U.S. Department of State from United States · Public domain

Fled Nazi Germany at fifteen, returned as a US Army interpreter, and became the most consequential and most bitterly disputed American diplomat of the century. Opened relations with China, negotiated détente with Moscow and the Paris accords ending American involvement in Vietnam, for which he shared the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize. The same record includes the secret bombing of Cambodia and support for coups and juntas in Chile, Argentina and East Timor; the argument over him is unresolved and probably unresolvable.