In it, Nixon argued that although Vietnam had occupied a significant part of the nation’s attention, development of the economies of the region should be important new goals of American diplomacy. In 1967, Nixon’s article “Asia After Vietnam” was published in the distinguished journal Foreign Affairs. Nixon ran as vice president alongside Dwight Eisenhower in the 1952 election. With the Democrats experiencing huge problems as a result of the Vietnam War, anti-war protests, race riots, and civil unrest at home, Nixon understood that the GOP had a strong chance of winning the election that year. By 1967, he was well poised to be the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 1968. However, he regained his stature in the Republican Party and faithfully supported Barry Goldwater in 1964. Kennedy) and in the California gubernatorial race (by Edmund “Pat” Brown) two years later seemed to end Nixon’s political career. ![]() His defeats in the 1960 presidential election (by John F. He played the role very well during his eight years as vice president. Nixon had been chosen as Dwight Eisenhower’s running mate in 1952 in part because of his anti-communist and conservative credentials. During his time in the House and Senate, Nixon fervently supported the domestic anti-communism that dominated the politics of the late 1940s and early 1950s, and he strongly backed the effort to keep Mao’s China out of the UN. At home, anti-communists charged the Truman administration and the Democrats with the “loss” of China to the communists. ![]() The Korean War (1950-1953) pitted the two countries against each other again after China intervened in the conflict to support North Korea. The Americans isolated the PRC and backed Taiwan as the legitimate government of China, refusing to allow the PRC a seat in the United Nations (UN). Mao turned to the Soviets for assistance in building up China, securing economic and military aid from Stalin in 1950. Chiang fled to Taiwan and installed his Guomindang government on the island. The communists had established the PRC in October 1949, after a long civil war that resulted in a communist victory over the American-backed government of Chiang Kai-shek. That Nixon would be the first president to visit “Red China” and negotiate with Mao would have shocked partisans on both sides in the 1950s. The thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations was part of a Nixon strategy known as détente, a means to lessen tensions between the two superpowers and possibly use the Soviets to apply pressure on their North Vietnamese ally to negotiate an end to the Vietnam War. ![]() For example, Nixon’s meeting with his Soviet counterpart Leonid Brezhnev in 1971 led to an arms control agreement known as the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT), cultural exchanges, and a trade agreement. Called summits, these meetings typically produced improved relations between the two superpowers. Meetings between American and Soviet leaders had happened many times over the preceding years. President Nixon shaking hands with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai immediately upon landing in China in 1972. Nixon met with Mao in the leader’s study, toured the Great Wall of China with First Lady Pat Nixon, and attended a banquet in his honor with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. ![]() The visit, which Nixon dubbed “the week that changed the world,” produced great theater. Use this Narrative toward the beginning of the chapter to discuss foreign policy during Nixon’s presidency and the importance of his visit to the People’s Republic of China.įrom February 21 to 28, 1972, President Richard Nixon became the first president to visit the People’s Republic of China (PRC), traveling there specifically for talks with communist leader Mao Zedong.
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