Henry Kissinger dies at 100: Statesman, strategist and world visionary

Henry Kissinger died on the night of Nov. 29 at the age of 100. The historic diplomat is considered one of the most influential men in the history of American international politics, which is why many see him as the architect of the modern world, as he was in charge of making decisions that forever changed the course of history during the 20th century.

The news was confirmed in a statement to which Reuters has obtained access by his consulting firm. "Dr. Henry Kissinger, a respected American scholar and statesman, died today at his home in Connecticut."

His death comes six months after he turned 100 in May. The controversial diplomat served as national security advisor and secretary of state, and both positions led him to live with Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford in the White House.

After stepping away from public office in 1977, he was perhaps the most in-demand consultant in the world.

Some of his most famous decisions include the policy of détente with the Soviet Union (USSR), opening trade with China and the containment of communism in Latin America in the 1970s.

From Germany to the White House

Heinz Alfred Kissinger was born in May 1923 in the state of Bavaria, Germany, to a family of German Jews. When he was 15, he moved to New York, escaping Adolf Hitler's Nazi rule.

After arriving to The Big Apple, he studied at City College and then at Harvard University, where he graduated with a thesis titled “Peace, Legitimacy and Balance.”

He stayed at his alma mater as director of the Special Affairs program, which began to expand his fame as a political consultant.

He began his political career in 1955 as part of the National Security Council, which later allowed him to work in John F. Kennedy's White House. However, it was Nixon who elevated him to the top of global geopolitics.

China and the USSR

In the midst of the Cold War, Kissinger was willing to open commercial and diplomatic relations with China, with the aim of counteracting the weight of the USSR on a global level.

In 1971, he visited Beijing incognito as part of the “Marco Polo” operation, which was even a secret to senior American commanders, since Nixon did not want his attempt to get closer to communist China to be known.

He met with Foreign Minister Chou in Lai, which would open the door for the Republican president's landing in the Asian country in 1972. This allowed Beijing to emerge from international isolation and begin its path towards today, as one of the world's great economic powers.

At the same time, amidst the geopolitical chess of the time, he promoted a strategy to contain the Soviet Union known as the "three-legged table." The logic was to improve ties with China, indirectly forcing the USSR to improve its relations with the United States.

Vietnam War and the Nobel Peace Prize

Perhaps one of his most questioned decisions occurred during the Vietnam War, when he ordered the bombings of Laos and Cambodia, where thousands of civilians lost their lives. These were border crossings with Vietnam, so he attacked them to cut off food and weapons supplies reaching the Viet Cong through the so-called Ho Chi Minh Trail.

After repeated trips to Paris, he managed to agree on a ceasefire that earned him the Nobel Peace Prize along with his colleague Le Duc Tho.

French journalist Jean Daniel, who died in 2020, revealed a conversation that Kissinger had with philosopher Raymond Arón during the peace negotiations in Vietnam.

“Henry, I would not have been able to order the bombings of Cambodia and then go to sleep so peacefully,” Arón told him, to which Kissinger responded: “Dear Raymond, no one would have thought of entrusting you with such a mission.”

'We will not let Chile go down the drain'

The diplomat was one of those responsible for preventing communism from expanding in Latin America during the 1970s, which required him to support dictatorships in Argentina and, especially, in Chile.

According to declassified documents, Henry Kissinger worked together with Richard Helms, then director of the CIA, to overthrow the government of socialist Salvador Allende in Chile, who, according to his analysis, could have become a kind of contagious virus in Latin America and a victory for the USSR in the United States' backyard.

“The big problem today is Chile,” the then national security advisor confessed to President Nixon in September 1970, just weeks after the socialist's victory at the polls.

“I don't see why we have to wait and allow a country to become communist because of the irresponsibility of its own people,” he added. Therefore, they orchestrated the coup d'état of 1973, which culminated in the rise of dictator Augusto Pinochet.

One last thought on leadership

One month after turning 100 years old, Kissinger published what would be his last book: "Leadership, Six Studies in World Strategy." In it, he analyzed the careers and trajectories of six of his favorite leaders of the 20th century: Konrad Adenauer, Charles de Gaulle, Richard Nixon, Anwar Sadat, Lee Kuan Yew and Margaret Thatcher.

To conclude the more than 500-page-long book, the diplomat wrote the following: “Great leadership is the result of the collision between the intangible and the malleable, of what is given and what is exercised. There remains room for individual effort: to deepen historical understanding, refine strategy, and improve character. Long ago, the philosopher Epictetus wrote: 'We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how to respond to them.' The leader’s role is to help guide that choice and inspire his or her people during execution.”