The Week That Changed the World: The Inside Story of Richard Nixon’s 1972 Journey to China (Audio Only)

The first panel features eye-witness panelists discussing how that historic trip was planned and executed. It features three members of President Nixon's immediate Oval Office staff who worked with the President and Chinese leaders to manage the logistics and protocol of the trip and subsequently managed the February 1972 visit. The presentation will include segments from telephone calls made and behind the scenes video taken by participants in the trip. Panelists: Dwight Chapin, Deputy Assistant to the President Chapin was a field representative in Nixon's 1962 California campaign and was Nixon's personal assistant during his 1968 presidential run. He served as the President's appointments secretary from 1969 to 1973. Jack Brennan, Military Aide to the President Colonel Brennan was appointed Marine Corps Aide to President Nixon after serving in Vietnam, where he earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star. In 1972, he accompanied Nixon on his historic trip to China, making him the first Marine to set foot in People's Republic. Larry Higby, Assistant White House Chief-of-Staff Higby served as Chief-of-Staff H.R. "Bob" Haldeman's assistant. He subsequently became a business leader as well as spearheading California's largest Republican political action committee.

The impact of Richard Nixon's trip to Beijing was immediate. In the second hour of the program, scholars from USC and the Nixon Center in Washington will discuss China's place in the world today, examining U.S.-China ties, global issues such as climate change, as well as China's expanding role in the Middle East, and its relations with Asian neighbors. David Kang teaches international relations and business at USC and directs the Korean Studies Institute. Kang is author of China Rising: Peace, Power, and Order in East Asia (Columbia), Crony Capitalism: Corruption and Development in South Korea and the Philippines (Cambridge) and Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies (co-authored with Victor Cha, Columbia).

The impact of Richard Nixon's trip to Beijing was immediate. In the second hour of the program, scholars from USC and the Nixon Center in Washington will discuss China's place in the world today, examining U.S.-China ties, global issues such as climate change, as well as China's expanding role in the Middle East, and its relations with Asian neighbors. Geoffrey Kemp directs Regional Strategic Programs at The Nixon Center. Kemp was Senior Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs on the National Security Council during the Reagan Administration. The Brooking Institution has just published his latest book, The East Moves West: India, China, and Asia's Growing Presence in the Middle East.

The impact of Richard Nixon's trip to Beijing was immediate. In the second hour of the program, scholars from USC and the Nixon Center in Washington will discuss China's place in the world today, examining U.S.-China ties, global issues such as climate change, as well as China's expanding role in the Middle East, and its relations with Asian neighbors. Daniel Lynch teaches international relations at USC and is currently writing on elite Chinese conceptions of China's future. He's the author of Rising China and Asian Democratization: Socialization to "Global Culture" in the Political Transformations of Thailand, China, and Taiwan and After the Propaganda State: Media, Politics, and "Thought Work" in Reformed China (both Stanford University Press).

The impact of Richard Nixon's trip to Beijing was immediate. In the second hour of the program, scholars from USC and the Nixon Center in Washington will discuss China's place in the world today, examining U.S.-China ties, global issues such as climate change, as well as China's expanding role in the Middle East, and its relations with Asian neighbors. Stanley Rosen teaches political science at USC and directs the East Asian Studies Center. He has written on a wide variety of topics from the Cultural Revolution to studies of Chinese education and youth culture as well as surveys of popular opinion. His most recent books include The Interplay Among Art, Politics and Commerce in Chinese Film (co-edited with Ying Zhu, Hong Kong) and State and Society in 21st century China: Crisis, Contention, and Legitimation (co-edited with Pete Gries, Rutledge Curzon).

The impact of Richard Nixon's trip to Beijing was immediate. In the second hour of the program, scholars from USC and the Nixon Center in Washington will discuss China's place in the world today, examining U.S.-China ties, global issues such as climate change, as well as China's expanding role in the Middle East, and its relations with Asian neighbors. Paul Saunders is Executive Director of The Nixon Center and publishes its bimonthly foreign policy magazine, The National Interest. He heads the Center's U.S. - Russian Relations Program and works on other issues, including energy and climate change. Saunders was Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs during the George W. Bush Administration.

The impact of Richard Nixon's trip to Beijing was immediate. In the second hour of the program, scholars from USC and the Nixon Center in Washington will discuss China's place in the world today, examining U.S.-China ties, global issues such as climate change, as well as China's expanding role in the Middle East, and its relations with Asian neighbors. Drew Thompson is Starr Senior Fellow at The Nixon Center and heads its China program. He was previously assistant director of the China studies program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Earlier he directed the China-MSD HIV/AIDS Partnership in Beijing and had an extensive business career in China. His articles have appeared in Foreign Policy, the Financial Times, and many other publications.

July 15, 1971 President Nixon announced that he'd sent Henry Kissinger to China and that the result of these meetings was an agreement for a presidential trip to China. The announcement finessed the desire by both sides to signal the other initiated the move. The joint announcement begins, "Knowing of President Nixon's expressed desire to visit the People's Republic of China, Premier Chou En-lai, on behalf of the Government of the People's Republic of China, has extended an invitation to President Nixon to visit China at an appropriate date before May 1972." Nixon said the visit was not intended to harm the interests of others. He concluded, "I have taken this action because of my profound conviction that all nations will gain from a reduction of tensions and a better relationship between the United States and the People's Republic of China.