in the cost of living that negatively impacted many segments of American society.But Nixon is best remembered for his foreign policy achievements, despite his failure to bring a speedy, or even "honorable," end to the Vietnam War. Perhaps this notoriety is based on the fact that Nixon was one of the few presidents in American history who practiced foreign policy by design, setting certain goals and moving steadily. He rejected his anti-Communist past and became the first US president to visit the Soviet Union when he traveled to Moscow in May of 1972. He sought peace with the opposing super-power and initiated negotiations with the Soviet Union to limit nuclear weapons, which resulted in the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT). At the same time, he was making secret contact with the other great communist nation, the People's Republic of China, which he visited publicly in February 1972. By doing this he opened official diplomatic relations with China for the first time since the communist takeover in 1949. Despite the peaceful outcome of the Vietnam situation and diplomatic accomplishments, Nixon's vicious, unrelenting policies and his blatant scoffing of the anti-war movement had ignited serious domestic upheavals. The visible public dissatisfaction with the president, which could be seen outside the White House from 1970, exacerbated Nixon's famous insecurity and brought out what some of his aide's called Nixon's "dark side." The paranoia that resulted led Nixon to form the Special Investigations Unit, known as the "plumbers," an outfit illegally equipped by the CIA and sent on missions to embarrass and discredit potential Democratic opponents. He also formed the Committee to RE-elect the President (CREEP), which collected $60 million, in direct violation of existing campaign laws, which disbursed funds for "dirty tricks" that included tapping the phone of the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.Nixon needed litt...
