détente

"We can drive a stake through the heart of the communist alliance" is a sentence Pres. Nixon (Anthony Hopkins) says in the movie, Nixon:  in real life, I don't know whether that's really what he said.  Dramatic license, could be...

My 7th-grade English teacher talked about the president's trip to China.  How it was historic, and important.  She never mentioned any stake-driving....

----------------[script excerpt]--------------
NIXON:  Unpredictability is our best asset.  Johnson left me with a lousy hand and I'm bluffing.  I've got to play the hawk in Vietnam and the dove in China.  And if we keep our heads, we can win this thing.

ZIEGLER:  What?  Win Vietnam, sir?

NIXON:  No -- but what we can do with Vietnam, Ron, is drive a stake through the heart of the communist alliance!  Henry's already getting strong signals from the Chinese.  They fear the Vietnamese more than the Russians, and they're worried about a unified Vietnam.  The Russians hate the Chinese and are supporting the Viets, you understand?  If we stick it out in Vietnam, we'll end up negotiating separately with both the Chinese and the Soviets.  And we'll get better deals than we ever dreamed of from both.  That's triangular diplomacy, gentlemen.

KISSINGER:  That's what geopolitics is about -- the linking of the whole world, in self interest.

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{screenplay excerpt from Nixon, written by Oliver Stone, Stephen J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson}

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