Henry Kissinger's legacy: Nobel prize winner, accused war criminal
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's death at 100 Wednesday has sparked conversation about the influential man's life and legacy.
Kissinger, who served as secretary of state and national security adviser under both Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, continued to be an active, albeit controversial, figure in political and diplomatic society for decades after.
Kissinger's first White House role was as national security adviser to Nixon, despite his initial skepticism of the man. Nixon appointed the German-born Kissinger to the role after he took office in 1969.
President Richard Nixon congratulates newly appointed Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on September 22, 1973 in Washington D.C. Kissinger's oath as U.S. Secretary of State was the first time a naturalized citizen had held this office.
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Kissinger was behind the U.S. opening diplomatic ties with China, U.S.-Soviet arms control talks and the signing of the Paris Peace Accords to end the Vietnam War, for which he earned the Nobel Peace Prize. However, he was also instrumental in the U.S. carpet-bombing of Cambodia during the war.
Presidential adviser Henry Kissinger, across table, and Le Duc Tho, foreground, head of the Hanoi delegation, initial the Vietnam peace agreement in the International Conference Center in Paris, Jan. 24, 1973.
AP
An unspecified guide and interpreter with Timothy Elbourne, of the presidential press office, Chinese government official Wang Hsiao-i, U.S. State Department official Al Jenkins, member of the NSC staff and Kissinger's secretary Julienne Pineau, Henry Kissinger, Secret Service official Jack Ready, and Winston Lord of the NSC staff, as Kissinger visits the Summer Palace in Beijing, China, in 1971.
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President Ford, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Mao Tse-Tung.
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President Richard Nixon and Russian leader Leonid Brezhnev watch as U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger signs the SALT weapons treaty on May 26, 1972 in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia.
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Kissinger and his first wife, Anne Fleischer, married in 1949. They divorced in 1964.
Anne Fleisher Kissinger, ex-wife of Henry Kissinger.
AP
Kissinger married his second wife, Nancy Maginnes, in 1974, by which time, he was secretary of state.
A Secret Service agent steadies Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on the boat dock as his wife, Nancy Kissinger, watches during their honeymoon in Acapulco, Mexico, on April 1, 1974.
AP
The two remained married for the rest of Kissinger's life.
Henry Kissinger and wife Nancy Maginnes attend the HBO Documentary screening of "Bobby Fischer Against The World" at the HBO Theater on May 24, 2011 in New York City.
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But prior to his second marriage, Kissinger became known for dating high-profile women while he was unmarried for his first years working in the White House. Women's Wear Daily, in a 1971 article, labeled him "Washington's greatest swinger."
In 1971, then-27-year-old actress Judy Brown said she'd been dating Kissinger for over a year, and was hurt by Kissinger calling her a "publicity-seeking maniac, The Associated Press reported at the time.
Actress Judy Brown in 1971
David F. Smith / AP
He also dated actress Jill St. John, who played the first American love interest in the James Bond franchise.
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and actress Jill St. John attend President Nixon's pool party for Leonid Brezhnev together. Undated.
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He was seen accompanied by other women throughout his early years in Washington, including CBS News television producer Margaret Osmer.
Henry Kissinger and CBS television producer Margaret Osmer at the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Sept. 8, 1971.
AP
Kissinger and his first wife, Nancy, had two children — Elizabeth and David. They are pictured next to Kissinger in this 1974 photo.
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is flanked by his children, Elizabeth, left, and David, as he poses with West German Foreign Minister Walter Scheel and others near Gymnich castle in Bonn on March 24, 1974. Kissinger made the stop on his way to Moscow.
Klaus Schlagmann/AP
Henry Kissinger and son David Kissinger at David's graduation from Concord Academy, Massachusetts, 1st June 1979.
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Kissinger didn't back away from foreign policy just because after leaving the government in 1977, continuing to dole out advice and speak with foreign leaders.
Jimmy Carter, Henry Kissinger and Walter Mondale meet in Plains, Georgia to discuss U.S. foreign policy on November 20, 1976.
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U.S. President Ronald Reagan and former Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger whisper during a meeting in 1983 in Washington, D.C.
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"I work about 15 hours a day," he told CBS News weeks before he turned 100, saying world leaders like China's Xi Jinping or Russia's Vladimir Putin would be likely to take his calls.
Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during their meeting at the Kremlin in 2005.
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Then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and retired Gen. Colin Powell during Bush's first presidential run.
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Barack Obama speaks with Henry Kissinger sitting beside him during a meeting on the new START Treaty on November 18, 2010, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
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Donald Trump speaks with Henry Kissinger during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 10, 2017.
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Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.
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