Why Henry Kissinger's Nobel Peace Prize Was So Controversial

Posted by Reinaldo Massengill on Thursday, May 2, 2024

The German-born Henry Kissinger was a key figure in the Nixon administration, which itself is remembered for having weathered its fair share of controversies – some successfully, others not so much. Perhaps the biggest sticking point of the Nobel Peace Prize controversy was that amid the negotiations to broker a ceasefire, Kissinger authorized a bombing raid on Hanoi, per CNBC. This was one of the reasons an op-ed in The New York Times would mockingly refer to the award as the Nobel War Prize.

In 1973, Kissinger's co-recipient Le Duc Tho was also critical of the decision and rejected the offer in a written reply that read in part, "peace has not yet really been established in South Vietnam ... Since the signing of the Paris agreement, the United States and the Saigon Administration continue in grave violation of a number of key clauses of this agreement. The Saigon Administration, aided and encouraged by the United States, continues its acts of war," (via The NYT).

As Secretary of State, Kissinger would authorize bombing raids in Cambodia meant to target the Khmer Rouge and the North Vietnamese. Meanwhile, Le Duc Tho was still working in government when North Vietnamese forces took Saigon, unifying the country and bringing an end to the war in 1975.

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