Henry Kissinger Biography and Works.

Henry Alfred Kissinger was born in Fürth, Germany in 1923 to a family of German Jews. He is an American academic, political scientist, businessman and a diplomat.

Kissinger is the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later, as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

Even after his term, Kissinger’s opinion was still sought by many following Presidents and many world leaders.

Kissinger spent his high school years in the Washington Heights section of upper Manhattan. Later, he began attending school at night and worked in a shave brush factory during the day. Henry Kissinger played a dominant role in US foreign policy between 1969 and 1977. It was during this period that he pioneered the policy of détente with the Soviet Union, orchestrated the opening of relations with the People’s Republic of China. Various American policies including the bombing of Cambodia, remained controversial.

Kissinger is still a controversial figure today. He was honoured as the first recipient of the Ewald von Kleist Award of the Munich Conference on Security Policy. He is the founder and chairman of Kissinger Associates, an international consulting firm.

Trivia

Although Kissinger assimilated quickly into American culture, he never lost his pronounced Frankish accent, due to childhood shyness that made him hesitant to speak.

Quote

“Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.”