Henry Kissinger
Where and when
Henry Alfred Kissinger was sworn in on September 22, 1973, as the 56th Secretary of State, a position he held until January 20, 1977. He also served as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs from January 20, 1969, until November 3, 1975. In July 1983 he was appointed by President Reagan to chair the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America until it ceased operation in January 1985, and from 1984-1990 he served as member of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.
At present, Dr. Kissinger is chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc., an international consulting firm, He is also a Councilor to the Chase Manhattan Bank and a member its International Advisory Committee; Chairman of the International Advisory Board of American International Group, Inc.; a Counselor to and Trustee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and an Honorary Governor of the Foreign Policy Association. From 1986-1988 he was a member of the Commission on Integrated Long-term Strategy of the National Security and Defense Department. Among his other activities, Dr. Kissinger is a member if the Boards of Directors of Continental Grain Company, The Revlon Group, Inc., Freeport-McMoRan Inc., and Advisor to the board of Directors of American Express Company. He is Trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a Director of the International Rescue Committee.
Among the awards Dr. Kissinger has received have been the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973; the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the nation’s highest civilian award)in 1977; and the Medal of Liberty in 1986.
Dr. Kissinger was born in Fuerth, Germany, came to the United Sates in 1938 and was naturalized a United States Citizen in 1943. He served in the Army from 1943 to 1946. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College in 1950 and received the M.A. and Ph.D degrees from Harvard University in 1952 to 1969.
From 1954 to 1969 he was a member of the faculty of Harvard University, in both the Department of Government and the Center for International Affairs. He was the Director of the Harvard International Seminar from 1952 to 1969.
Dr. Kissinger is the author of:
A world Restored: Castlereagh, Metternich and the Restoration of Peace, 1812-1822 (1957);
Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy (1957);
The Necessity for Choice: Prospects of American Foreign Policy (1961);
The Troubled Partnership: A Reappraisal of the Atlantic Alliance (1965);
Problems of National Strategy: A Book of Readings (ed.) (1965);
American Foreign Policy, Three Essays (1969);
White House Years (1979);
For the Record: Selected Statements, 1977-1980 (1981);
Years of Upheaval (1982);
Observations: Selected Speeches and Essays, 1982- 1984 (1985); and
Diplomacy (1994)
He has also published numerous articles on United States foreign policy, international affairs and diplomatic history. His column, syndicated by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, appears in leading U.S. newspapers and in over 40 countries.
Dr. Kissinger is married to the former Nancy Maginnes and is the father of two children by a previous marriage.