On the evening of October 7, 2014, the American Academy in Berlin awarded the 2014 Henry A. Kissinger Prize to James A. Baker, III, the United States secretary of state from 1989-1992 and US secretary of the treasury from 1985-1988. The award is given in recognition of Secretary Baker’s outstanding contributions towards German reunification and the peaceful resolution of the Cold War, and in particular for his role in international negotiations following the fall of the Berlin Wall. “James A. Baker is a trusted friend, a remarkable public servant, and a seminal US Secretary of State,” Henry Kissinger said. “In a period of upheaval, when German reunification became possible, no one was confronted with a vaster array of challenges in so brief a period of time and handled them more masterfully.”
Earlier in the day, both Dr. Kissinger and Secretary Baker met with German President Joachim Gauck at his official Bellevue residence in Berlin, for a twentieth anniversary celebration for the American Academy in Berlin. President Gauck’s full speech can be read here.