Henry Alfred Kissinger was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and national security advisor from 1969 to 1975, in the presidential administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
Official portrait, c. 1973
Portrait of Kissinger as a Harvard senior in 1950
Kissinger being sworn in as Secretary of State by Chief Justice Warren Burger, September 22, 1973. Kissinger's mother, Paula, holds the Bible as President Nixon looks on.
Kissinger, shown here with Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong, negotiated rapprochement with China.
United States Secretary of State
The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government and the head of the Department of State. The office holder is the second-highest-ranking member of the president's Cabinet, after the vice president, and ranks fourth in the presidential line of succession; first amongst cabinet secretaries.
United States Secretary of State