4. Richard Nixon’s foreign policy was deeply
indebted to the thinking of Henry
Kissinger, his national security adviser.
Kissinger advocated a use of realpolitik
when dealing with foreign powers. Ignore
ideology and political philosophy – do
what is best for the country, period. In
other words, be realistic about defining
and pursuing the best course of action.
Kissinger and Nixon decided that they had
to break down the barriers of enmity that
existed between the United States and the
two great communist powers, the U.S.S.R.
and China. To reduce tensions with the
Soviets (and, coincidentally, ease the
minds of the rest of the world), they
pursued the policy of détente, and were
able to negotiate not one, but two treaties
to reduce the threat of nuclear war (SALT I
and II). While these were steps in the
right direction, it didn’t change the fact
that even as Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev
shook hands, they still had a fist behind
their backs that was chock full of nukes.
4
5. Nixon was determined to travel to China in order
to “open” it to the West and in particular to the
United States.
When many of his advisers told him it would be
political suicide (‘People will say Dick Nixon has
gone soft on communism!’), Nixon countered that
his political career had been built on a foundation
of anti-communism, and that no one could
realistically accuse he, Nixon, of being soft on
communism – it simply wasn’t credible. And
besides, realpolitik was the guiding force here,
and he and Kissinger believed that being the first
Western nation to re-establish a relationship with
China was worth any degree of criticism that
might be brought against the president. So off
they went, Dick and his wife Pat (the image to the
right of Kissinger steering the boat is, of course,
an allusion to Kissinger as the chief architect of
Nixon’s foreign policy, and the old name for the
capital of China, Beijing, is Peking), and Nixon and
Mao Zedong met, and talked (through
interpreters) and the Nixon’s did all of the touristy
things like going to the Great Wall (next slide),
and Nixon’s visit became one of the great socio-
cultural milestones of the 1970s – so much so, in
fact that, an opera was written (and has been
staged many times) called Nixon In China. Have I
seen it – NO! The notion of ‘a’ Nixon singing and
dancing on stage makes me feel vaguely uneasy,
but next time they run it here in town – go, by all
means! (Next slides, and slide 13, if this
fascinates you, the meeting of “The King” and
“The Man” – you can google and find out ALL
about it!)
5
11. I just love this image and
had to share it with you –
Henry Kissinger’s
“realistic” approach to
foreign policy created so
many foreign policy
victories for the Nixon
administration in so short
a period of time, that
TIME portrayed him as
“The Great Kissinger,”
with the national security
adviser as a sort of
Houdini, pulling not a
pigeon, but the dove of
peace, out of his hat as
the leaders of the world’s
great powers look on in
wonder and appreciation.
11
13. Terrific political cartoon by Charles Sullivan commenting on the struggle between the President and Congress over whether President
Nixon would be compelled to turn over the tapes of his private conversations/meetings in the Oval Office. Nixon claimed they were his
personal property under “executive privilege,” and Congress begged to differ, as did the Supreme Court, which ordered the President to
comply, setting up the final act of the Nixon presidency…
14. Richard and Pat Nixon prepare to leave the White House by helicopter, thus ending the Nixon presidency, and
closing a chapter on one of the country’s most remarkable and problematic political careers.
15. Nixon…good guy or bad guy, he’s a very tough case to judge. Yes, he broke laws and tried to cover up what men
who worked under him in the Executive Branch did in his name (but without his knowledge), but…he also did a
lot of good. We would (maybe) not have had the EPA, affirmative action, tax loopholes used by big oil closed up,
an amendment to the Civil Rights Act to include women in the non-discrimination clause dealing with hiring
practices, SALT I and II, PBS…I mean, c’mon – no SESAME STREET?! Maybe that’s enough to swing Tricky
Dick into Heaven, right? ;^)
17. Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge, murderers of perhaps as
many as 2,000,000 of their own countrymen between 1975-79;
this was roughly 25% of Cambodia’s population at that time
17
18. The skeletal remains of many of the victims of the “Killing
Fields” of Cambodia, where most of the Khmer Rouge’s
slaughter took place. Look no further if this sort of thing is
upsetting to you, and if this one image bothered you, my
apologies.
18
21. If at all interested in cinematic treatments of what transpired in
Cambodia with the Khmer Rouge, and how it related to the Vietnam
War, see Roland Joffe’s Oscar-winning film The Killing Fields. And then
hunt around for Jonathan Demme’s film of Spalding Gray’s Swimming
to Cambodia, a memoir-as-monologue, performed live on stage, of
Gray’s experiences in Southeast Asia as a supporting actor in The
Killing Fields. What he saw, heard, and did there will mesmerize you,
at no point more so than in the segment where he describes what the
Khmer Rouge did to their fellow Cambodians…it’s one of the most
unforgettable segments of film I’ve ever seen, and it’s just a guy, sitting
at a table in front of an audeience and…telling stories.
But with Spalding Gray, that’s all it ever
needed to be.
21
22. Spalding Gray, 1941-2004, R.I.P.
I’m going to dedicate this, the first Slideshare
presentation that I ever made for my first online
class, to him – he was a pioneer in new ways to
communicate great truths to people.
22
24. The Energy Crisis: An Old War Report From the Front Lines, Filed by Your Fearless Leader
Some of you may be old enough to remember this. I’m 57 as of this writing (2022), and remember all too well waiting in line
for 2-3 hours each week to buy gas. All summer long. In the heat. With no air conditioning in my Mom’s little Opal GT
with the fake leather seats, and me, a sweaty little monster slipping around on the seat with a stack of Marvel comics. It
was surreal. I’d hang my feet out the window hoping for a bit of a breeze. You could only buy gas on odd- or even-numbered
days of the week in relation to the last number or letter on your license plate, so: on an even-numbered day, like the 4th, you
could buy gas if you had an even number or a letter of the alphabet that corresponded to ‘even,’ like ‘B’ or ‘D.’
It SUCKED. It BLEW. It was a SUPER-DRAG. It was AWFUL beyond your wildest imaginings and everyone had to deal
with it.
25.
26. The Environmental Protection Agency
In the early 1970s the good folks pushing for the passage of the EPA bill had the idea of hiring
photographers to create a photo-record to show the problems of the lack of federal environmental
protection regulations. Following are some of those images.
Long Island, New York
IMAGE 7
30. New York City – the smog at that time was as bad as it is in Beijing, China, today, where the
people have been wearing face masks on a daily basis for many years.
31.
32. If this sounds familiar in the year 2022, or over the last few years, it should, as the Trump
administration, like the Bush and Reagan administrations before it, couldn’t slash enough
environmental protections in the name of the almighty dollar, because for them, the only thing
that matters is the next election, and they can’t be bothered to care about the impact of their
decisions for more than about two decades down the road, and after all, why should they?
They’re all old dudes and they’ll be dead then, and the fate of the country, the world, is really
not going to be much of an issue for them, now, will it -- ? Note that this cartoon is from 2014,
and things have only gotten WORSE.
33. From this point forward the Slideshare is a work in progress, folks.
Proceed at your own risk.
YFL,
Dave ;^)
38. A commentary on the general Republican/conservative resistance to the ERA.
39. The status of the ERA by the time the movement ran out of steam in the late 1970s
as the country’s mood was taking a decisive turn towards the conservative.
40. Even Charles Schultz, the creator of ‘Peanuts’, tapped into the feminist mood
of the times…
