Friday, February 21, 2025
Tea for two in '72
It was 53 years ago that President Nixon had tea with Mao. As I recall, Air Force One, the 707 version, landed in China and I watched it while eating breakfast with my parents on TV.
— Silvio Canto. Jr. (@silvio_canto) February 21, 2025
It was shocking, and happening in an election year with most of the troops out of Vietnam. Does…
It was 53 years ago that President Nixon had tea with Mao. As I recall, Air Force One, the 707 version, landed in China and I watched it while eating breakfast with my parents on TV.
It was shocking, and happening in an election year with most of the troops out of Vietnam. Does it get any better than that? After all, who would have believed that the anti-communist Nixon would shake hands with Mao? But he did and we saw images of the President and First Lady walking around China. Again, who saw that coming?
President Nixon paved the way for the China of today. In other words, cars instead of bicycles and skyscrapers instead of simple buildings. It also contributed to the outsourcing of thousands of manufacturing jobs, i.e. “Made in China” is everywhere! And most damaging of all, China is now a full adversary on the economic front and all those aircraft carriers that they are putting out to sea.
Nixon and Mao are now gone. Nixon in 1994 and Mao a few years after this visit. So what was the impact of that visit? I always enjoy reading articles about how the visit happened in the first place. This is from the Nixon Foundation:
On July 15, 1971, President Nixon — broadcasting live from studios in Los Angeles — sent a tremor through the Cold War world, announcing that he’d be visiting the People’s Republic of China early the following year.
The move proved to be a geopolitical game changer.
When President Nixon took the oath-of-office in January 1969, the Vietnam War was raging. He wanted to bring the nation beyond the decade long morass that was draining political capital and resources abroad, and intensifying social strife at home.
For the 37th president, rapprochement with China would help the United States end the war through diplomacy with a more powerful Communist country in Southeast Asia. It would also put pressure on the Soviet Union, whose relations were frayed with the PRC following clashes on its eastern border, make progress on the limitations of nuclear arms, and peace in parts of the world where it continued to be engaged.
After a series of carefully calibrated moves through PRC allies Romania and Pakistan, President Nixon landed in Peking in February 1972. He stepped off Air Force One, extended his hand to Premier Chou en-Lai, and ended nearly a quarter-century of non-communication.
Memorialized by the president as The Week that Changed the World, the trip culminated in the announcement of the joint US-China Communiqué in Shanghai.
Both sides agreed to articulate their substantial differences, make progress towards normalized relations, and refrain from seeking hegemony in the Asia Pacific region.
The most significant development came from the United States on the issue of its democratic ally Taiwan, affirming that “there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China,” and that a peace be settled by Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait.
In August 1974, when President Nixon resigned, his successor President Gerald Ford sent a personal letter to Chairman Mao Ze Dong pledging to continue on the path to stronger relations with the PRC, a policy still maintained by the White House today.
So the question remains. What did we get out of this visit? It’s a close call and will continue to be as China expands and builds all that infrastructure in Latin America. On the other hand, maybe China would have grown anyway without the visit. We will never know, but it was a consequential trip and one that will consume analysts for years.
Last, but not least, the phrase “Nixon to China” is now part of our political lexicon. You hear it every time that a politician goes against his base.
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We remember Tommy Henrich (1913-2009)
We remember Tommy Henrich, who was born in Ohio this week in 1913 and died in 2009. Heinrich played on some of the greatest Yankees teams of the 20th century. His teammates were Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Joe Gordon, Bill Dickey, Phil Rizzuto, and Yogi Berra. He wore #7 for a while but never played with Mickey Mantle, who broke in the lineup in 1951, after Henrich was gone.
Like so many other very good Yankees, Henrich was always in the background of the aforementioned superstars. Nevertheless, he had a great career. It was cut short by three seasons of military service, 1942–45. Henrich retired with a .282 average, 183 HR and 795 RBI in 1,284 games. Losing three years to World War II probably cost him joining the “250 HR & 1,000 RBI” club.
Tommy was in the middle of one of the greatest sports accomplishments of the 20th century. He was a key player in Joe DiMaggio’s 56-hitting streak, as Rob Edelman wrote:
In 1941 Henrich played a significant role in keeping alive Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. On June 26, the 38th game of the streak, the Yankee Clipper was still hitless as the team came to bat in the last of the eighth inning holding the lead against the St. Louis Browns.
DiMaggio was due up fourth in the inning, with Henrich scheduled right before him. With one out and Red Rolfe on first, McCarthy ordered Henrich to bunt to avoid a possible ground-ball double play — and not allowing his teammate a final at-bat. Henrich was thrown out, but Rolfe took second.
DiMaggio slammed Elden Auker’s first pitch for a double, and the streak remained intact.
Yankees broadcaster Mel Allen began calling Henrich “Old Reliable” — the name of a train that ran from Ohio to Alabama and was celebrated for always being on time — because of his propensity for hitting in the clutch.
In other words, the streak could have ended at #38, and we would not be talking about it. DiMaggio would have never reached #41 or #44, the two records ahead of him.
Back in 1941, it was his legs that kept the inning going. DiMaggio then hit a double and the streak kept going.
After baseball, Tommy owned some beer distributorships and coached a bit. He was active in The Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing.
I wonder if DiMaggio took him out to dinner after that game.
1972: Nixon to China
Nevertheless, it was an amazing moment this week in 1972.
1972: President Nixon and the China moment
We celebrate another anniversary of President Nixon's trip to China.
It is still one of the most incredible presidential trips in US history. Can you think of another one more unexpected or revolutionary?
President Nixon built his career as an anti-communist and strong supporter of the US military superiority. He was the last person in the world that any would have expected to go to China and shake Mao's hand.
Well, he did and changed international relations.
His visit to China also created the political phrase or the "Nixon to China" moment. It became a phrase to describe a presidential move that went against conventional wisdom.
Pres. Nixon's motives were to improve relations with China and divide the two communist superpowers. He also understood the potential of China, diplomatically and economically. Eventually, we developed our relationship with China but kept strong ties with Taiwan with care and diplomacy.
Today, China is an emerging superpower with a billion people and lots of challenges. Time will tell whether China will continue to grow or blow up from within. Again, time will tell.
Nevertheless, it was an amazing moment this week in 1972.
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1972: President Nixon in China
It caught everyone by surprise. It must be one of the best kept secrets in modern history.
Nobody expected such a move from President Nixon, the anti-communist. At the same time, it was proof of President Nixon's brilliance and his ability to look forward and promote US interests.
Again, I'm old enough to remember watching the scenes on the evening news. It's amazing how China has changed, from all of those people in bicycles to huge cities polluted by industries and cars.
Was it the right thing to do? We are still debating that today.
We remember Henry Kissinger, who became Secretary of State a year later in 1973. Also, President Nixon discussed the trip in his memoirs.
Nixon to China and many balloons later
On this day in 1972, President Richard M. Nixon made history, and showed some political flexibility, by landing Air Force One in China. It was the story of the year and one of the most interesting foreign policy decisions of the postwar period, especially because of Nixon’s political past.
By any account, Nixon seemed an unlikely candidate to improve relations with Red China, as it was known back then. We remember that during the 1940s and 1950s, Mr. Nixon was a vocal cold war warrior and had condemned the Truman administration for “losing” China to the communists in 1949. And we remember his comments in 1959 when VP Nixon expressed doubts about Fidel Castro.
President Nixon’s move paved the way for the China of today – in other words, cars instead of bicycles. Skyscrapers instead of simple buildings. It also contributed to the outsourcing of thousands of manufacturing jobs – i.e., “Made in China” is everywhere!
The jury is still out on just how much the U.S. got out of this arrangement. At the same, most Americans are not old enough to remember Mao or the China that some of us remember as kids. Back then, it seemed that all Chinese men and women wore the same outfits. Today, they are as fashionable as anyone in the West.
Was it the right thing to do? We are still debating that today. In retrospect, the trip to China was also about dividing the USSR from Red China. I just don’t remember anyone back then saying opening up China would turn it into a manufacturing powerhouse with a huge, and expanding, navy.
The debate will continue and Chinese ships will keep visiting places all over.
1972: The 'Nixon to China' moment
It was the story of the year and one of the most interesting foreign-policy decisions of the post-war period. After all, who would have believed that anti-communist Nixon would shake hands with Mao?
President Nixon's move paved the way for the China of today. In other words, cars instead of bicycles and skyscrapers instead of simple buildings. It also contributed to the outsourcing of thousands of manufacturing jobs, i.e. "Made in China" is everywhere!
The jury is still out on just how much the U.S. got out of this arrangement. Nevertheless, as Seth Mandel wrote a couple of years ago, President Nixon left us with a great expression, or ".....any major politician’s rebuke to his ideological compatriots, no matter how superficial, is a “Nixon-to-China moment.”"
P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.