Life in pictures of US diplomat Henry Kissinger

The Nobel winner was praised as a skilled defender of US interests by world leaders

Last updated:
2 MIN READ
1/20
Here are some of the most significant moments of Henry Kissinger, a diplomatic powerhouse whose tenure as national security advisor and secretary of state under two presidents profoundly shaped US foreign policy and earned him a controversial Nobel Peace Prize.
Agencies
2/20
US Special envoy Henry Kissinger (R) meets with China's Prime Minister Zhou Enlai, July 1971 in Beijing.
AFP
3/20
US President Richard Nixon, Chinese Premier Zhou En-Lai, Secretary of State William Rogers and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger have tea during an intermission at a performance of the modern revolutionary ballet, "The Red Detachment of Women" in Beijing, China February 22, 1972.
AFP
4/20
Henry Kissinger, left, President Richard Nixon's national security adviser, and Le Duc Tho, member of Hanoi's Politburo, are shown outside a suburban house at Gif Sur Yvette in Paris, June 13, 1973, after a negotiation session, as Kissinger announced that they will later initial an agreement intended to tighten enforcement of the Vietnam Peace Agreement.
AP
5/20
US president Nixon's special advisor, Henry Kissinger (L) meets with Chinese Chairman Mao Sedong (R) as Premier Zhou Enlai looks on , February 17, 1973 in Beijing.
AFP
6/20
US National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger (R) and Soviet Foreign Affairs Minister Andrei Gromyko (L) attend the Middle East peace conference on December 21, 1973 in Geneva.
AFP
7/20
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev (L) meets US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in Moscow on March 25, 1974.
AFP
8/20
US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (L) speaks with US President Gerald Ford during the OTAN summit in Brussels on May 30, 1975.
AFP
9/20
French President Valery Giscard D'Estaing (C) speaks with US President Gerald Ford (R) and US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (L) on August 1, 1975 in Helsinki during the European Summit focused on Security and Cooperation.
AFP
10/20
US President Jimmy Carter (R) meets former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to discuss Middle East peace proposals at the White House in Washington on August 15, 1977.
AFP
11/20
Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone (L) and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger pose for photographers before attending a symposium on East-West relations at a hotel in Tokyo on March 17, 1989.
AFP
12/20
African National Congress President Nelson Mandela (R) gives former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (L) a welcome hug upon his arrival for their meeting on April 13, 1994 in Johannesburg..
AFP
13/20
Chinese President Jiang Zemin (L) talks to former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at a luncheon address to US business groups in New York, US on October 23, 1995.
Reuters
14/20
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (R) testifies alongside former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, US.
Reuters
15/20
Pope Benedict XVI greets former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger during a private meeting at his summer residence in Castelgandolfo, 28 September 2006.
AFP
16/20
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, greets former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during a meeting in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, July 13, 2007.
AP
17/20
Israel's President Shimon Peres (L) stands with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger after awarding him the Presidential Medal of Distinction at the fourth annual Presidential Conference in Jerusalem June 19, 2012.
Reuters
18/20
Aung San Suu Kyi (L), chairperson of Myanmar's National League for Democracy, speaks with U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger prior to the start of the third annual Global Citizen Awards Dinner in New York, US. September 21, 2012.
Reuters
19/20
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger speaks during a National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) conference November 5, 2019 in Washington, DC.
AFP
20/20
Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee Wang Yi (R) shaking hands with former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger (L) as they meet in Beijing on July 19, 2023
AFP

Sign up for the Daily Briefing

Get the latest news and updates straight to your inbox

Up Next