consequences of bringing China out of its isolation, “whether we really want China to be a world power like the Soviet Union, competing with us, rather than their present role which is limited to aiding certain insurgencies.” 46 In the late summer of 1969, when Nixon had already sent word indirectly to the Chinese that the Americans would like to establish contact, Kissinger remained skeptical. As Nixon and his party were flying back from a world tour, Haldeman sat down beside Kissinger on Air Force One and remarked that Nixon intended to visit China before the end of his presidency. Kissinger smiled: “Fat chance.” 47
In his memoirs, Nixon talks of “the China initiative” and makes it clear that he was in control, giving Kissinger his instructions to pursue it. 48 Kissinger, by contrast, refers to “our China initiative” and claims that he and Nixon came to believe in the importance of the China opening independently. 49 It is no wonder, of course, that both men would want to take full credit for a bold move that transformed international relations—and that was one of the good news stories of a troubled presidency. It was, moreover, a pattern in their relationship. “P realizes K’s basically jealous of any idea not his own,” wrote Haldeman in his diary. 50 According to John Ehrlichman, Nixon’s domestic affairs adviser, one of the reasons Nixon taped his own conversations was to leave a record that his ideas were his own. 51 Nixon was livid when he had to share
Time
’s Man of the Year with Kissinger in 1972, and jealous and hurt when Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ending the Vietnam War. 52 He resented the way the press paid attention to Kissinger. “H,” he scribbled in one of his daily notes to Haldeman, “
Again
the theme of K’s power—Not helpful!” 53 From time to time he issued orders, which he must have known would never be carried out, telling Kissinger not to give interviews to the press or appear on television. 54
With Nixon, Kissinger was always deferential, sometimes to a fault. “When I’d be talking to Henry,” a friend of Nixon’s remembered, “and the president would telephone, his voice would shake; the whole tone of his voice would change.” 55 Kissinger understood better than most the president’s insecurities and his insatiable need for reassurance. He assured Nixon that he was a tough leader. “It was extraordinary!” he told Nixon in his first year in office, after the president met with the Soviet ambassador. “No President has ever laid it on the line to them like that.” 56 Nixon, Kissinger insisted, was a success. In 1971, for example, the president gave one of his talks to the American people about Vietnam. The broadcast was at 9:00 P.M., and at 9:35 Kissinger’s first phone call came in: “This was the best speech you’ve given since you’ve been in office.” Kissinger’s second call was at 10:21; he made another at 10:35 and yet another at 11:13. There were more the next day. This was not unusual; there had been many other Nixon speeches and equally fulsome praise. Kissinger knew what Nixon wanted to hear: that he was wise and statesmanlike and, as important, that the public was aware of it. 57 In 1982 Kissinger ran into John Ehrlichman in Los Angeles while the legal struggle over access to the Nixon tapes was still going on. “Sooner or later those tapes are going to be released, and you and I are going to look like perfect fools,” Kissinger said. Speak for yourself, Ehrlichman thought to himself. 58
Away from Nixon, Kissinger was less polite. “The madman” or “our drunken friend,” he would say when Nixon had been especially rambling. 59 At Georgetown dinner parties, Kissinger would poke fun at Nixon’s foibles and give the impression that he was trying hard to rein in the administration’s wilder policies. Kissinger was a hawk in the White House, Haldeman later wrote, but a different person in the evenings.
In his memoirs, Nixon talks of “the China initiative” and makes it clear that he was in control, giving Kissinger his instructions to pursue it. 48 Kissinger, by contrast, refers to “our China initiative” and claims that he and Nixon came to believe in the importance of the China opening independently. 49 It is no wonder, of course, that both men would want to take full credit for a bold move that transformed international relations—and that was one of the good news stories of a troubled presidency. It was, moreover, a pattern in their relationship. “P realizes K’s basically jealous of any idea not his own,” wrote Haldeman in his diary. 50 According to John Ehrlichman, Nixon’s domestic affairs adviser, one of the reasons Nixon taped his own conversations was to leave a record that his ideas were his own. 51 Nixon was livid when he had to share
Time
’s Man of the Year with Kissinger in 1972, and jealous and hurt when Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ending the Vietnam War. 52 He resented the way the press paid attention to Kissinger. “H,” he scribbled in one of his daily notes to Haldeman, “
Again
the theme of K’s power—Not helpful!” 53 From time to time he issued orders, which he must have known would never be carried out, telling Kissinger not to give interviews to the press or appear on television. 54
With Nixon, Kissinger was always deferential, sometimes to a fault. “When I’d be talking to Henry,” a friend of Nixon’s remembered, “and the president would telephone, his voice would shake; the whole tone of his voice would change.” 55 Kissinger understood better than most the president’s insecurities and his insatiable need for reassurance. He assured Nixon that he was a tough leader. “It was extraordinary!” he told Nixon in his first year in office, after the president met with the Soviet ambassador. “No President has ever laid it on the line to them like that.” 56 Nixon, Kissinger insisted, was a success. In 1971, for example, the president gave one of his talks to the American people about Vietnam. The broadcast was at 9:00 P.M., and at 9:35 Kissinger’s first phone call came in: “This was the best speech you’ve given since you’ve been in office.” Kissinger’s second call was at 10:21; he made another at 10:35 and yet another at 11:13. There were more the next day. This was not unusual; there had been many other Nixon speeches and equally fulsome praise. Kissinger knew what Nixon wanted to hear: that he was wise and statesmanlike and, as important, that the public was aware of it. 57 In 1982 Kissinger ran into John Ehrlichman in Los Angeles while the legal struggle over access to the Nixon tapes was still going on. “Sooner or later those tapes are going to be released, and you and I are going to look like perfect fools,” Kissinger said. Speak for yourself, Ehrlichman thought to himself. 58
Away from Nixon, Kissinger was less polite. “The madman” or “our drunken friend,” he would say when Nixon had been especially rambling. 59 At Georgetown dinner parties, Kissinger would poke fun at Nixon’s foibles and give the impression that he was trying hard to rein in the administration’s wilder policies. Kissinger was a hawk in the White House, Haldeman later wrote, but a different person in the evenings.
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