The American friends service committee and Nixon's China policy

This study investigates the influence of the American Friends Service Committee (a Quaker lobbying group) on the policy of detente pursued by the Nixon Administration in dealing with the People's Republic of China. Nixon's Quaker family background is viewed as a link between A.F.S.C. lobbying efforts after 1965 and President Nixon's decision to change U.S. policy toward mainland China. The Quakers were not directly responsible for the Nixon‐Kissinger initiative, but through its lobbying activities in Washington, at Harvard University, and elsewhere, they did help to create a climate of opinion which made acceptable a shift in U.S. China policy.