Henry Kissinger, a diplomatic titan who won the contentious Nobel Peace Prize and made a lasting impression on US foreign policy during his tenures as secretary of state and national security advisor to two presidents, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 100.
According to a statement from Kissinger Associates Inc., his geopolitical consulting business, the former president passed away at home in Connecticut. The conditions were not mentioned.
It stated that he will be laid to rest in a secret family funeral and that a public memorial ceremony in New York City would take place thereafter.
Even after becoming 100 years old, Kissinger continued to be involved in public life. He gave testimony to a Senate committee regarding North Korea’s nuclear danger, attended White House meetings, and published a book on leadership styles. He unexpectedly travelled to Beijing in July 2023 to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
He worked under Republican President Richard Nixon as secretary of state and national security adviser throughout the 1970s Cold War, contributing to many of the decade’s historic international events.
The German-born Jewish refugee’s efforts resulted in the Paris Peace Accords with North Vietnam, strengthened links between Israel and its Arab neighbours, historic US-Soviet weapons control discussions, and the establishing of diplomatic relations between the US and China.