Richard M. Nixon's global strategy was set in its essentials in the opening days of his presidency, though his major foreign-policy coup, the opening of China to the West, would come much later. Nixon's strategy was based on an anti-communist posture that would vacillate between containment, detente, and certain other overarching global approaches, on developing and enhancing American power in the world, and on opening communication among nations to further the interests of peace and the United States. No matter what Nixon did, however, his actions in global terms were tainted long before Watergate by the continuing and seemingly intractable problem of Vietnam.
Every president is faced with the need for an agenda on the domestic front and one on the foreign policy front. When Nixon entered the White House, the most important element on the foreign policy front was the Vietnam War, and domestically this war was having a major role as well, contributing to the general unrest in the country and to a public perception of growing lawlessness and anarchy. Nixon was forced to approach foreign policy from a position he would have opposed had he had any real choice: "It was Richard Nixon's fate that he had to preside over the retreat of American power. He hated it" (Ambrose 252). Left entirely to his own devices, Nixon would have followed the idea of increased armament, increased firepower, and the use of that firepower in taking the offensive against the Communists. When he became president, however, he faced a situation in which]America had to retreat. The war in Vietnam was going badly, and American resolve was waning. Nixon knew that this was the case and accepted it even if he personally did not like it. This was a change from his campaign mode when he had accused Hubert Humphrey of advocating parity with the enemy, something Nixon saw as surrender. Once he became president, Nixon adopted the idea of parity but gave it anot...