Featured Leader: Henry Kissinger

This past week I had the opportunity to meet a man who has already gone down as one of the greatest politicians (and immigrants) in American history. He is a man that, quite honestly, needs no introduction... Henry Kissinger.

Kissinger was born Heinz Alfred Kissinger in Furth, Bavaria, Germany on May 27, 1923. He was born into a family of German Jews. He and his were forced to flee Germany in 1938, when he was fifteen years old, to avoid persecution from the Nazi's. They briefly emigrated to London before arriving in New York on September 5, 1938.

Henry Kissinger quickly assimilated into American society but to this day he still has a thick German accent. He attended school in the Washington Heights section of Upper Manhattan where he attended night school and worked in a shaving brush factory.  He attended college at the City College of New York where he studied accounting. His studies would be interrupted because, in 1943, he was drafted into the United States Army.

While in basic training Kissinger turned twenty years old and became a naturalized citizen. The United States Army soon discovered the fact that Kissinger could speak fluent German, which made him a vital asset. He was assigned to the military intelligence section of the 84th Infantry Division where he volunteered for hazardous intelligence duties during the Battle of the Bulge. During the American advance into Germany he was put in charge of the administration of the city of Krefeld. He was still only a Private at this time. Within the first eight days he was able to establish a civilian administration.

Soon, Kissinger was reassigned to the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) where he became a CIC Special Agent and was given the enlisted rank of sergeant. He was put in charge of a team whose purpose was to track down Gestapo officers (he would earn a Bronze Star for his actions at this time). In June of 1945, he was mad commandant of the Bensheim metro CIC detachment with the responsibility for de-Natzification of the district. It was at this point that people began to notice that, although he had absolute power, he took care to avoid abuses against the local population.

After the war, Kissinger received his BA degree in political science from Harvard College in 1950. He spent a good amount of his career interlinked with Harvard, between 1958 and 1971 he was the director of the Harvard Defense Studies Program and from 1951 to 1971 he was also the director of the Harvard International Seminar. He also served as a consultant to several agencies i

ncluding the Operations Research Office, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and the Department of State. After Richard Nixon was elected, Kissinger was appointed National Security Advisor.           

Henry Kissinger served as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State under President Richard Nixon, he would continue in this role under President Gerald Ford also. Between 1969 and 1977, Kissinger played a dominant role in United States foreign policy. Some of the important policies he had a part in include detente (the easing of strained relationships) with the Soviet Union and opining back up United States relations with China. He was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on ending the Vietnam War. Kissinger saw that the war was not officially over and attempted to return the award.

It has been said that no Secretary of State since Kissinger has been as effective as he. Today, he remains an active member of politics in the United States. Kissinger is and will always be a force to reckon with. And, if he proves anything, he proves that immigrants CAN get the job done (they can be Republican too)...   

Thank you Secretary Kissinger.