Richard Nixon had been plotting his move for years. Looking back, it seemed as though his entry onto the national stage had been crafted with this in mind. He himself didn't claim such prescience, although he had to admit that his early reputation for strident anticommunism was the perfect setup for what he was about to do.
For all the Nixon administration's achievements, it will be remembered for the Watergate break-in and Nixon's role in the coverup. But time has also brought more attention to the historic detente with China at a time when this would have been thought impossible. The personalities of Nixon and his National Security advisor Kissinger partly explain why it was pulled off. They were different in many ways and in the end were not even close. But their world views and strong anticommunist feelings were part of their lifetime commitment to confront any move on the part of Russia to influence other nations.
As much as Nixon was beginning to see the rigid anticommunist position as an outdated guiding principle, he never completely abandoned this stance. In prolonging the Vietnam War or supporting the moderate Jordanian government in its internal struggle with the Palestinians and the simultaneous threat coming from the Soviets sponsored Syria-Iraq alliance, there were a number of examples where he and Kissinger were determined to prevent Russia's expanding influence. Nixon and Kissinger thought the Soviets had designs on setting up missile bases in the region.
Even Nixon's attempts to prevent the elected Salvatore Allende from assuming the presidency of Chile showed that Nixon wanted no part of a Marxist leading a nation in South America. For Nixon and Kissinger an undemocratic manipulation of Chile's politics by the U.S. was preferred to having a socialist Chile and possible ties to communist Russia.
With Kissinger's passing this year, there was a lot said in supporting his statesmanship in navigating Nixon's foreign policy. But there were other voices criticizing the cynical and manipulative behavior of the time willing to sacrifice the lives of innocents for the strategic gains they deemed necessary to preserve America's t security. Some have claimed his actions were that of a war criminal. This sort of prosecution however was not going anywhere.
Opening relations with China have giving Americans a lot of Chinese made products, trade struggles and tariff conflicts, but all in all positive outcomes. We also have Elon Musk playing nice to Xi for whatever that is worth.
I must say Nixon and Kissinger had great talents and those qualities are so important to have in this nation's leaders. There may be ideological differences, but let's respect skillfulness in leading a complex nation in a troubled world.
For all the Nixon administration's achievements, it will be remembered for the Watergate break-in and Nixon's role in the coverup. But time has also brought more attention to the historic detente with China at a time when this would have been thought impossible. The personalities of Nixon and his National Security advisor Kissinger partly explain why it was pulled off. They were different in many ways and in the end were not even close. But their world views and strong anticommunist feelings were part of their lifetime commitment to confront any move on the part of Russia to influence other nations.
As much as Nixon was beginning to see the rigid anticommunist position as an outdated guiding principle, he never completely abandoned this stance. In prolonging the Vietnam War or supporting the moderate Jordanian government in its internal struggle with the Palestinians and the simultaneous threat coming from the Soviets sponsored Syria-Iraq alliance, there were a number of examples where he and Kissinger were determined to prevent Russia's expanding influence. Nixon and Kissinger thought the Soviets had designs on setting up missile bases in the region.
Even Nixon's attempts to prevent the elected Salvatore Allende from assuming the presidency of Chile showed that Nixon wanted no part of a Marxist leading a nation in South America. For Nixon and Kissinger an undemocratic manipulation of Chile's politics by the U.S. was preferred to having a socialist Chile and possible ties to communist Russia.
With Kissinger's passing this year, there was a lot said in supporting his statesmanship in navigating Nixon's foreign policy. But there were other voices criticizing the cynical and manipulative behavior of the time willing to sacrifice the lives of innocents for the strategic gains they deemed necessary to preserve America's t security. Some have claimed his actions were that of a war criminal. This sort of prosecution however was not going anywhere.
Opening relations with China have giving Americans a lot of Chinese made products, trade struggles and tariff conflicts, but all in all positive outcomes. We also have Elon Musk playing nice to Xi for whatever that is worth.
I must say Nixon and Kissinger had great talents and those qualities are so important to have in this nation's leaders. There may be ideological differences, but let's respect skillfulness in leading a complex nation in a troubled world.