Nixon, the lefty
Mark Braund
July 6, 2006 01:27 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/mark_braund/2006/07/mark_braund.html
English National Opera's revival of John Adams' Nixon in China is
visually and musically stunning and, like all good opera, shot through
with political intrigue. Its relentless mockery of Henry Kissinger has
obvious appeal, but more interesting is the opera's surprisingly
sympathetic portrait of Nixon himself. Could there be another side to
Nixon, one neglected by historians, or did the librettist take a few
liberties with historical truth in pursuit of a good story?
Nixon is remembered chiefly for having to resign the presidency after
authorising and then lying about criminal acts ahead of the 1972
election campaign. He also escalated the Vietnam war - bombing Cambodia
and Laos - before bringing it to an ignominious end. And it was under
his stewardship that Allende's democratically elected government in
Chile was overthrown with US support. According to the received wisdom,
Nixon was a right-wing Republican of the worst kind: deceitful,
conceited and utterly paranoid in respect of perceived threats to
American hegemony on the world stage.
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