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From his youth in Germany, where his family fled Nazi persecution, to his role as chief architect of US foreign policy in the Nixon and Ford administrations, Henry Kissinger’s life intersected with some of the pivotal global events of the past century.
The diplomatic powerhouse won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 for his role in ending the Vietnam War — although his selection was one of the most controversial in the award’s history, prompting two Nobel committee members to resign.
A statesman, author, scholar, Army veteran, and unlikely ladies’ man, Kissinger played many roles during life.
He also remained active on the world stage even after turning 100, attending White House meetings, publishing a book on leadership styles, and testifying before a Senate committee about the nuclear threat posed by North Korea.
Henry Kissinger (left, right with his arm around brother Walter) is seen as a young boy in pre-war Germany. His family fled the country for America in 1938 to escape Nazi persecution of Jewish people
During WWII, Private Henry Kissinger was assigned to Company G 335th Infantry Regiment of the 84th Infantry Division at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana
Kissinger (right during the war) returned to his German homeland during World War Two. He worked as a translator in intelligence operations and helped round up Gestapo members. He was awarded a Bronze Star
Kissinger is seen testifying at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in 1966. He was then a professor at Harvard University and had served as a consultant to President John F Kennedy
Henry Kissinger, then Nixon’s National Security Adviser, works in his office on the northwest corner of the West Wing of the White House in Washington DC in August 1970
President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger stand at an Oval Office window in DC on February 10, 1971
US Special envoy Henry Kissinger (R) meets with China’s Prime Minister Zhou Enlai, July 1971 in Beijing, during a secret visit to China that paved the way to a thawing of relations
Kissinger, right foreground, tours the summer palace in Peking with Wang Hsiao-i, a leading member of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, during Kissinger’s second visit to Beijing in October 1971. Kissinger, with members of the White House staff who accompanied him, was preparing for Nixon’s historic visit the following year
Kissinger accepts food from Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai during a state banquet in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing
President Richard Nixon and Kissinger speak on Air Force One during their historic voyage to China February 20, 1972
Kissinger is seen third from right in China in 1972, as Nixon visited Beijing for a groundbreaking summit with Zhou Enlai and Chairman Mao Zedong
Nixon and then Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai review Chinese troops at Nixon’s departure from Beijing to Hangchow to continue his China visit, February 26, 1972. First lady Pat Nixon and National Security adviser Henry Kissinger are seen walking behind Nixon and Zhou. At the height of the Cold War, Nixon flew into communist China’s center of power for a visit that over time would transform U.S.-China relations and China’s position in the world in ways that were unimaginable at the time
Kissinger shakes hand with Le Duc Tho, leader of the North-Vietnamese delegation, after the signing of a ceasefire agreement ending the Vietnam War in January 1973 in Paris. Both men were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, which Tho rejected
Kissinger and his wife Nancy watch a football match in Washington DC on April 4, 1974, a month after their wedding
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US Foreign Minister Henry Kissinger with his children Elizabeth (14) and David (12) on 24th March 1974 in Bonn. On his way to summit talks in Moscow, he stopped in Bonn to meet Bundeskanzler Brandt and Federal Minister Scheel in Schloss Gymnich
Kissinger faces international press at a news conference in Schloss Klessheim in Salzburg, Germany on June 11, 1974
In the dining car on the train from Vladivostok to the airport, President Gerald Ford, left, discusses the progress on the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (S.A.L.T.) agreement with Kissinger, left. Ford and Kissinger spent two days in talks with the leaders of the USSR in November 1974
Ford and his daughter Susan watch as Kissinger shakes hands with Mao Tse-Tung, Chairman of Chinese Communist Party, during a visit to the Chairman’s residence in Beijing, China, December 2, 1975
President Jimmy Carter (left) meets Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Vice President Walter Mondale in 1976
Kissinger waves at delegates during the Republican convention on July 17, 1980 in Detroit, where Reagan was nominated
African National Congress President Nelson Mandela gives former Kissinger a welcome hug upon his arrival for their meeting on April 13, 1994 in Johannesburg
Kissinger is seen in 1995 with Princess Diana as she receives an award in New York
President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger laugh together after Clinton gave the closing remarks at a national policy conference, March 1, 1995, in Washington DC
Kissinger meets with then-Texas Governor and Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush at the Governor’s mansion in Austin, Texas on 12 July 2000
Pope Benedict XVI greets former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger during a private meeting at his summer residence in Castelgandolfo, on September 28, 2006
Kissinger talks with Joe Biden, then chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Capitol Hill in January 2007 prior to Kissinger testifying before the committee about Iraq
President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting on the new START Treaty as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger looks on November 18, 2010 in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Kissinger are seen at an event at the Department of State in Washington, DC, on April 20, 2011
Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) is introduced by former U.S. National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at a policy speech to Chinese and United States CEOs during a dinner reception in Seattle on September 22, 2015
Kissinger and his wife Nancy arrive for the State Dinner for President Xi of China at the White House on September 25, 2015
President Donald Trump meets with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Oval Office on October 10, 2017
