Dr. Henry A. Kissinger
Dr. Henry A. Kissinger
Founder and Chairman, Kissinger Associates Inc.
Former US Secretary of State
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 a 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 Counselor to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and a member of its International Council; Chairman of the International Advisory Board of American International Group, Inc.; a Counselor to and Trustee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; an Honorary Governor of the Foreign Policy Association; and an Honorary Member of the International Olympic Committee. From 1986-1988 he was a member of the Commission on Integrated Long-Term Strategy of the National Security Council and Defense Department. Among his other activities, Dr. Kissinger is a member of the Boards of Directors of ContiGroup Companies, Inc., Hollinger International Inc. and most recently, the United States Olympic Committee. He is also an Advisor to the Board of Directors of American Express Company, a member of the Advisory Boards of Hollinger International and Forstmann Little and Co., a Trustee Emeritus of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a Director Emeritus of Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc., a Director of the International Rescue Committee, Chairman of the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, and Chancellor of The College of William & Mary.
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 (given one time to ten foreign-born American leaders) in 1986.
Dr. Kissinger was born in Fuerth, Germany, came to the United States 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 M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University in 1952 and 1954.
From 1954 until 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 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);
Diplomacy (1994); and
Years of Renewal (1999)
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 foreign countries.