Nixon Goes to China in he 60s?

If Richard Nixon were to win the 1960 election, what he still have the political clout to be able to buck the conventional wisdom and open up ties with China? Kennedy did not have this option, for a variety of reasons. First was the
"Only Nixon can go to China" trope. Kennedy just did not have the anti-Communist shops that Nixon did to provide him cover. Second, Eisenhower explicitly told Kennedy that the only thing he would oppose Kennedy on was any detante with China. Nixon could probably get away with annoying Eisenhower more than Kennedy could. Or could he?
 
Ike almost, as in almost, went to Moscow at the end of his second term, but those plans were torpedoed at the last minute by the Soviets shooting down a U-2. If that hadn't happened, then Eisenhower would have gone to the Soviet Union and it would have been perfectly acceptable for either Nixon or JFK to go to Beijing in the 1960s.
 
I don't know. It seems to me that Ike was more hostile to Red China than Red Russia. At least the Soviets has been comrades in arms to him during WW2, whereas the Chinese were directly fighting the Americans in Korea, and Ike tacitly supported any Taiwanese attempt to retake the mainland (not that they could, but he wasn't going to dtop them if they tried).

Still, him visiting Moscow would likely give at least rhetorical cover for his successor, undermining any criticism he might have.
 

Driftless

Donor
I think it would have been tough for Nixon to go 1969-70, more so from the Chinese side. Mao was still trying to reel in the excesses of the Red Guard and Cultural Revolution of 1966-68 then, and a Nixon visit then might have been taken as sending a mixed message on Capitalism. That early opening to the West could have shaken his power base.
 
I think it would have been tough for Nixon to go 1969-70, more so from the Chinese side. Mao was still trying to reel in the excesses of the Red Guard and Cultural Revolution of 1966-68 then, and a Nixon visit then might have been taken as sending a mixed message on Capitalism. That early opening to the West could have shaken his power base.

This scenario supposes as 61-69 presidency for Nixon, or at least a 61-65 presidency. So, that problem is not likely relevant.
 
This scenario supposes as 61-69 presidency for Nixon, or at least a 61-65 presidency. So, that problem is not likely relevant.

I don't know, I was listening to My History Can Beat Up Your Politcs from this week and it was on the Nixon goes to China thing. The gist of the podcast was that Mao had a big hand in returning the overtures, needing to to reassert authority after matters got out of his control during the Cultural Revolution. If Nixon had made the attempt when Mao still had absolute control in the early to mid 60s China may not be ready for the attempt. So, I think Nixon would probably still try, but would likely fail. Especially since Ike was still kicking around in the 60's an he specifically told Kennedy that he had his tacit support for foreign policy except any effort to talk to the Chinese; Ike may have a better relationship with Nixon, but I think Dick may back off if/when Ike turns up the pressure.
 
I don't know, I was listening to My History Can Beat Up Your Politcs from this week and it was on the Nixon goes to China thing. The gist of the podcast was that Mao had a big hand in returning the overtures, needing to to reassert authority after matters got out of his control during the Cultural Revolution. If Nixon had made the attempt when Mao still had absolute control in the early to mid 60s China may not be ready for the attempt. So, I think Nixon would probably still try, but would likely fail. Especially since Ike was still kicking around in the 60's an he specifically told Kennedy that he had his tacit support for foreign policy except any effort to talk to the Chinese; Ike may have a better relationship with Nixon, but I think Dick may back off if/when Ike turns up the pressure.

I also was listening to that. But the cultural revolution did not start till '66. However, if there were overtures from America in he wake of the Great Leap Forward, it could be one of the other Chinese leaders that agrees to meet with Nixon.
 
It would also depend if Nixon hires Kissinger, then a nobody, as secretary of state in the early Sixties to carry out China policy had he been elected over JFK.
 
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