ABSTRACT
From the outset of the administration of President Richard Nixon Henry Kissinger was the National Security Advisor to President Nixon and devoted enormous time and energy to negotiating an end to the Vietnam War. Most of Kissinger’s efforts here involved secret negotiations with the North Vietnamese Premier Le Duc Tho conducted in Paris and elsewhere. Their efforts ultimately resulted in an agreement under which U.S. forces withdrew from South Vietnam and the war came to an end. For their effort both Kissinger and Le Duc Tho were jointly awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize. That same year Kissinger also became U.S. Secretary of State, retaining his additional post as Presidential National Security Adviser. In his letter of November 2, 1973 to the Nobel Committee, Henry Kissinger expresses his deep sense of this obligation, writing that “I am deeply moved by the award of the Nobel Peace Prize, which I regard as the highest honor one could hope to achieve in the pursuit of peace on this earth. When I consider the list of those who have been so honored before me, I can only accept this award with humility… I greatly regret that because of the press of business in a world beset by recurrent crisis I shall be unable to come to Oslo on December 10 for the award ceremony. I have accordingly designated Ambassador Byrne to represent me on that occasion.” 1
