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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNixon letter to Clinton declassified after almost 30 years.
When Bill Clinton eulogized Richard Nixon on April 27, 1994, he spoke of the former presidents wise counsel, especially with regard to Russia . . . based on our last phone conversation and the letter he wrote me just a month ago. For nearly 30 years, the content of that letter remained a secret. Thanks to its declassification this week through Mr. Clintons presidential library, it is hidden no longer.
What is most striking about the seven-page, single-spaced letter dated March 21, 1994, is that Nixon anticipated a more belligerent Russia, the rise of someone like Vladimir Putin, and worsening relations between Moscow and Kyiv. Nixon, who was 81, had just returned from a two-week trip to Russia and Ukraine. In 1972 he became the first sitting president to visit Moscow, where he signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty. After leaving office he continued to have access to elites in governments and opposition leaders around the world. That Mr. Clinton was a Democrat and Nixon a Republican made no difference. The ultimate Cold Warrior was an elder statesman interested in the contours of the post-Cold War era.
Nixon warned that Boris Yeltsins brief experiment with democracy was already over. As one of Yeltsins first supporters in this country and as one who continues to admire him for his leadership in the past, I have reluctantly concluded that his situation has rapidly deteriorated since the elections in December, and that the days of his unquestioned leadership of Russia are numbered, Nixon wrote to Mr. Clinton. His drinking bouts are longer and his periods of depression are more frequent. Most troublesome, he can no longer deliver on his commitments to you and other Western leaders in an increasingly anti-American environment in the Duma and in the country.
After he died, I found myself wishing I could pick up the phone and ask President Nixon what he thought about this issue or that problem, particularly if it involved Russia, Mr. Clinton said in 2013. Nixon didnt live to see Mr. Putin succeed Yeltsin, but his newly declassified correspondence with Mr. Clinton shows that he wouldnt be surprised by Russia today.
https://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/nixonletter.pdf
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-ukraine-war-wouldnt-have-surprised-richard-nixon-clinton-putin-cold-war-2b83c050
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)emotional about his own power.
I heard him speak to a huge audience in 1990 or 1991 about China, IIRC. He had no podium or notes. The speech was eloquent and intelligent whether you agreed with his assessment or not.
elleng
(130,908 posts)and worsening relations between Moscow and Kyiv.'
LuckyLib
(6,819 posts)Tricky Dick certainly knew something about alcohol and depression.
blue-wave
(4,353 posts)into the Russian situation, present and future. I'm glad to see Nixon took the time to offer what we now know is excellent advice.
NYC Liberal
(20,136 posts)calimary
(81,267 posts)Not EVER.
Zambero
(8,964 posts)C Moon
(12,213 posts)burrowowl
(17,641 posts)Hekate
(90,686 posts)
continues to surprise and impress.
patricia92243
(12,595 posts)many things Trump is in trouble for.
marybourg
(12,631 posts)archived in his Presidential Library.
NYC Liberal
(20,136 posts)discussing his opinions on foreign policy isn't in the same league as nuclear secrets and top secret intelligence information. If Clinton had taken the letter when he wasn't supposed to, I'm pretty sure he would have given it back if asked. What would he have done with it anyway?