Henry Kissinger

Born in Germany in 1923, Henry Kissinger escaped the Nazi regime to become a powerful and controversial U.S. statesman. He first rose to prominence as a Harvard University professor and advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. As national security advisor (1969-75) and secretary of state (1973-77) to Nixon and Gerald Ford, he negotiated arms treaties with the Soviet Union and earned a Nobel Prize for ending U.S. involvement in North Vietnam. After leaving the cabinet, he chaired the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America and served on the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.