Henry Kissinger, 1923–2023
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger passed away on November 29, 2023, in Kent, Connecticut. He was 100 years old.
Sixty-five years ago, Center for International Affairs founder Robert R. Bowie assembled a small group of faculty members to support his vision for “advanced study of basic problems in international affairs.” Among them was Dr. Kissinger, then a young government professor who Bowie appointed associate director. Upon joining Bowie in 1957, Kissinger was already directing a range of related activities, including Harvard’s own International Seminar as well as its Defense Studies Program.
During his years at the Center, Kissinger focused on two areas of research fundamental to the Center’s founding mission: arms control and the domestic sources of West German foreign policy. The former proved most productive, and Kissinger’s 1961 book The Necessity for Choice: Prospects of American Foreign Policy synthesized contemporary thinking on deterrence and limited war—much of which derived from the community of scholars facilitated by the CFIA.
Always keen to influence policymaking, Kissinger briefly consulted for the Kennedy National Security Council from 1961–1962. Of course, this was merely preamble to his life’s most consequential work: his 1969 appointment as National Security Advisor under President Richard Nixon.
Kissinger leaves behind a complicated legacy that world leaders, scholars, and the global public will wrestle with for years to come.
—David Atkinson, Associate Professor, Department of History, Purdue University. Author of In Theory and In Practice: Harvard’s Center for International Affairs, 1958–1983 (Harvard University Press, 2008).
Caption
Henry Kissinger holds his last seminar at the CFIA on December 16, 1968, before leaving for Washington to become national security advisor in the Nixon administration. Credit: Center for International Affairs, Harvard University