My 7th living hero...

My 7^th living hero is Henry A. Kissinger…

     Mr. Kissinger was born on May 27^th 1923 in Furth Germany and he and his family immigrated to the United States in 1938. He served in the US army during World War 2 and in the post war government of Germany. He went on to receive a BA from Harvard University in 1952 and a PHD in 1954. .In 1954 he joined the Harvard faculty as an instructor and became a professor of government in 1962. He also was the director of the Defenses Studies Program from 1959 to 1962. He was also a consultant to various U.S. agencies on security matters from 1955 to 1969 spanning the administrations of Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. He was considered an authority on U.S. strategic policy.

     In 1968 Nixon appointed Kissinger as assistant for national security affairs and eventually served as head of the National Security Council from 1969 -75 and served as Secretary of State from September 1973 to January 20^th of 1977. In the Nixon administration his diplomatic achievements included China, the Soviet Union, Vietnam and the Middle East. His work with the Soviet Union initiated SALT 2 which was signed in 1972. His work with China opened the first US contact with China since the communist came to power. In Vietnam he was credited with the US withdraw and placement of South Vietnamese troops and in 1973 initiated a cease fire which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. As for the Middle East, after the Arab Israeli war he used shuttle diplomacy to promote a truce between the combatants. He left the Secretary of State position in 1977 but still served under the Reagan administration in 1983 to head a National Commission on Central America.