The last surviving member of President Richard Nixon’s cabinet, Henry Kissinger shaped US foreign policy under the presidencies of both Nixon and Gerald Ford in the 1970s.

Born Heinz Alfred Kissinger in Bavaria in 1923, Henry, as we would come to be known, was a Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany in 1938.

Aged 20, he became a naturalised US citizen and fought for his adopted country during the Second World War.

After receiving his political science PhD from Harvard in 1957, Dr Kissinger worked as a consultant to government agencies and think tanks.

He then became foreign policy advisor to the presidential campaigns of Nelson Rockefeller, supporting his bids to the Republican nomination throughout the 1960s.

Although initially not a fan of Richard Nixon, Kissinger changed his mind when Nixon won the Republican nomination in 1968, and he developed a close relationship with the new president as his National Security Advisor and Secretary of State.

There was an air of secrecy to the way they conducted business.

In 1969, Kissinger hid from Congress the bombings of Cambodia and Laos which escalated the Vietnam War.

However, it was secret meetings with North Vietnam’s Le Duc Tho (Lay Dook To’) which led to the Paris Peace Accords, and saw US forces withdraw from Vietnam. Both men were subsequently awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize.

A proponent of Realpolitik, Kissinger’s major diplomatic achievements included soothing tensions with the Soviet Union through the policy of detente, opening up relations between US and China for first time in 23 years, and acting as intermediary to end the Yom Kippur War in the Middle East.

More controversially, the US helped General Pinochet overthrow the democratically elected Salvador Allende in Chile in 1973, yet backed the takeover of neighbouring Argentina by a military junta three years later.

Kissinger continued to work with presidents after his time in the White House – Ronald Reagan appointed him to head a commission on Central America in 1983 as civil wars and revolutions engulfed the region.

Kissinger kept active into the 21st century and beyond his 100th birthday.

He campaigned with fellow politicians William Perry, Sam Nunn and George Shultz for a world without nuclear weapons.

At the start of the 2020s he wrote books on the rise of AI and political leadership.

One of the most divisive politicians of the post-war era, Dr Henry Kissinger was a man many believe should have been held to account for war crimes. Others regard him as one of the most effective Secretaries of State in US history.

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