damascus helped Kissinger forge a long-lasting disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

• In an effort to diminish Soviet influence, Kissinger reached out to its chief communist rival, China, and made two trips there, including a secret one to meet with Premier Zhou Enlai. The result was Nixon’s historic summit in Beijing with Chairman Mao Zedong in 1972 and the eventual formalisation of relations between the two countries.

• The ‘Watergate Scandal’ that forced Nixon to resign barely grazed Kissinger, who was not connected to the cover-up and continued as Secretary of State when Ford took office in the summer of 1974. But, Ford did replace him as National Security Adviser in an effort to hear more voices on foreign policy.

• Later that year, Kissinger went with Ford to Vladivostok in the Soviet Union, where the US President met Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and agreed to a basic framework for a strategic arms pact. The agreement capped Kissinger’s pioneering efforts at detente that led to a relaxing of US-Soviet tensions.

• In 1975, he was faulted for failing to persuade Israel and Egypt to agree to a second-stage disengagement in the Sinai.

• In the India-Pakistan War of 1971, Nixon and Kissinger were heavily criticised for tilting toward Pakistan. 

• When Ford lost to Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, in 1976, Kissinger’s days in the suites of government power were largely over. 

• The next Republican in the White House, Ronald Reagan, distanced himself from Kissinger.

• Declassified documents showed that Kissinger gave his blessing to the undermining of Chile’s elected Marxist president Salvador Allende and later the 1973 coup by General Augusto Pinochet.

• After leaving government, Kissinger set up a high-priced, high-powered consulting firm in New York, which offered advice to the world’s corporate elite. He served on company boards and various foreign policy and security forums, wrote books, and became a regular media commentator on international affairs.

The controversial Nobel Peace Prize

• In January 1973, Henry Kissinger and Le Duc signed the Paris Peace Accords calling for an armistice in Vietnam.

• Le Duc Tho was North Vietnam’s chief peace negotiator. 

• In October 1973, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Kissinger and Le Duc Tho for jointly having negotiated a ceasefire in Vietnam. The announcement sent shockwaves around the world.

• Le Duc Tho refused to accept the Prize, on the grounds that the USA and South Vietnam had violated the truce.

• He became the only person to decline the Nobel Peace Prize.

• Two Nobel Committee members resigned in an unprecedented act of protest over the committee chairman’s statement that the committee had unanimously supported the selection of Kissinger and Tho. The chairman violated an unwritten rule prohibiting public mention of internal committee discussions.

• Many felt Kissinger was responsible for a bombing war that took a huge toll on civilian lives.

• Le Duc Tho had fought for Vietnam’s independence during both the French colonial era and the Japanese occupation during World War II. He became a leader in the Communist Party, where he developed a reputation as a hardline hawk who would only agree to compromise under extreme circumstances. He was chosen as Kissinger’s negotiating partner in 1968. When Hanoi was bombed at Christmas time on Kissinger’s orders, Le Duc Tho agreed to an armistice.

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