Timeline Timeline Timeline

Heinz Alfred Kissinger is born in Fürth, Germany on May 27, 1923

The Nuremburg Laws, excluding German Jews from many activities, go into effect

The Kissinger family flees Nazi Germany for New York City, by way of London (August – September, 1938)

Kristallnacht (November 9)

Adolf Hitler invades Poland in September, beginning World War II

Kissinger graduates from New York City’s George Washington high school and enrolls in City College of New York

Kissinger enters Harvard University, where he goes on to earn his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D.

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower says the fall of French Indochina to communists could create a “domino” effect in Southeast Asia, a theory that guides U.S. thinking on Vietnam over the next decade.

The Vietnam War begins

Kissinger publishes his book Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy, earning him acclaim in academic circles

The first U.S. soldiers are killed in South Vietnam

Kissinger serves as a senior foreign policy advisor on Gov. Nelson Rockefeller’s presidential campaign (and again in 1964 and 1968)

Kissinger advises President John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson on foreign policy

Rockefeller loses the Republican primary and Kissinger then joins the campaign of the nominee, Richard Nixon

Nixon visits China (February), becoming the first U.S. president to visit the People’s Republic of China

Kissinger helps to achieve détente between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the signing of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (Salt I) and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (May)

Kissinger is sworn in as the 56th Secretary of State (Sept. 22)

Kissinger receives the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Paris Peace Accords

U.S. military involvement in Vietnam ends due to congressional action

U.S. involvement in Vietnam War ends

Kissinger receives Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award

Kissinger leaves office as Secretary of State

Kissinger founds the international consulting firm, Kissinger Associates

President Ronald Reagan appoints Kissinger to chair the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America

Under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush, Kissinger serves on the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board

Kissinger receives the Medal of Liberty

Kissinger continues to write and lecture prolifically, while continuing to travel around the world

Kissinger publishes Years of Renewal, the concluding volume of his memoirs

Kissinger publishes the New York Times bestseller, On China

Kissinger publishes World Order, also a New York Times bestseller

“The Lessons of Henry Kissinger” appears in The Atlantic, detailing Kissinger’s modern-day views on the future of Russia, the rise of China, and events in the Middle East

Kissinger publishes The Age of AI: And Our Human Future with Eric Schmidt and Daniel Huttenlocher

Kissinger publishes Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy

Dr. Henry Kissinger, a respected American scholar and statesman, died on November 29 at his home in Connecticut. Read more.