Nixon was the first American president to visit China
Richard Nixon was the first president to visit China in 1972. It was a significant step forward in the development of a relationship between the US and the People’s Republic of China.
Many were surprised by Nixon’s travel to Beijing, as the United States and communist China had been at conflict for decades, and Nixon had been vociferous about his anti-communist feeling in the 1940s and 1950s. Because the United States was still fighting the Vietnam War at the time, the visit was planned to keep Vietnam at bay. In its strained relationship with the Soviet Union, China wanted to recruit an ally.