Henry Kissinger, Former Secretary of State, Dies at 100
Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger has died. He was 100 years old.
Kissinger passed away on Wednesday, Nov. 29, at his home in Connecticut, according to Kissinger Associates.
Born Heinz Alfred Kissinger on May 27, 1923 in Fürth, he and his family fled Nazi Germany and settled in New York when he was 15. He then changed his first name to Henry.
During World War II, Kissinger became a naturalized citizen and served in the U.S. Army as a German interpreter, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star for his "meritorious service." He later earned two degrees from Harvard (a B.A. and a Ph.D.). By 1957, he was a faculty member at the Ivy, serving as the Associate Director of Harvard’s Department of Government and Center for International Affairs.
In the 1950s and '60s, Kissinger worked as a consultant to several government agencies, including the Department of State, before he was named National Security Adviser by President-elect Richard Nixon in 1968.
Nixon later appointed him as U.S. Secretary of State, and Kissinger served in the position from Sept. 23, 1973 to Jan. 20, 1977. He was the first person ever to serve in both positions. However, on November 3, 1975, over a year after the Watergate scandal first broke, then-president Gerald R. Ford removed Kissinger from his position as National Security Adviser but kept him as U.S. Secretary of State.
Between 1969 and 1977, Kissinger played a prominent role in U.S. foreign policy and has since been credited with leading the policy of détente with the Soviet Union and opening conversations with the People's Republic of China.
His tenure as U.S. Secretary of State covered a lot of ground. It also included its fair share of controversies, like being the namesake of the highly-debated National Security Study Memorandum 200 or the "Kissinger Report."
Following his career in politics, in 1982, Kissinger founded the New York City-based international geopolitical consulting firm Kissinger Associates. He also wrote nearly two dozen books on national security matters.
Kissinger wed twice and welcomed two now-adult children–David and Elizabeth–with his first wife, Ann Fleischer, whom he divorced in 1964 after 15 years of marriage. A decade later, he remarried to Nancy Kissinger.
He is survived by his current wife Nancy, son David and daughter Elizabeth.
He will be interred at a private family service. At a later date, there will be a memorial service in New York City, according to the official statement. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests considering donations to: Animal Medical Center, Development Office, 510 East 62nd Street, New York, NY 10065 or Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, 1717 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036.
