BIRTHDAYS: Henry Kissinger (Birthday May 27th) – American Bureaucrat Biography, info on Henry Kissinger Education, Political Career.

Henry Kissinger Biography

Introduction:

• Henry Kissinger is an American bureaucrat and a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
• Henry was the 56th Secretary of State (1973-1977)
• Henry Kissinger was also Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (1969- 1975).

Background Information of Henry Kissinger:

• Kissinger was born on May 27, 1923 in Fuerth, Germany.
• Henry Kissinger birth name is Henry Alfred Kissinger.
• His family moved to New York, United States in 1938 following political disturbances in Germany.
• Henry Kissinger was naturalized a citizen in 1943. Henry Kissinger had a failed marriage with Ann Fleischer with whom he has two children.
• •Henry married Nancy Maginnes with whom he currently lives.
  

Education of Henry Kissinger:

• Henry Kissinger attended Washington Heights and George Washington High School in his early years.
• Henry attended night school and worked during the day.
• Henry Kissinger was drafted into the U.S Army while he was studying at the City College of New York.
• In the late 1940’s, he went to Harvard College where he earned his B.A. degree summa cum laude.
• Henry Kissinger also got his M.A and PhD degrees form Harvard University.

Career Info of Henry Kissinger:

• Kissinger stayed on at Harvard as a faculty member from 1954 until 1971.
• Henry Kissinger held important positions at the Department of Government and the Center for International Affairs.
  

Here is a list of Kissinger’s designations at Harvard:

• Associate Director of the Center of International Affairs (1957- 1960).
• Study Director of Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy (1955 - 1956)
• Director of the Special Studies Project for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (1956 - 1958)
• Director of the Harvard International Seminar from (1951 - 1971)
• Director of the Harvard Defense Studies Program (1958 - 1971).

Political Career of Henry Kissinger:

• Kissinger has served as Secretary of State under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
• Henry Kissinger was National Security Advisor for President Nixon. Henry Kissinger has an eminent role in the U.S foreign policy from 1969 to 1977.
• The policy of détente that improved relations between U.S and the Soviet Union was his initiation.
• Kissinger had a role to play in the temporary ceasefire between U.S and Vietnam.
• During 1967, he was consultant on foreign policy to the White House as well as the State Department.
• Henry Kissinger utilized this position in initiating and mediating peace talks between Washington and Hanoi.
• He also had a hand in the bombings in Cambodia to target Vietnam People's Army.
• Henry Kissinger received a lot of negative criticism for his indifference during the 1971 Indo-Pak War.
• Kissinger had a significant role to play in restoring peace between Israel, Egypt and Syria during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
• Henry Kissinger supported John F. Kennedy’s policies regarding the U.S-Cuban relationship.
• After an active, successful and somewhat controversial political career; Kissinger founded his own consulting firm called “Kissinger Associates”

Amongst his most noted profiles as a consultant are:

• Department of State (1965-68)
• United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (1961-68)
• Rand Corporation (1961-68)
• National Security Council (1961-62)
• Weapons Systems Evaluation Group of the joint Chiefs of Staff (1959-60)
• Operations Coordinating Board (1955)
• Director of the Psychological Strategy Board (1952)
• Operations Research Office (1951)
• Chairman of the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America (1983-84).

Awards and Honors to Henry Kissinger:

Owing to his outstanding contribution in the field of academics, politics and World Peace, Kissinger has received the following awards:

• Guggenheim Fellowship (1965-66)
• The Woodrow Wilson Prize for the best book in the fields of government, politics and international affairs (1958)
• Nobel Peace Prize (1973)
• The American Institute for Public Service Award (1973)
• The International Platform Association Theodore Roosevelt Award (1973)
• The Veterans of Foreign Wars Dwight D. Eisenhower Distinguished Service Medal (1973)
• The Hope Award for International Understanding (1973)
• The Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977)
• The Medal of Liberty (1986)