CIA archives capture Richard Nixon's failed 1958 "goodwill" trip to Latin America [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

February 27, 2019



Congress criticized the Agency for not warning the then-vice president about angry mobs, proper soccer techniques

Written by Carolyn Komatsoulis
Edited by JPat Brown

In 1958, then-Vice President Richard Nixon didn’t quite understand soccer.

While in Quito, Ecuador during one stop on his Spring 1958 South American tour, Nixon was offered the chance to literally “kick off” a ceremonial soccer match. However, as the story goes, Nixon wasn’t really in the mood for kicking, so he decided to use his head instead. The only problem was he used the top of his head and not his forehead, gracing humanity with this photograph:



Soccer balls were heavier in 1958, and Nixon’s noggin (and pride) and were both slightly bruised, though Nixon’s time in Quito would be remembered as the best part of his trip. Although the Deputy Under Secretary of State Robert D. Murphy described that the trip was intended to “promote better understanding and good will between this country and our southern neighbor,” Murphy later testified before Congress that Nixon was not well-received.



The “indignities” included riots and protesters attacking the car Nixon was traveling in. In Peru, the New York Times reported on a “screaming, rock-hurling, communist-led mob”

More:
https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2019/feb/27/cia-nixon-soccer/