|
|
|
|
| Birth Name(s) : Henry Kissinger |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
|
Partner:
|
| Profession:
Public Figure |
| << Add Henry Kissinger To Your Favorites |
|
Full Henry Kissinger Biography
Henry Alfred Kissinger (born Heinz Alfred Kissinger on May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, and 1973 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the Richard Nixon administration. Kissinger emerged unscathed from the Watergate scandal and maintained his powerful position when Gerald Ford became President.
During his time in the Nixon and Ford administrations he cut a flamboyant figure, appearing at social occasions with many celebrities. His foreign policy record made him enemies among the anti-war left and anti-Communists alike on the right.
Henry Kissinger received his B.A. degree summa cum laude at Harvard College in 1950, where he studied under William Yandell Elliott. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard University in 1952 and 1954, respectively. In 1952, while still at Harvard, he served as a consultant to the Director of the Psychological Strategy Board. His doctoral dissertation was "Peace, Legitimacy, and the Equilibrium (A Study of the Statesmanship of Castlereagh and Metternich)."
Kissinger is a fan of the New York Yankees baseball team. He is also a supporter and honorary member of the German soccer club Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth from his hometown, where he was a member in his youth.
He sought to place diplomatic pressure on the Soviet Union; to accomplish this, he made two trips to the People's Republic of China in July and October 1971 (the first of which in secret) to confer with Premier Zhou Enlai, then in charge of Chinese foreign policy. This paved the way for the groundbreaking 1972 summit between Nixon, Zhou, and Communist Party of China Chairman Mao Zedong, as well as the formalization of relations between the two countries, ending 23 years of diplomatic isolation and mutual hostility. The result was the formation of a tacit strategic anti-Soviet alliance between China and the United States. While Kissinger's diplomacy led to economic and cultural exchanges between the two sides and the establishment of Liaison Offices in the Chinese and American capitals, full normalization of relations with the People's Republic of China would not occur until 1979 as Watergate overshadowed the latter years of the Nixon presidency and the United States continued to recognize the Republic of China government on Taiwan.
Kissinger's involvement in Vietnam started prior to his appointment as National Security Adviser to Nixon. While still at Harvard he had worked as a consultant on foreign policy to both the White House and State Department and, in the summer of 1967, had acted as one of a series of intermediaries between Washington and Hanoi in a peace initiative codenamed "Pennsylvania." In the autumn of 1968, he used his contacts with the Johnson administration to tip-off the Nixon camp about an anticipated breakthrough in the Paris talks, which Nixon feared could cost him the campaign.Kissinger is updated on the latest situation in South Vietnam on April 29, 1975.
Kissinger initially supported the normalization of U.S.–Cuban relations, broken since 1961 (all U.S.–Cuban trade was blocked in February 1962, a few weeks after the exclusion of Cuba from the Organization of American States under U.S. pressure). However, he quickly changed his mind and followed Kennedy's policy. After Fidel Castro's involvement in the struggle in Angola and Mozambique, Kissinger made it clear that unless Cuba withdrew its forces relations would not be normalized.See also: Cuba-United States relations
In 1974 a leftist military coup overthrew the Caetano government in Portugal in the Carnation Revolution. The National Salvation Junta, the new government, quickly granted Portugal's colonies independence. Cuban troops in Angola successfully assisted the Marxist-Leninist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in defeating the anti-Communist UNITA and FNLA rebels in the Angolan Civil War (1975-2002). Kissinger supported UNITA, led by Jonas Savimbi, the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) insurgencies, as well as the CIA-supported invasion of South African troops to Angola. In 1976 South African troops withdrew due to U.S. Congressional opposition.
Kissinger had knowledge of the 1971 atrocities committed by the Pakistani army and its allies during the war (see above), but did not advise President Nixon to put pressure on the Pakistani government to stop them.
In 1992 Jornal do Brasil published an unflattering photo of Henry Kissinger on the front page. Kissinger's lawyer sent a cease and desist letter threatening to sue them if they sold the photo. The newspaper refused and one of the buyers was the advertising agency Woolward & Partners who were also threatened with legal action, after using it in an advertisement for computer equipment. The photo was featured in the 1996 book Washington Babylon by Alexander Cockburn and Ken Silverstein.
In 1977, Kissinger was appointed to Georgetown University's Center for Strategic and International Studies.
In 1998, Kissinger became an honorary citizen of Fürth, Germany, his hometown. He has been a life-long supporter of the Spielvereinigung Fürth football club and is now an honorary member. |
|
|
| Add Henry Kissinger Biography (SuperUSERS) + |
| Add Henry Kissinger Review/Comment
|
HQ Henry Kissinger Pictures (1) | Random Henry Kissinger Picture
|
| << Back to the Henry Kissinger Homepage |
|
