Henry Kissinger, singular US diplomat, dead at 100

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00:00 For better or worse, he was a giant in American politics. Henry Kissinger was

00:06 never president of the United States, but he shaped world events just the same.

00:10 Serving as US Secretary of State for both Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford from

00:15 1973 to 1977, Kissinger formulated a policy of detente, seeking to dial back

00:23 tensions with communist regimes. He was credited with achieving strides in US-

00:28 China relations and brokering peace with so-called shuttle diplomacy in the

00:34 Middle East. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 for his part in trying to end

00:40 the war in Vietnam, helping to negotiate a ceasefire.

00:44 When I shall receive the award, together with my old colleague in the search for peace in Vietnam,

00:53 silly ducktoe, I hope that that occasion will at last mark the end.

01:02 But it did not mark the end. The ceasefire didn't hold and the war in

01:07 Vietnam raged on. It was a premature decision from the Nobel Committee that

01:11 prompted two members to resign in protest. His legacy is also tied to a

01:16 series of coup d'etat across Latin America during the 1970s, in which the

01:22 US backed the overthrow of democratic governments and the assassinations of

01:27 leftist leaders, conflicts in which tens of thousands of people were killed.

01:32 Heinz Alfred Kissinger was born in Germany in 1923 into a Jewish family and

01:38 fled to the US when he was just 15 to escape persecution from the Nazis.

01:43 He became a naturalized US citizen when he was 20. Drafted into the army in 1942,

01:50 he saw battle during World War II. He would go on to attend Harvard University

01:54 as an undergraduate and for his PhD, and he would eventually teach there.

02:00 Focused on foreign policy, Kissinger worked on the presidential campaigns of Nelson

02:04 Rockefeller before meeting Richard Nixon and becoming a part of his administration.

02:08 I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.

02:13 When Nixon resigned as a result of the Watergate scandal, Kissinger would stay on in

02:18 his role, serving under Gerald Ford. Speaking to France 24's Rob Parsons in

02:23 2009, Kissinger, who never lost his German accent, recalled the moment he

02:29 learned that the Berlin Wall had come down.

02:32 Well, I thought in a historic sense it would happen.

02:36 I was stunned and I then watched for a day on television from Hawaii the

02:46 outpouring of one of the few genuine moments where people came across both

02:56 sides of the dividing line.

02:58 Once out of the White House, Kissinger would go on to advise many other US presidents and have a part in shaping world events.

03:06 George W. Bush sought his advice before going to war in Iraq.

03:11 It was a war Kissinger at first advocated, but he would admit years later

03:15 that a US military victory there was not possible.

03:19 Even into his 80s and 90s, Kissinger was sought out by the White House as a trusted voice.

03:25 Almost every president since Nixon and Ford has sought his counsel on matters of foreign policy.

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