Former American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger died at the age of 100. Kissinger was a German-born Jewish refugee who served under two presidents : Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
In the 1970s, Kissinger influenced US politics and world affairs. He travelled to Israel and Arab countries repeatedly in an attempt to bring peace to the Middle East. Kissinger also led secret talks with Communist China to bring it out of isolation.
In 1973 Henry Kissinger negotiated the Paris peace talks to get the United States out of the Vietnam War. This won him a Nobel Peace Prize.
Many world leaders including France’s Emmanuel Macron, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian president Vladimir Putin praised Kissinger for his ideas and diplomatic efforts to reach peace around the world
Henry Kissinger in 1973
Image: U.S. Department of State from United States, Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons
Words
- attempt = try
- diplomatic efforts = here: to try to do something peacefully
- former = in the past
- influence = the power to change the way a country thinks about something
- isolation = here:when you don’t have any contact with other countries
- led = here: was in charge of
- Nobel Peace Prize = prize given to a person who has done a lot to stop conflicts and wars
- negotiate = discuss something with other countries
- praise = to admire someone and respect them
- refugee = a person who has to leave their country because of a war or conflict
- repeatedly = over and over again
- secret = not many people know about something
- Secretary of State = head of a government department that deals with American relations with other countries
- world affairs = problems in the world