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High cost of presidential racism: Tapes reveal Nixon's hatred for Indians

Recently declassified White House tapes reveal how President Nixon's racism and misogyny led him to ignore the genocidal violence of the Pakistani military in what is today Bangladesh

The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (left), with then US President Richard Nixon
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The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (left), with then US President Richard Nixon

Gary J. Bass | NYT
As Americans grapple with problems of racism and power, a newly declassified trove of White House tapes provides startling evidence of the bigotry voiced by President Richard M. Nixon and Henry Kissinger, his national security adviser.

The full content of these tapes reveal how U.S. policy toward South Asia under Mr. Nixon was influenced by his hatred of, and sexual repulsion toward, Indians.

These new tapes are about one of the grimmest episodes of the Cold War, which brought ruin to Bangladesh in 1971. At that time, India tilted heavily toward the Soviet Union while a military dictatorship in Pakistan backed the