5. He Became The First US President To Visit A Nation The US Didn't Recognise As An Official State (China) In 1972... And The First To Visit All 50 States
Before he even took presidential office, Nixon made overtures to the Chinese, writing: "There is no place on this small planet for a billion of its potential most-able people to live in angry isolation." And so, after taking office, he used his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger to bypass Cabinet officials and orchestrate a presidential visit to China in February 1972 - despite the fact that the US officially recognised the Taiwanese government and not Chairman Mao's Communist administration. As well as meeting Mao, while in the Far East Nixon visited the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China, and the Ming Tombs. As a result, Nixon became the first US President to visit a state his government didn't even officially recognise. Interestingly, Nixon also became the first president to have visited all 50 US states. During his unsuccessful 1960 presidential campaign against John F Kennedy, Nixon went on a 50-state tour, including to the newly-commissioned states of Alaska and Hawaii.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
