The Nixon PresidencyThe Nixon Presidency

Foreign Policy Achievements

ACHIEVEMENTS

• In all fairness to Nixon, lets examine his achievements in foreign policy:– He had withdrawn U.S. troops

(slowly) from Vietnam - something LBJ was unable to do

–Détente

What is Détente?

• French word meaning “release from tension”– New type of diplomacy created

by Nixon and Kissinger

• Allowed for partial thawing of the Cold War– Recognized USSR was not

sole evil in the world

Creating a Balance of Power

• Détente played off the tension between the USSR and China - two communist states with history of rivalry

• Kissinger wanted to use “balance of power diplomacy” to maintain equilibrium

“The deepest international conflict in the world today is not between us and the Soviet Union but between

the Soviet Union and Communist China.”

Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s National Security Advisor, and later, Secretary of State (1973).

“Five Policemen” Concept

• Nixon believed five nations must cooperate militarily and industrially to maintain a global balance

• The five nations would police the world

THE ENFORCERS:

•Soviet Union

•United States

•Western Europe

•China

•Japan

Nixon and China• Since 1949 the US

recognized Taiwan as the official gov’t of China

• Beginning in 1971, Nixon attempted to open normal relations with the Chinese gov’t

Ping-Pong Diplomacy?

• China invited an American team to compete in tennis table tournament

• Nixon began easing trade relations

• July 1971: Nixon announced plans to visit China

Nixon and the Soviet Union• Following the China visit,

Nixon made a trip to the USSR– Agreed on some missile

limitation– Agree on combined space

programs– Agreed to loosen trade

restrictions

Berlin Agreement of 1972

• Soviet leader Brezhnev and Nixon agreed on Berlin policy:– eased travel restrictions between

East and West Berlin– US recognized East German

government– US abandoned plan to reunify

Germany

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) of 1972

• First step by US and USSR to reduce threat of nuclear war– Created ceiling on production of intercontinental

ballistic missiles and sub-launched warheads– Restrict anti-ballistic missiles– Each nation limited to two defense complexes

• SALT I did little to limit total offensive power, but did demonstrate détente was possible

Why did Nixon go from Commie-hater to lover?

• Realism. China and Russia were not going to go away

• Press coverage: it was an election year

• Bargaining chip with Soviet Union: USSR would fear a China-US alliance

• Nixon could get away with it: Nobody would accuse Nixon of being soft on communism