Kissinger, Henry (Alfred)

German-born US diplomat. After a brilliant academic career at Harvard University, he was appointed national security adviser in 1969 by President Nixon, and was secretary of state 1973–77. His missions to the USSR and China improved US relations with both countries, and he took part in negotiating US withdrawal from Vietnam in 1973 and in Arab-Israeli peace negotiations 1973–75. He shared the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1973 with North Vietnamese diplomat Le Duc Tho for their efforts in securing the peace settlement of the Vietnam War.

His secret trips to Beijing and Moscow led to Nixon's visits to both countries and a general détente. In 1976 he was involved in the negotiations in Africa arising from the Angola and Rhodesia crises. In 1983, President Reagan appointed him to head a bipartisan commission on Central America. He was widely regarded as the most powerful member of Nixon's administration.