Henry Kissinger

1923-2023

American Politician

Dr. Henry Kissinger was born in 1923, in Germany. In 1938, his family fled Germany to escape the Nazis. The Kissingers traveled to the US where they lived in Washington Height, in Manhattan. In 1943, Kissinger was drafted into the army where he served in intelligence. Kissinger rapidly gained responsibility as his unit moved across France and moved into Germany. He was in charge of a team that located Nazis in hiding. After the war, Kissinger went to Harvard where he earned his undergraduates degree, a Masters and a Ph.D. which he received in 1954.

Kissinger consulted to the government and various non-government think tanks. In 1968, when Richard Nixon was elected President, Kissinger was appointed to be the National Security Advisor. Kissinger was instrumental in improving relations with the Soviet Union and beginning American ties with Communist China for the first time. Kissinger oversaw US negotiations with North Vietnam to end the Vietnam War.

On September 22, 1973, (25th of Elul) Kissinger was sworn in as the first Jewish US Secretary of State and he served in that job until the end of the Ford Administration. At the age of 95, Henry Kissinger continues to remain engaged in world affairs, writing, teaching and consulting to Presidents.