The Richard Nixon Experience
It has been 50 years since the Administration of Richard Nixon. In that time, the left has waged a war on history to define Richard Nixon as a failure as President. For much of the half century Richard Nixon's name was synonymous with corruption and Government overreach. Podcasts, Documentaries, Cable Network specials have all controlled a narrative that cast Richard Nixon as the 20th centuries great American Villain.
But all of that has changed. First in 2013, Geoff Shepard, Richard Nixon's youngest Watergate Defense team member, petitioned the National Archives for access to sealed Watergate materials. What he found was a treasure of exculpatory material that has sent shock waves throughout the world of serious historians and legal scholars. Was there more to the story of Watergate? The documentation he exposed certainly seems to say so and that is not the only area where scholars are finding that there was way more to Richard Nixon's tenure than had ever been appreciated.
Richard Nixon worked to protect civil rights, advance women in government, protect the environment, set new higher standards for workforce safety, share revenues with local government, restructure the inner workings of the Federal Government, with plans to make it work more efficiently and more effectively and he even worked to provide a better healthcare and welfare system some 40 years ahead of his time. He opened up women's sports, lowered the voting age, ushered in an era of Judicial restraint, desegregated the Southern School system, poured millions into entrepreneurial programs for minorities, passed tough laws on organized crime, ended the draft and passed billions of dollars into cancer research that has led to most of the advances against the wide variety of deadly diseases we see today.
And that list does not even get into the Foreign Policy achievements we associate with his incredible five and a half years as President.
We thought it was time to tell that story and over the next year and half we will tell that story on this podcast. The story of the experience of a nation, at war in Vietnam, and often under siege, and at war with itself, here at home. An experience that created a great gash in the body politic that we are still healing from today. It is the story of the man who saved our Union from the growing disaster an upheaval experienced in this era.
The story of the experience of a nation as it wrestled with titanic changes in culture, the experience of a nation ripped from its foundations, and the experience of the historic leader that set that nation back on course to its rightful place as the beacon of light for freedom and prosperity to a troubled world . The experience of the late 1960's and early 1970's, the experience of the most divisive era in American history, other than the Civil War, the experience of the United States of America and the leader who fixed it all.
Welcome to "The Richard Nixon Experience" Podcast
(FAIR USE NOTICE : This presentation contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The use of this footage is for educational and historical commentary. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material.)
The Richard Nixon Experience
RICHARD NIXON 1972 The Foundation of Peace (Part 4 ) Welcome to China and the handshake that shook the World
"One story about the famous meeting with Richard Nixon remained a secret for many years, until Nixon’s memoirs appeared.
The story began in the mid-50’s, when America and China had no diplomatic relations, and there was great hostility between the two nations. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, at a meeting in Geneva, deliberately snubbed Zhou Enlai, refusing to shake his hand. He said that he and Zhou would only meet in a car crash.
Diplomatic memories are long; proud leaders rarely forgive an outright insult like this. So in 1972, Richard Nixon, who knew what had happened in Geneva, made his point as he descended the steps of Air Force One on the tarmac in Beijing.
Chinese protocol required that Premier Zhou Enlai, as the host, should extend a hand to his visitor first. But Nixon moved quickly and took Zhou’s hand warmly, before Zhou could extend it. In his memoir, Nixon said that he wanted to be the first to extend his hand.
Zhou smiled enthusiastically, and accepted the handshake. He was acutely aware of the significance of the President’s gesture, as were a few of those present who knew about the long-ago insult. The visit proceeded with great success.
So it was that the first breakthrough in relations between America and China began with an act of courage, and an act of forgiveness." ----- The Zhou Enlai Peace Institute
This is that story. The story of the day President Richard Nixon arrived in Peking, China with his hand extended and a vision for a better, safer world. This is how it began, 50 years ago this month.
Podcasts we love
Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.
BOB DOLE : The Life that Brought Him There
Randal Wallace