April 9
Nixon and Triangulation

President Richard Nixon shakes the hand of PRC leader Mao Zedong during Nixon's famous China trip, 1972.
The release and transcription of Nixon tapes from 1971-1973, scheduled for the next decade, will no doubt alter the picture once again of this most unusual President. The reading for today is all documents: we'll be going through two sessions between Nixon and Zhou En-lai during Nixon's China trip; then we'll look at another side of Nixon: his administration's involvement in the coup that toppled the democratically elected president of Chile, Salvador Allende.

DOCUMENTS:

Nixon-Zhou En-lai meeting (1), memcon
Nixon-Zhou En-lai meeting (2), memcon
Chilean coup: Henry Kissinger, National Security Action memorandum 93
NSC options paper: Chile 1970
CIA coup plotting: 1970
Henry Kissinger on a Chilean coup: Chilean general Roberto Viaux, 1970

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