Kissinger as National Security Adviser, 1968-1973

Henry Kissinger and American Power Osher Lifelong Learning 2018 1970 Nixon strategy: New Realism in foreign policy  1.) continued withdrawals – 150,000 – secret negotiations conducted by Kissinger in Paris  2.) invasion of Cambodia – – domestic reaction – Kent State  3.) China – no progress – Mao reverses view after Cambodia  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGBL AKq8xwc Kent State – May 4, 1970 Other Foreign Policy Frustrations and Achievements in 1970

 1.) Middle East – Continuing Violence, Jordanian Crisis  (Kissinger – “”You can’t lose them all.”)  2.) Soviet submarine base in Cuba – Kissinger uses “channel” to prevent it  3.) Chile – Allende’s Victory – Kissinger’s role in plotting a coup – killing of General Schneider – debate over Kissinger’s responsibility  4.) Increasing European Assertiveness, German Ostpolitik  5.) Lack of Agreement with Soviets on Arms Control – no summit  6.) Kissinger cements his importance to Nixon – seen as a media favorite and asset to the Administration Midterm elections – Republican losses

 1.) Republicans gained two seats in the Senate, but lost 9 in the House – Democratic margin in House elections increased from 1.1. million to 4.5 million

 2.) Nixon – thought he might be a one-term president; considering end of the war announcement – tells advisers to highlight Kissinger, because of media favoritism

 https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/educational-resources/bob- haldeman-s-audio-diary-entry-on-nixon-s-plans-for-withdrawal-from- vietnam

 Kissinger answers a question about the decent interval:

 https://history.state.gov/conferences/2010-southeast- asia/secretary-kissinger

 4.) Kissinger decides to stay

 19710116CBS 001.mpg Nixon’s Frustrations, Kissinger’s Reassurance

 Low point in the Nixon presidency, Laos invasion had gone badly, Republican congressional leaders wanted to set a date to get out of Vietnam, Nixon resented their pressure  19710226CBS 001.mpg

 http://nixontapes.org/hak/1971-04- 07_Nixon_001-010.mp3  Shortly after this speech, things began to break for Nixon – the Chinese approved a trip, the Russians wanted talks Opening to China SALT negotiations Failure in South Asia – the India-Pakistan War of 1971 and the “tilt” toward Pakistan Kissinger as Nixon’s “Secret Agent” – TV coverage TV coverage

 Favorable treatment of Kissinger’s Press Club speech:

 19720127CBS 001.mpg ht

 Kissinger in 1971 before China

 19710710CBS 001.mp4 The trip to China: Easter offensive, Nixon’s gamble

 1.) Nixon orders renewed bombing of North Vietnam and the mining of Haiphong harbor – against Kissinger’s advice

 2.) Soviets don’t cancel the summit

 3.) North Vietnam pressured to settle by Soviets and China The Soviet Summit McGovern’s Campaign – Come Home, America Kissinger’s – “Peace is at Hand” Press conference, Oct. 26, 1972

 http://nixontapes.org/hak/1972-10- 26_Nixon_032-063.mp3 Nixon Landslide – 1968 vs. 1972 Time “Men of the Year” 1972 Christmas bombing Paris Agreements of

 1.) North Vietnamese troops allowed to remain in the South

 2.) US troops withdrawn

 3.) US POWs returned

 4.) Thieu remains in power

 (Nixon’s secret/public assurances) Nixon’s Second Term Hopes

 1.) Year of Europe – planning for a new Atlantic Charter

 2.) Middle East settlement – secret negotiations with and

 3.) Diplomatic Recognition of China and full relations

 4.) A SALT II agreement with the Soviet Union Secretary of State, , October 1973 Kissinger in the Middle East, 1973-1976

 1.) Kissinger crafts the ceasefire that ends the Yom Kippur war of October 1973 – very favorable television coverage

 2.) Kissinger negotiates disengagement agreements between Israel and Egypt and Israel and

 19740529NBC 001.mpg

 3.) Kissinger establishes the United States as the “honest broker” for Middle East peace – pushes the Soviet Union out The Celebrity Diplomat – Dr. Kissinger Superman Kissinger Nixon’s Resignation – August 1974 Kissinger under attack

 1.) Congress challenges Presidential power – Democratic “Watergate class of 1974”

 2.) Opposition to détente among conservatives

 3.) Liberals challenge morality of policies toward dictatorships like Chile, Brazil, Argentina

 4.) Collapse in Vietnam , Controversy over Solzhenitsyn and detente Helsinki Accords Helsinki – the Highpoint of Detente

 1.) Soviet agreement on human rights questions

 2.) Controversies in the US – role of Henry Jackson, issue of Soviet Jews, Ford and Solhzhenitsyn Opposition to Angola policy, The Angolan Crisis – October-Dec. 1975

 1.) Three factions – MPLA (Soviet and Cuban), FNLA (US) and UNITA (US and South African  2.) Cuban intervention  3.) South African intervention  4.) Congress cuts off US efforts  5.) Kissinger now engages in diplomacy in South Africa, push for majority rule in Zimbabwe/Rhodesia Criticism over human rights and Chile: Kissinger and Pinochet Kissinger under attack TV reports

 19751205ABC 001.mpg Attacked from both sides of political spectrum Kissinger in Retirement

 1.) Carter - Shadow Secretary of State

 (Attacked in books – Heller and Shawcross)

 2.) Reagan – Adviser on the Soviet Union and Middle East – chair of the Central American Commission

 Attacked in Seymour Hersh, The Price of Power

 3.) Bush I – influence of protégés – Brent Skowcroft, Lawrence Eagleburger

 4.) Occasional Adviser – Clinton, Bush II, Obama

 Publication of Hitchens, The Trial of Softer Image

 Kissinger’s Public Service Ad after 9/11

 20011108CNN 001.mpg