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Nixon goes to China

The phrase "Nixon goes to China", "Nixon to China", or "Nixon in China"[1] is a historical reference to U.S. President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China, where he met with Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong. Its basic import is that Nixon's well-established reputation as an anti-Communist "hawk" gave him political cover against domestic criticism for a move that might have been portrayed as conciliating a geopolitical rival. The metaphor is often expressed as the observation "Only Nixon could go to China" or "It took Nixon to go to China".

For other uses, see Nixon in China (disambiguation).

Context[edit]

The phrase had originated before Nixon's actual visit to China. An early use of the phrase is found in a December 1971 U.S. News & World Report interview with US Senate Democratic Leader Mike Mansfield in a section summary lead that read, "'Only a 'Nixon' Could Go to China." The actual quote from Mansfield, which he prefaces by noting he had heard it said earlier, was "Only a Republican, perhaps only a Nixon, could have made this break and gotten away with it."[2] Nixon had developed an extensive record of opposing communism from his early days in the House of Representatives, including serving on the House Un-American Activities Committee, sponsoring the Mundt–Nixon Bill to require Communist Party members to register with the government, and personally spearheading the prosecution of alleged Soviet spy Alger Hiss.


When he met President Nixon, Chairman Mao also joked that "I voted for you during your last election." Nixon laughed and said "you voted for the lesser of two evils,"[3] and Mao replied, "I like rightists, I am comparatively happy when these people on the right come into power."[3][4][5]

The author and historian compared US President Chester Arthur reforming the civil service system in the early 1880s to Nixon going to China since Arthur himself had been a product of the spoils system and helped get rid of it by the Pendleton Act.[14][15]

Zachary Karabell

The decision of US President , a former World War II general, to confront the military-industrial complex.[16]

Dwight Eisenhower

Charles de Gaulle's decision to end the Algerian War, withdraw from Algeria, and give Algeria its independence in 1962 has sometimes been described as a Nixon-to-China moment since de Gaulle's reputation and prestige as a French war hero in World War II helped win support for Algerian independence from most of the French public.[17][18][19]

French President

US President (a southerner from Texas) pushing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through the US Congress. That is generally considered to be an act of political courage, as Johnson expected correctly that pushing it and other civil rights legislation would damage him and his Democratic Party with white southern voters.[16]

Lyndon Johnson

In popular culture[edit]

The expression was used in the 1991 film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country in which "only Nixon could go to China" is quoted by Spock as "an old Vulcan proverb".[28] In the context of the film, itself an allegory of thawing relations between the US and the former Soviet Union, it is given as a reason why James T. Kirk, a character with a history of armed conflict with the Klingons and a personal enmity for them after his son's death, should escort their chancellor to Earth for peace negotiations with the Federation.[29][30]

Triangulation (politics)

Sister Souljah moment

on YouTube

Nixon (film) – Nixon goes to China