Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has died at the age of 100.

1 year ago
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Kissinger exerted extraordinary influence on global affairs under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, earning both a libel and a Nobel Peace Prize.
Henry Kissinger, a diplomat with thick glasses and a squeaky voice who dominated foreign policy as the United States withdrew from Vietnam and broke down barriers with China, died Wednesday, his consulting firm said. He was 100.
Tributes from around the world poured in. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the world had lost a "great diplomat" and Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Kissinger as a "wise and visionary statesman."
With his brusque but commanding presence and behind-the-scenes manipulation of power, Kissinger exerted extraordinary influence on global affairs under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, earning him both libel and the Nobel Peace Prize.
Decades later, his name still provoked passionate debate over long-past foreign policy benchmarks.
Kissinger's power grew during the Watergate upheaval, when the politically inclined diplomat assumed a role similar to that of co-president of a weakened Nixon.
"No doubt my vanity was hurt," Kissinger later wrote of his growing influence. "But the dominant emotion was a premonition of disaster."
A Jew who fled Nazi Germany with his family as a teenager, Kissinger earned a reputation as a respected statesman in his final years, giving speeches, advising both Republicans and Democrats, and running a global consulting business. He has made multiple appearances in President Donald Trump's White House.
But Nixon-era documents and records, as they circulated over the years, brought revelations - many of which Kissinger said - that sometimes put him in a harsh light.

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