"His administration, the executive branch of the federal government of the United States from 1969 to 1974, attempted to make the leaders of other countries think Nixon was mad, and that his behavior was irrational and volatile. Fearing an unpredictable American response, leaders of hostile Communist Bloc nations would avoid provoking the United States.
"As Nixon told his White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman:
"I call it the Madman Theory, Bob. I want the North Vietnamese to believe I've reached the point where I might do anything to stop the war. We'll just slip the word to them that, 'for God's sake, you know Nixon is obsessed about Communism. We can't restrain him when he's angry -- and he has his hand on the nuclear button' -- and Ho Chi Minh himself will be in Paris in two days begging for peace."[1]
Current Events » in reply to It was either Nixon or Reagan
"The Madman theory was a primary characteristic of the foreign policy conducted by U.S. President Richard Nixon."
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- When these chickens come home to roost they'll be vultures.