A leading expert on international relations since the 1950s, Henry Kissinger was secretary of state under Presidents Richard Nixon (1913-1994) and Gerald Ford (1913-). His impressive career also includes becoming the co winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973. Henry Kissinger was born Heinz Alfred Kissinger on May 27, 1923, in Furth, Germany. He was the first of the two sons of Paula Stern Kissinger and Louis Kissinger.
His father was a teacher who lost his job and career when the Nazis, carrying out the orders of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), began persecuting (causing people to suffer for their beliefs) Jewish people in Germany. (The Nazi party was in control of the government of Germany from 1933 to 1945.) As a boy Kissinger loved sports but was a better student than athlete. When German anti-Semitism (hatred of Jewish people) increased, the family decided to leave Germany in 1938, moving first to England and then several months later to the United States.
Between 1952- 1969 he directed the Harvard International Seminar, led by a professor, conduct research, share findings, and contribute to discussions. In this position, he visited by many international figures with whom he would later deal as a foreign-affairs official.
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