Nixon Meets Mao 47 Years Ago

Above, Mao Zedong greets President Nixon on February 21, 1972.

At the time, I was in my senior year at Hawthorne High School (he high school of the Beach Boys) when President Richard Nixon made his historic trip to China in 1972. 

Today marks 47 years since Nixon met Mao Zedong during the trip. Despite that, I remember it well. I had an Asian studies class at school, so this trip to China couldn't have been more timely. We followed the news as the trip unfolded.

Here's what the Nixon Foundation posted about the sudden meeting:

One of the most incredible moments in the presidency of Richard Nixon was his unanticipated meeting with Chairman Mao Zedong, barely four hours after his arrival in Beijing on February 21st, 1972. President Nixon wrote in his memoirs, “I was getting ready to take a shower when Kissinger burst in with the news that Chairman Mao wanted to meet me.” When White House Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler heard about the sudden meeting, he bit off half of his tangerine, peel and all, in shock. By modern standards, the circumstances of the meeting were somewhat intimidating: only three Americans, the President, Henry Kissinger, and National Security Advisor Winston Lord, were present, while Red Army soldiers stood guard outside. 

Chinese officials were also surprised at Mao’s sudden invitation, since he was in such poor health. According to translator Tang Wensheng, “Chairman Mao had been unconscious nine days before the meeting,” and as soon as the meeting ended, he “sank back feebly in his chair, with a big oxygen mask on his pale face.”  

The conversation, supposed to last only ten minutes, lasted sixty five. 

To read more, go here.