75. Editorial Note
During the course of a general discussion of foreign policy issues and domestic considerations on October 12, 1970, President Nixon and Henry Kissinger weighed the responsibilities of leadership:
“P: The US—what it will be like for the next 25 years depends on whether we have the guts, the stamina, the wisdom to exert leadership, will determine whether the future of the country … that is really what the facts are. People may want to put their heads in the sand; they may want to clean up the ghettos. All right, we will get out of the world. Who is left? The two activists, Russia and Communist China.
“K: If you will look at countries like Austria. When they had great political power they also did great things domestically. Now they are just shrunk into weak petty countries.
“P: All these people are concerned about peace in the world. We go to the sidelines and there are a couple of big boys out there ready to play— China and Russia. All we are doing is fighting for the right of countries to be free.
“K: Their conflicts are going to be infinitely more bitter than anything we participate in.” (Memorandum of telephone conversation, October 12, 1970, 6:10 p.m.; Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box 365, Telephone Conversations, Chronological File, 12-16 Oct 1970)