Nixon and China: 50 Years Later

From the moment U.S. President Richard Nixon landed in China on February 21, 1972, he understood that global politics would undergo a transformation that would last well into the 21st century and beyond. Indeed, even before that dramatic historic moment, Nixon envisioned China’s rise in an article he wrote in Foreign Affairs in 1967. And in his post-presidential years, he wrote a series of books in which his view of China’s place in global politics was further refined in response to geopolitical developments.

Fifty years after the “opening” to China, it is worth revisiting Nixon’s evolving estimate of U.S.-China relations in the context of global geopolitics.

It is a shame that Nixon never wrote a book specifically about China. It would have been the crowning achievement of his post-presidential writings. Instead, to analyze Nixon’s worldview of China it is necessary to delve into all of his post-presidential books, from “RN” (his memoirs) to his last book “Beyond Peace,” which he completed shortly before his death in 1994.

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