  henry alfred kissinger (; born heinz alfred kissinger ; may 27, 1923) is an american diplomat and political scientist. a recipient of the nobel peace prize (shared with le duc tho, who refused the prize), he served as national security advisor and later concurrently as secretary of state in the administrations of presidents richard nixon and gerald ford. after his term, his opinion was still sought by some subsequent u.s. presidents and other world leaders. a proponent of realpolitik, kissinger played a prominent role in united states foreign policy between 1969 and 1977. during this period, he pioneered the policy of dÃ©tente with the soviet union, orchestrated the opening of relations with the people's republic of china, and negotiated the paris peace accords, 
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