Only Nixon could go to China

[Fred Shapiro]

On Thu, 11 Jan 2001, Jeffrey William McKeough wrote:

> I just heard the phrase "Only Nixon could go to China" attributed to
> Mr. Spock in Star Trek 6 for the millionth time.  (When Captain Kirk
> asks Spock why Kirk was chosen to be the envoy to the Klingons, who
> killed his son, Spock says this to him and claims that it's an ancient
> Vulcan saying.)
>
> I once did some research on the saying and I found a bunch of
> references over the years, but I couldn't find out who first said it.
> Does anyone know?

This is proverbial in nature, and I doubt there is a traceable coiner.
The earliest use on Nexis is New York Tiems, 29 Dec. 1984.

Fred Shapiro


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