
We remember that President Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California, on this day in 1913. We remember Mr. Nixon as the 37th president of the US (1969-74) and Vice President (1953-61). Mr. Nixon was on the GOP ticket in 1952 & 1956 as Vice President and as a candidate for President in 1960, 1968 and 1972.
In April 1959, VP Nixon met the recently appointed Prime Minister Fidel Castro in Washington DC. It did not take VP Nixon long to figure out the Cuban visitor.
This is an account of the visit from Andrew Glass:
During his stay, Castro placed a wreath on George Washington’s grave, toured the Bronx Zoo, ate hot dogs and hamburgers at Yankee Stadium and generally made a big media splash. Wherever he went, the 33-year-old bearded Cuban leader invariably wore his trademark rumpled green fatigues.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower snubbed him, although the Cuban leader did meet with Vice President Richard Nixon and acting Secretary of State Christian Herter. Nixon later said he came away from the meeting with the conclusion that Castro was “either incredibly naive about communism or under communist discipline — my guess is the former.” On the other hand, after meeting with Castro, former Secretary of State Dean Acheson called him “the first democrat of Latin America.”
With all due respect to the late Secretary Acheson, it was VP Nixon who got it right that day.
P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).