Every 50 years, the Nobel Committee publishes information on nominations. And with it comes out various incidents. Those topics add to the discussion. As it happened this time. The Nobel Peace Prize awarded to then US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in 1973 was a controversial award.
This information came after the information regarding the nomination of Henry Kissinger became public. However, it is known that the Vietnam War lasted from 1955 to 1975. This bloody conflict lasted for two decades between communist North Vietnam, supported by Soviet Russia and China, and South Vietnam, supported by the United States.
Although a participant in the Cold War from the beginning, the United States became directly involved in this war in the 1960s. Due to the massive loss of lives of the US troops and the pressure on the economy, this anti-war protest became strong among the US people in the early seventies. The morale of the US troops began to break down. All in all, withdrawing from Vietnam was the only option for the US. Henry Kissinger did just that.
He was instrumental in bringing US forces back from the battlefield in Vietnam. That’s why Henry Kissinger signed the Paris Peace Treaty in 1973 with Vietnam’s general, diplomat and politician Le Dak Tho.
Soon after, Kissinger and Tho were jointly nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for this agreement. However, Tho refused to accept the award. But Kissinger accepted it. Later, when controversy started over it, the then US Secretary of State wanted to return the award. However, the Nobel Committee did not want to take it back.
Citing documents released by Reuters, two days after the Paris Peace Agreement, the names of Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho were proposed for the Nobel Peace Prize on January 29, 1973.
The key point of the Paris Agreement was the withdrawal of the United States from the Vietnam War. But because of this agreement, peace will not return – Le Duc Tho refused to accept the Nobel Prize.