Rather, he said that "the political evolution is likely to be in the direction which Prime Minister Zhou Enlai indicated."
In another document released Wednesday, the transcript of a conversation on April 27, 1971, between Kissinger and Nixon, Kissinger made clear that neither George Bush, then the chief US envoy at the UN, nor then governor Nelson A. Rockefeller of New York, would be an ideal choice to travel secretly to China to meet Zhou.
When Nixon raised the possibility of sending Rockefeller, Kissinger said of his former patron, "He wouldn't be disciplined enough, although he is a possibility."
Nixon agreed, describing Rockefeller as erratic.
To that, Kissinger replied, "I think for one operation I could keep him under control. To them a Rockefeller is a tremendous thing."
When Nixon suggested Bush, the secretary said, "Absolutely not, he is too soft and not sophisticated enough." At another point, he said that Bush "would be too weak."
Nixon replied, "I thought so too, but I was trying to think of somebody with a title."
Ultimately, Nixon chose Kissinger for the task.
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