A one-and-a-half year search by the Government Department has failed to find a successor to fill the four-year vacancy left by Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger '50, former professor of Government.

Harvey C. Mansfield, chairman of the Government Department, said yesterday that a department search committee reviewed all potential candidates for Kissinger's former position, but found "no one qualified for the task at this time."

'Recognition'

Kissinger left a tenured chair in the Government Department in 1968 on a two-year leave of absence to work as a foreign policy advisor for President Nixon. When the leave of absence expired in 1970 the Government Department voted to extend it for two extra years "in recognition of Kissinger's qualities."

Kissinger notified the department in January, 1972 that he would not be returning to Harvard.

Kissinger Disliked

Robert L. Jervis, associate professor of Government, said yesterday that the department was being "very picky" in its search for Kissinger's successor. "They disliked him personally when he was here, and his academic record is not all that good, but now that he is famous they are being very careful," Jervis said.

Jervis was one of those considered for the position by the Government Department.

Mansfield agreed that Kissinger's reputation was making the search for his successor "more difficult." He said that the position requires "a thorough knowledge of diplomatic history, West European relations and strategic policy."

Mansfield said that the position will remain vacant "indefinitely." "There is no pressure to hire a replacement now and I do not expect any change next year," he added.