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Heinz Alfred grew up in his hometown, where he attended school. When the persecution of the Jewish population in Germany intensified as a result of Adolf Hitler's rise to power in January 1933, he emigrated to the USA with his parents Paula Stern and Ludwig Kissinger in 1938. Kissinger attended high school in New York City. A little later he had to help support the family by working in a factory, which is why he switched to night school. In 1943 Kissinger received US citizenship. He then served in the Army until 1946, for which he was deployed in Germany. After the end of the war, Kissinger initially stayed in Europe, where he worked as a lecturer at the European Command Intelligence School in Oberammergau. In 1947, Kissinger returned to the United States to enroll at Harvard University. In 1952 he completed his master's degree there. Two years later he received his doctorate. phil.

From 1952 to 1969, Kissinger headed the summer university at his university called the Harvard International Seminar. Here he got to know many foreign authorities with whom he would later have to deal as a foreign policy expert. In 1957 he was appointed lecturer and in 1962 professor at Harvard, where he held a full teaching position until 1965. Kissinger's entry into a decidedly political activity dates back to the early 1960s. Under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, he served as an advisor to the National Security Council until 1962 and as an advisor on disarmament issues until 1967. In 1965 he was appointed as an advisor to the State Department, which had to deal with the situation in Vietnam. In the following two years, Kissinger visited Vietnam several times. In 1969, President Richard Nixon elevated the veteran foreign policy expert to head the National Security Council. In this position, which he held until 1975, Kissinger opposed the policy of reconciliation and rapprochement that Kennedy and Johnson had previously initiated towards the Soviet Union.

Nevertheless, as one of his first foreign policy successes, he contributed to the conclusion of the SALT negotiations with the USSR, which culminated in the signing of the treaty by Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow. Kissinger also played a role in bringing about the agreement on the four-power status of West Berlin, which was reached on September 3, 1971 and contributed significantly to facilitating exchange and travel between both parts of the city. Kissinger also had a great influence on the secret diplomatic preparations that led to a rapprochement between the USA and the People's Republic of China under Nixon's presidency. When faced with the Vietnam problem, Kissinger sought to protect US interests with a policy of military strength, which brought him the most criticism. Nevertheless, he reached a ceasefire with Le Duc Tho in 1973, which earned both the Nobel Peace Prize and initiated the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. In 1973, Kissinger was promoted to Secretary of State under Nixon. After his resignation as a result of the Watergate affair, he was confirmed in this position for the entire term of office of the successor Gerald Rudolph Ford from 1974 to 1977.

As Foreign Minister, Kissinger tried to mediate between the Arab and Israeli sides, especially in the Middle East conflict, through intensive travel known as "shuttle diplomacy". This enabled him, among other things, In 1974 the conclusion of the troop disengagement agreement. After Kissinger left the ministerial office as a result of Ford's election defeat in 1977, he founded the consulting firm "Kissinger Associates, Inc." in 1982, which produces analyzes for governments and commercial companies worldwide. In 1987 Kissinger was awarded the International Charlemagne Prize of the city of Aachen. After the upheavals of 1989/90 in the former Eastern Bloc states, Kissinger campaigned for the maintenance of the transatlantic alliance systems between the USA and Europe, for the rapid reunification of Germany and the continuation of European unification. He continued to speak out through numerous publications. In 2001 his treatise "Does America Need a Foreign Policy?" was published. In 2005 he received the Bavarian Order of Merit. In 2007, Kissinger was awarded the Baden-Württemberg Medal of Merit.

Henry Kissinger died on November 29, 2023 in Kent.

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