KISSINGER, HENRY 1923-
National security adviser, 1969-1975; secretary of state, 1973-1976
A Flamboyant Figure
Widely acknowledged as the most influential foreign-policy figure in the 1970s, Henry Kissinger's career in diplomacy was marked by surprising initiatives, sudden announcements, and secret negotiations. His high visibility made him a celebrity; before he married Nancy Maginnes in 1974 he had a reputation as a playboy, followed by both the press and the paparazzi. His flamboyance often led to tensions between him and the two presidents he served, but his presence provided vital continuity between the Nixon and Ford administrations.
A Scholarly Background
Born in Fürth, Germany, on 27 May 1923, Kissinger and his parents fled the Nazis and immigrated to New York City in 1938. He earned his bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees from Harvard and stayed on there as a political scientist and member of the Center for International Affairs. An early book, Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy (1958), earned him a national reputation on defense issues and foreign policy. A devotee of balance-of-power theories, Kissinger was one of the first to argue that nuclear weapons made large-scale warfare between great nation-states obsolete. He held that the United States could best demonstrate its power not through direct confrontation with the Soviet Union, but through credible displays of conventional military power in Third World theaters of action. Kissinger maintained that a realpolitik, not moralistic, approach to foreign affairs would best serve American interests, and he developed sophisticated methods of conflict resolution and negotiation.
Association with Nixon
Originally associated with New York governor Nelson Rockefeller, in 1968 Kissinger joined Richard Nixon's presidential campaign as a foreign-policy consultant. Following the election, Nixon appointed him National Security Adviser. It was to Kissinger, not Secretary of State William Rogers, that Nixon turned for foreign policy. The two developed a complex, difficult relationship, but they shared many qualities: a flair for the dramatic, contempt for others, a mania for secrecy. Together they framed the major policy initiatives of Nixon's first term: the Cambodian bombing and invasion, the SALT accords, the opening to China, the Vietnam peace (for which Kissinger won a Nobel Prize). They developed a grudging admiration for one another that became increasingly important as Watergate crippled Nixon's presidency. In the final days of Nixon's administration Kissinger became Nixon's confidant and sounding board, easing him out of the office. As the only high administration figure untainted by Watergate, he was also a key link to the incoming Ford administration.
Shuttle Diplomacy
At the end of Nixon's tenure and under Ford, Kissinger increasingly focused his attentions on the Middle East. His highly personal approach to negotiations was designed to increase confidence on all sides of the Arab-Israeli dispute and resulted in his shuttling by air from capital to capital. By October 1974 Kissinger had traveled 130,000 miles on eight Middle Eastern trips and had succeeded in creating a viable framework for peace. Cease-fires and troop disengagements were accepted, diplomatic relations between the United States and Egypt were restored for the first time since 1967, and Palestinian demands for autonomy were
debated. Kissinger's personal approach to diplomacy, however, generated friction with Congress, reasserting its foreign-policy role in the wake of the Vietnam War, and by 1975 Kissinger was embroiled in controversies over détente with the Soviet Union, the Cypriot civil war, and the Panama Canal Treaty. To deflect criticism of Kissinger, Ford eased him out of his dual role as both secretary of state and national security adviser and made him only secretary of state.
Place in History
After Ford's defeat in 1976, Kissinger returned to private life, acting as a high-powered consultant to multinational corporations. He routinely appeared on television as a commentator on political affairs. His achievements in office seemed repudiated by the foreign policies of the next two presidential administrations. Kissinger nonetheless seems secure in history as one of the first American political figures who recognized the limits of American power and sought to build a realistic and secure foreign policy around those limitations.
Sources:
Walter Issacson, Kissinger (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992);
Marvin Kalb and Bernard Kalb, Kissinger (Boston: Little, Brown, 1974).
