Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger dies aged 100
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By Bernd Debusmann Jr
BBC News, Washington
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has died at the age of 100.
He served as America's top diplomat and national security adviser during the Nixon and Ford administrations.
In a statement, Kissinger Associates, a political consulting firm he founded, said the German-born former diplomat died at his home in Connecticut.
During his decades long career, Mr Kissinger played a pivotal, and sometimes polarising, role in US foreign policy.
The statement from Kissinger Associates did not give a cause of death.
Following his death, former US President George W Bush said the US had "lost one of the most dependable and distinctive voices on foreign affairs".
New York City's former mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said Kissinger was "endlessly generous with the wisdom gained over the course of an extraordinary life".
President Richard Nixon's daughters, Tricia Nixon Cox and Julie Nixon Eisenhower, said that Kissinger's life story was "so unique - and so thoroughly American".
"Henry Kissinger will long be remembered for his many achievements in advancing the cause of peace," the statement said. "But it was his character that we will never forget."
Born in Bavaria in 1923, the school teacher's son first came to the US in 1938 when his family fled Nazi Germany.
He became a US citizen in 1943 and went on to serve three years in the US Army and later in the Counter Intelligence Corps.
After earning bachelor's, master's and PhD degrees, he taught international relations at Harvard.
In 1969, then-President Richard Nixon appointed him National Security Adviser, a position which gave him enormous influence over US foreign policy.
As secretary of state during the Nixon administration - and later under President Gerald Ford - Mr Kissinger led a diplomatic rapprochement with China, helped negotiate an end to the 1973 Yom Kippur War between Israel and its neighbours and was instrumental in the Paris Peace Accords that ended the Vietnam War.
Over the years, however, Kissinger was also subject to scathing criticism from those who accused him of putting rivalry with the Soviet Union over human rights and supporting repressive regimes across the world, including Augusto Pinochet's regime in Chile.
Kissinger, however, was dismissive of this criticism.
"That's a reflection of their ignorance," the gravel-voiced statesman told CBS in an interview shortly before his 100th birthday.
In 1973, he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize alongside North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho, who refused to accept.
The controversial award led to two members of the Nobel committee resigning.
While Kissinger left government service in 1977, he continued to be a prolific commentator on public affairs. His counsel was sought by 12 US presidents - from John F Kennedy to Joe Biden - as well as by lawmakers.
Notably, Kissinger is also the only American to have dealt directly with every Chinese leader from Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping.
He also served on the boards of various companies and was a fixture of foreign policy and security forums, as well as penning 21 books.
Even after turning 100, Kissinger kept up an active life, including a surprise visit this July to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, where the aged statesman was feted despite a chill in relations between China and the US.
The visit - in which Kissinger received a warm welcome - irked the White House and prompted National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby to lament that "it's unfortunate that a that a private citizen" had access to high-level China officials while the US government did not.
During an interview with ABC on a book tour in July 2022 - when he was 99 - Mr Kissinger was asked whether he would take back any of his decisions in life.
"I've been thinking about these problems all my life. It's my hobby as well as my occupation," he said. "And so the recommendations I made were the best of which I was then capable."
He is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, as well as by two children - Elizabeth and David - from a previous marriage and five grandchildren
