Turning 40

Important events in the year 1972 which changed the world, and still resonate today.  In celebration of my first son Matthew Thomas Rector’s birthday…today.

political events
President Nixon arrives at Beijing (Peking) February 20 with his national security adviser Henry A. Kissinger to confer with Chairman Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) and Premier Zhou Enlai (Chou En-lai), ending the U.S. hostility toward the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that has persisted since 1949.

FBI director J. Edgar Hoover dies at Washington, D.C., May 2 at age 77. He directed the bureau for 48 years, being allowed to remain in office through special presidential dispensation despite rumors that he is a cross-dresser who holds power by keeping files on the indiscretions of leading politicians, including heads of state.

Congresswoman Bella Abzug (D. N.Y.) introduces a resolution May 9 calling for the impeachment of President Nixon following his decision to mine North Vietnamese harbors.

President Nixon arrives at Moscow May 22 and confers with Party Secretary Leonid Brezhnev in the first visit of a U.S. president to the Soviet Union since 1945…
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