178. Editorial Note
On May 20, 1969, Ambassador to Romania Richard Davis reported that in the course of a discussion with Foreign Minister Corneliu Manescu, the latter had extended an invitation for President Richard Nixon to visit Romania. Davis characterized the invitation as “hardly surprising,” and noted that the Romanians, “in pursuit their policy of develop[ing] good bilateral relations with all countries have increasingly used technique of visit exchanges.” He endorsed such a visit as promoting improved bilateral U.S.-Romanian relations. (Telegram 983 from Bucharest, May 20; National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 702, Country Files—Europe, Romania, Vol. I—8/69) The United States agreed to a visit in June and set the dates for August 1–3. The Romanian visit became the last stop on a Presidential trip to the Far East from July 23 to August 1. Presidentʼs Assistant for National Security Affairs Henry Kissinger discussed the background and the visit in White House Years, pages 151–158.