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Whistlestop: Presidential History and Trivia

Nixon Goes to China (Part 1) | The Nixon Era

Whistlestop: Presidential History and Trivia

Slate Podcasts

Politics, History, News, Government

4.81.4K Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2018

⏱️ 33 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This episode of Whistlestop travels back to February 21, 1972 when President Nixon, a staunch anti-communist, begins the thawing of relations with China with a personal visit to the country.


Whistlestop is Slate's podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable moments from America's presidential carnival.


Join Slate Plus for full, ad-free access to Whistlestop and your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Whistlestop show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whistlestopplus to get access wherever you listen.


Email: whistlestop@slate.com


Podcast production by Jocelyn Frank. Research by Brian Rosenwald.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Whether it's an under the radar genre or a proper out there podcast

0:05.0

sometimes it's better when you get weird especially when it comes to switching up your soft drink

0:10.0

introducing new Dr Pepper Zero,

0:12.5

with the same blend of 23 unique flavors,

0:15.3

it tastes just as weird as regular Dr Pepper,

0:18.8

but with zero sugar and zero calories.

0:21.6

It's a taste you can't quite put your finger on. Weird, but in a

0:25.3

surprisingly good way, try more weird with Dr Pepper Zero.

0:29.4

Hello and welcome to Whistle Stop a podcast of the presidency. I'm John Dickerson

0:34.5

co-host of CBS this morning. The president's study material stacked as

0:41.6

high as a standard mailbox, towering to about four feet.

0:46.0

It contained historical analysis, CIA maps and theories, State Department communiques,

0:50.8

cables and commentary, and the

0:53.0

five hundred pages of notes from his national security advisor,

0:56.6

a former Harvard professor who wrote to the president,

0:59.7

your meetings with the Chinese will be totally unlike any other experience you have had.

1:05.6

The president consumed the mountain of information for weeks and carried it on the plane

1:09.6

with him for his flight across the globe, like an actor trying to conform to a role, but instead of trying

1:15.1

to understand how to play Don Corleone, the star of the Godfather, which would come out later

1:20.3

that year in 1972, he was trying to get into the head of his interlocutors.

1:25.6

He'd started his homework before he was even in office or rather when he was between offices,

1:30.7

when he was a loser in exile.

...

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