American Foreign Policy

17 Pages 4175 Words

witzerland..FOREIGN POLICY ASSOCIATION
That was when the so-called “domino theory” was being widely
derided by America’s intelligentsia, as they sneered at any notion that
the fall of Viet Nam would pose a threat to its neighbors. We met with
most of the dominos. Without exception, they all believed in it
fervently: they saw their own countries’ existence as very directly at
stake. What they feared was not America’s presence, but the
prospect of its absence.
India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, however, who was then
busy cozying up to the Soviets, had been standing on her soapbox,
denouncing the U.S. for imperialism and demanding that we get out
of Viet Nam. In New Delhi she hosted a big, elaborate formal lunch
for us, with all the diplomatic niceties. The next day we met with her
privately, at her home – just Indira, Nixon and me. In that private
meeting, she wagged her finger at Nixon and said, “If you become
president, one thing you must do is hang tough in Viet Nam. The
security of every nation out here, including India, depends on it.”
That exposure of such blatant hypocrisy, on a matter she
herself considered vital to her own nation’s security, led him to.FOREIGN POLICY ASSOCIATION
despise Indira Gandhi and never to trust her again. Among serious
leaders, displaying such hypocrisy can have a price.
Now let’s flash forward to Monday, April 30, 1973 – just three
months after his second inauguration, which had followed one of the
biggest electoral landslides in the nation’s history. Until a few weeks
before, Watergate had been hardly a blip on the Washington radar
scope. Then, suddenly, in March, things began boiling to a crisis.
By that weekend, he had decided he had to address the nation
on it, from the Oval Office. We were at Camp David, working on the
speech. Until Monday afternoon we worked separately, passing
drafts and notes back and forth, talking, when we did, by phon...