electoral vote results; the popular vote split between nixon and humphrey was less than one percentage point. presidency (1969–1974) nixon is sworn in as the 37th president by chief justice earl warren. the new first lady, pat, holds the family bible. nixon was inaugurated as president on january 20, 1969, sworn in by his onetime political rival, chief justice earl warren. pat nixon held the family bibles open at isaiah 2:4, which reads, "they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks." in his inaugural address, which received almost uniformly positive reviews, nixon remarked that "the greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker"—a phrase that found a place on his gravestone. he spoke about turning partisan politics into a new age of unity: in these difficult years, america has suffered from a fever of words; from inflated rhetoric that promises more than it can deliver; from angry rhetoric that fans discontents into hatreds; from bombastic rhetoric that postures instead of persuading. we cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at one another, until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices. china president nixon shakes hands with chinese premier zhou enlai upon arriving in beijing, 1972.nixon and zhou enlai toast during nixon's 1972 visit to china. nixon laid the groundwork for his overture to china before he became president, writing in foreign affairs a year before his election: "there is no place on this small planet for a billion of its potentially most able people to live in angry isolation." assisting him in this venture was henry kissinger, nixon's national security advisor and future secretary of state. they collaborated closely, bypassing cabinet officials. with relations between the soviet union and china at a nadir—border clashes between the two took place during nixon's first year in office—nixon sent private word to the chinese that he desired closer relations. a breakthrough came in early 1971, when chinese communist party (ccp) chairman mao zedong invited a team of american table tennis players to visit china and play against top chinese players. nixon followed up by sending kissinger to china for clandestine meetings with chinese officials. on july 15, 1971, with announcements from washington and beijing that astounded the world, it was learned that the president would visit china the following february. the secrecy had allowed both sets of leaders time to prepare the political climate in their countries for the visit. in february 1972, nixon and his wife traveled to china after kissinger briefed nixon for over 40 hours in preparation. upon touching down, the president and first lady emerged from air force one and were greeted by chinese premier zhou enlai. nixon made a point of shaking zhou's hand, something which then-secretary of state john foster dulles had refused to do in 1954 when the two met in geneva. more than a hundred television journalists accompanied the president. on nixon's orders, television was strongly favored over printed publications, as nixon felt that the medium would capture the visit much better than print. it also gave him the opportunity to snub the print journalists he despised. mao zedong and nixon nixon and kissinger immediately met for an hour with ccp chairman mao zedong and premier zhou at mao's official private residence, where they discussed a range of issues. mao later told his doctor that he had been impressed by nixon's forthrightness, unlike the leftists and the soviets. he said he was suspicious of kissinger, though the national security advisor referred to their meeting as his "encounter with history". a formal banquet welcoming the presidential party was given that evening in the great hall of the people. the following day, nixon met with zhou; the joint communique following this meeting recognized taiwan as a part of china and looked forward to a peaceful solution to the problem of reunification. when not in meetings, nixon toured architectural wonders, including the forbidden city, the ming tombs, and the great wall. americans took their first glance into everyday chinese life through the cameras that accompanied pat nixon, who toured the city of beijing and visited communes, schools, factories, and hospitals. the visit ushered in a new era of us–china relations. fearing the possibility of a us–china alliance, the soviet union yielded to pressure for détente with the united states. this was one component of triangular diplomacy. vietnam war nixon delivers an address to the nation about the incursion in cambodia. when nixon took office, about 300 american soldiers were dying each week in vietnam, and the war was widely unpopular in the united states, the subject of ongoing violent protests. the johnson administration had offered to suspend bombing unconditionally in exchange for negotiations, but to no avail. according to walter isaacson, nixon concluded soon after taking office that the vietnam war could not be won, and he was determined to end it quickly. he sought an arrangement that would permit american forces to withdraw while leaving south vietnam secure against attack. nixon approved a secret b-52 carpet bombing campaign of north vietnamese and khmer rouge positions in cambodia beginning in march 1969 and code-named operation menu, without the consent of cambodian leader norodom sihanouk. in mid-1969, nixon began efforts to negotiate peace with the north vietnamese, sending a personal letter to their leaders, and peace talks began in paris. initial talks did not result in an agreement, and in may 1969 he publicly proposed to withdraw all american troops from south vietnam provided north vietnam did so, and suggesting south vietnam hold internationally supervised elections with viet cong participation. nixon visits american troops in south vietnam, july 30, 1969. in july 1969, nixon visited south vietnam, where he met with his u.s. military commanders and president nguyễn văn thiệu. amid protests at home demanding an immediate pullout, he implemented a strategy of replacing american troops with vietnamese troops, known as "vietnamization". he soon instituted phased u.s. troop withdrawals, but also authorized incursions into laos, in part to interrupt the ho chi minh trail passing through laos and cambodia and used to supply north vietnamese forces. in march 1970, at the explicit request of the khmer rouge and negotiated by pol pot's then-second-in-command, nuon chea, north vietnamese troops launched an offensive and overran much of cambodia. nixon announced the ground invasion of cambodia on april 30, 1970, against north vietnamese bases in the east of the country, and further protests erupted against perceived expansion of the conflict, which resulted in ohio national guardsmen killing four unarmed students at kent state university. nixon's responses to protesters included an impromptu, early morning meeting with them at the lincoln memorial on may 9, 1970. nixon's campaign promise to curb the war, contrasted with the escalated bombing, led to claims that nixon had a "credibility gap" on the issue. it is estimated that between 50,000 and 150,000 people were killed during the bombing of cambodia between 1970 and 1973. in 1971, excerpts from the "pentagon papers", which had been leaked by daniel ellsberg, were published by the new york times and the washington post. when news of the leak first appeared, nixon was inclined to do nothing; the papers, a history of united states' involvement in vietnam, mostly concerned the lies of prior administrations and contained few real revelations. he was persuaded by kissinger that the papers were more harmful than they appeared, and the president tried to prevent publication, but the supreme court ruled in favor of the newspapers. as u.s. troop withdrawals continued, conscription was phased out by 1973, and the armed forces became all-volunteer. after years of fighting, the paris peace accords were signed at the beginning of 1973. the agreement implemented a cease fire and allowed for the withdrawal of remaining american troops without requiring withdrawal of the 160,000 north vietnam army regulars located in the south. once american combat support ended, there was a brief truce, before fighting resumed, and north vietnam conquered south vietnam in 1975. latin american policy nixon with mexican president gustavo díaz ordaz (to his right); motorcade in san diego, california, september 1970 nixon had been a firm supporter of kennedy during the 1961 bay of pigs invasion and 1962 cuban missile crisis. on taking office in 1969, he stepped up covert operations against cuba and its president, fidel castro. he maintained close relations with the cuban-american exile community through his friend, bebe rebozo, who often suggested ways of irritating castro. the soviets and cubans became concerned, fearing nixon might attack cuba and break the understanding between kennedy and khrushchev that ended the missile crisis. in august 1970, the soviets asked nixon to reaffirm the understanding, which he did, despite his hard line against castro. the process was not completed before the soviets began expanding their base at the cuban port of cienfuegos in october 1970. a minor confrontation ensued, the soviets stipulated they would not use cienfuegos for submarines bearing ballistic missiles, and the final round of diplomatic notes were exchanged in november. the election of marxist candidate salvador allende as president of chile in september 1970 spurred a vigorous campaign of covert opposition to him by nixon and kissinger.: 25 this began by trying to convince the chilean congress to confirm jorge alessandri as the winner of the election, and then messages to military officers in support of a coup. other support included strikes organized against allende and funding for allende opponents. it was even alleged that "nixon personally authorized" $700,000 in covert funds to print anti-allende messages in a prominent chilean newspaper.: 93 following an extended period of social, political, and economic unrest, general augusto pinochet assumed power in a violent coup d'état on september 11, 1973; among the dead was allende. soviet union nixon with brezhnev during the soviet leader's trip to the u.s., 1973 nixon used the improving international environment to address the topic of nuclear peace. following the announcement of his visit to china, the nixon administration concluded negotiations for him to visit the soviet union. the president and first lady arrived in moscow on may 22, 1972, and met with leonid brezhnev, the general secretary of the communist party; alexei kosygin, the chairman of the council of ministers; and nikolai podgorny, the chairman of the presidium of the supreme soviet, among other leading soviet officials. nixon engaged in intense negotiations with brezhnev. out of the summit came agreements for increased trade and two landmark arms control treaties: salt i, the first comprehensive limitation pact signed by the two superpowers, and the anti-ballistic missile treaty, which banned the development of systems designed to intercept incoming missiles. nixon and brezhnev proclaimed a new era of "peaceful coexistence". a banquet was held that evening at the kremlin. nixon and kissinger planned to link arms control to détente and to the resolution of other urgent problems through what nixon called "linkage." david tal argues: the linkage between strategic arms limitations and outstanding issues such as the middle east, berlin and, foremost, vietnam thus became central to nixon's and kissinger's policy of détente. through the employment of linkage, they hoped to change the nature and course of u.s. foreign policy, including u.s. nuclear disarmament and arms control policy, and to separate them from those practiced by nixon's predecessors. they also intended, through linkage, to make u.s. arms control policy part of détente ... his policy of linkage had in fact failed. it failed mainly because it was based on flawed assumptions and false premises, the foremost of which was that the soviet union wanted strategic arms limitation agreement much more than the united states did. seeking to foster better relations with the united states, china and the soviet union both cut back on their diplomatic support for north vietnam and advised hanoi to come to terms militarily. nixon later described his strategy: i had long believed that an indispensable element of any successful peace initiative in vietnam was to enlist, if possible, the help of the soviets and the chinese. though rapprochement with china and détente with the soviet union were ends in themselves, i also considered them possible means to hasten the end of the war. at worst, hanoi was bound to feel less confident if washington was dealing with moscow