Moscow versus Los Angeles: the Nixon White House wages Cold War in the Olympic selection process

Abstract

In 1970 the Nixon Administration bribed members of the International Olympic Committee in an effort to bring the 1976 summer games to Los Angeles. These actions injected Cold War issues into the process of selecting Olympic host cities. This effort initiated a political confrontation with the Soviet Union, since Moscow was another of the candidate cities. Although weak and vulnerable to political assaults, the International Olympic movement's decentralized organizational nature made it difficult for the Nixon White House to bring the Olympics to Los Angeles. The administration learned from this failure and was more successful in offering more limited support to efforts to host the 1980 Winter Olympics.

Acknowledgements

The author has had much assistance in the research for and writing of this article. A shorter version of this paper was presented at the Chicago Seminar on Sport and Society. Participation in a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar in Chicago made research possible in the papers of Avery Brundage, while a Campus Visiting Fellowship at the University of Salford facilitated research in Switzerland. Patrick B. Miller and Steven A. Riess did much administrative work in support of the Chicago programmes, while Larry Valero did the same for the fellowship at Salford. Mike Ezra and Michael Creswell made comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

Notes

 [1] Kimball, Nixon's Vietnam War; Berman, No Peace, No Honor; Bundy, Tangled Web; Small, The Presidency of Richard Nixon.

 [2] Eisen, ‘The Voices of Sanity’; Guttmann, The Games Must Go On; Hill, Olympic Politics; Hulme, The Political Olympics; Kanin, A Political History of the Olympic Games; Marvin, ‘Avery Brundage’; Pound, Five Rings over Korea; Senn, Power, Politics and the Olympic Games; Wenn, ‘A Suitable Policy of Neutrality?’; Wenn, ‘A Tale of Two Diplomats’; Wenn and Wenn, ‘Muhammad Ali’. For studies that look at non-Olympic venues, see: Lowe et al., Sport and International Relations. For exceptions to this focus on the Olympics and the politics of participation, see: Beck, Scoring for Britain; Keys, ‘Spreading Peace’; LaFeber, Michael Jordan; Markovits and Hellerman, Offside.

 [3] Senn, Power, Politics, and the Olympic Games, 28–30; Hill, Olympic Politics, 52, 71; Miller, Behind the Olympic Rings, 82.

 [4] Guttmann, The Olympics, 37–8, 60–9, 76–8; Senn, Power, Politics, and the Olympic Games, 45, 99.

 [5] Guttmann, The Olympics, 78, 85–9; Senn, Power, Politics, and the Olympic Games, 94–5.

 [6] Guttmann, The Games Must Go On, 151–5; Senn, Power, Politics, and the Olympic Games, 105, 119, 127; Guttmann, The Olympics, 93–6.

 [7] Collins, ‘Richard M. Nixon’; Sarantakes, ‘Richard Nixon, Sportswriter’; Frei, Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming.

 [8] Ambrose, Nixon, vol. 1, 456.

 [9] Harlow to Chapin, 4 October 1969, Folder [EX] RE 10 Football 10/1/69, Box 5, Recreation-Sports Files, Subject Files, White House Central Files, Nixon Presidential Project, U.S. National Archives, College Park, Maryland (hereafter cited as NPP, NACP).

[10] Safire's attempt to spell the Japanese word for baseball in English is close phonetically, but the standard transliteration is ‘basubaru’. Safire to Chapin, 23 March 1971; Flanigan to Chapin, 30 March 1971, Folder [Ex] RE 2 Baseball-Softball 1/1/71, Box 3, Recreation-Sports Files, Subject Files, White House Central Files, NPP, NACP; Schaller, Altered, 220–39.

[11] ‘Remarks on the Departure of Prime Minister Golda Meir of Israel’, 26 September 1969, Public Papers of the President: Richard M. Nixon, 1969, 763 (hereafter cited as PPP); ‘Toasts of the President and President Caldera of Venezuela’, 2 June 1970, PPP, 472–5.

[12] ‘Status of Los Angeles’ Bid for 1976 Olympic Games’, no date, enclosure Rood to Haldeman, 13 January 1970, Folder 1976 Olympic Games, Box 170, Alpha Subject Files, Papers of H.R. Haldeman, Staff Member and Office Files, White House Special Files, NPP, NACP; Nixon to John B. Kilroy, 20 June 1969.

[13] Reagan Statement in Los Angeles ’76 Bid Book, Call Number: MA 6901 721 Los, Library, Samaranch Olympic Studies Centre, Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland.

[14] Kilroy to Dent, 9 January 1970, Folder [EX] RE 14 Olympic Games, Box 8, Recreation-Sports Files, Subject Files, White House Central Files; Rood to Haldeman, 13 January 1970 and enclosure ‘Status of Los Angeles’ Bid for 1976 Olympic Games’, no date, Folder 1976 Olympic Games, Box 170, Alpha Subject Files, Papers of H.R. Haldeman, Staff Member and Office Files, White House Special Files, NPP, NACP.

[15] Milroy to Dent, 9 January 1970, Folder [EX] RE 14 Olympic Games, Box 8, Recreation-Sports Files, Subject Files, White House Central Files; Rood to Haldeman, 6 February 1970; Kilroy to Sonnenfeldt, 4 February 1970, Folder 1976 Olympic Games, Box 170, Alpha Subject Files, Papers of H.R. Haldeman, Staff Member and Office Files, White House Special Files, NPP, NACP.

[16] Wilkinson to Ehrlichman, 3 February 1970, Folder [EX] RE 14 Olympic Games, Box 8, Recreation-Sports Files, Subject Files, White House Central Files, NPP, NACP.

[17] Rood to Haldeman, 13 January 1970 and enclosure ‘Status of Los Angeles’ Bid for 1976 Olympic Games’, no date, Folder 1976 Olympic Games, Box 170, Alpha Subject Files, Papers of H.R. Haldeman, Staff Member and Office Files, White House Special Files, NPP, NACP.

[18] Emphasis in the original. Sonnenfeldt to Higby, 13 February 1970; Higby to Haldeman, 27 February 1970; Haldeman to Stuart, 2 March 1970, Folder 1976 Olympic Games, Box 170, Alpha Subject Files, Papers of H.R. Haldeman, Staff Member and Office Files, White House Special Files, NPP, NACP.

[19] Emphasis in the original. Haldeman to Kissinger, 4 March 1970, Folder 1976 Olympic Games, Box 170, Alpha Subject Files, Papers of H.R. Haldeman, Staff Member and Office Files, White House Special Files, NPP, NACP.

[20] Nixon to IOC members, no date, Folder: Games of the XXI Olympiad 1976 Bid Los Angeles, Calif. (1970–71), Box 194, Papers of Avery Brundage, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

[21] Stuart Memorandum for File, 20 March 1970; Haig to Eliot, 25 March 1970; Haldeman to Stuart, 17 March 1970; Stuart to Haldeman, 29 April 1970, Folder 1976 Olympic Games, Box 170, Alpha Subject Files, Papers of H.R. Haldeman, Staff Member and Office Files, White House Special Files, NPP, NACP.

[22] Killanin, My Olympic Years (London), 4–5, 9.

[23] Stuart to Haldeman, 29 April 1970; Stuart to Haldeman, 18 March 1970; Trent to Higby, 3 March 1970, Folder 1976 Olympic Games, Box 170, Alpha Subject Files, Papers of H.R. Haldeman, Staff Member and Office Files, White House Special Files; Ehrlichman to Kissinger, 6 February 1970; Haig to Kissinger, 16 February 1970; Kissinger to Ehrlichman, 22 February 1970, Folder [EX] RE 14 Olympic Games, Box 8, Recreation-Sports Files, Subject Files, White House Central Files, NPP, NACP.

[24] Stuart to Haldeman, 29 April 1970; Stuart to Haldeman, 18 March 1970; Trent to Higby, 3 March 1970, Folder 1976 Olympic Games, Box 170, Alpha Subject Files, Papers of H.R. Haldeman, Staff Member and Office Files, White House Special Files; Ehrlichman to Kissinger, 6 February 1970; Haig to Kissinger, 16 February 1970; Kissinger to Ehrlichman, 22 February 1970, Folder [EX] RE 14 Olympic Games, Box 8, Recreation-Sports Files, Subject Files, White House Central Files, NPP, NACP.

[25] Stuart to Haldeman, 18 March 1970; Stuart to Haldeman, 29 April 1970, Folder 1976 Olympic Games, Box 170, Alpha Subject Files, Papers of H.R. Haldeman, Staff Member and Office Files, White House Special Files; Eliot to Kissinger, 14 May 1970, Folder [EX] RE 14 Olympic Games, Box 8, Recreation-Sports Files, Subject Files, White House Central Files, NPP, NACP.

[26] Stuart to Haldeman, 29 April 1970, Folder 1976 Olympic Games, Box 170, Alpha Subject Files, Papers of H.R. Haldeman, Staff Member and Office Files, White House Special Files, NPP, NACP.

[27] Guttmann, The Games Must Go On.

[28] On the views of the Los Angeles group and the relationship of Brundage with their bid see Kilroy to Brundage, 10 December 1969; Brundage to Kilroy, 17 December 1969; ‘Status and Needs of the Los Angeles 1976 Olympic Committee versus the Bid of Moscow for the XXIst Summer Olympiad’, no date, Folder: Games of the XXI Olympiad 1976 Bid Los Angeles, Calif. (1968–69); Kilroy to Brundage, 2 January 1970; Brundage to Kilroy, 10 July 1970; W.H. Nicholas to Brundage, 30 June 1970; Brundage to Nicholas, 3 July 1970, Folder: Games of the XXI Olympiad 1976 Bid Los Angeles, Calif. (1970–71), Box 194, Papers of Avery Brundage, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

[29] Kilroy to Brundage, 10 December 1969; Brundage to Kilroy, 17 December 1969; ‘Status and Needs of the Los Angeles 1976 Olympic Committee versus the Bid of Moscow for the XXIst Summer Olympiad’, no date, Folder: Games of the XXI Olympiad 1976 Bid Los Angeles, Calif. (1968–69); Kilroy to Brundage, 2 January 1970; Brundage to Kilroy, 10 July 1970; W.H. Nicholas to Brundage, 30 June 1970; Brundage to Nicholas, 3 July 1970, Folder: Games of the XXI Olympiad 1976 Bid Los Angeles, Calif. (1970–71), Box 194, Papers of Avery Brundage, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

[30] Stuart to Haldeman, 29 April 1970, Folder 1976 Olympic Games, Box 170, Alpha Subject Files, Papers of H.R. Haldeman, Staff Member and Office Files, White House Special Files, NPP, NACP. There is only one letter from Nixon in the head of state file and a letter from the President to all IOC members in the file on Los Angeles: Nixon to Brundage, 31 January 1970, Folder: Heads of State – U.S.A., Box 332, Important Letters: Heads of State, 1931–70 File; Nixon to IOC members, no date, Folder: Games of the XXI Olympiad 1976 Bid Los Angeles, Calif. (1970–71), Box 194, Papers of Avery Brundage, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Guttmann, The Games Must Go On.

[31] Kilroy to Sonnenfeldt, 4 February 1970; Stuart to Haldeman, 29 April 1970, Folder 1976 Olympic Games, Box 170, Alpha Subject Files, Papers of H.R. Haldeman, Staff Member and Office Files, White House Special Files, NPP, NACP.

[32] The New York Times, 13 May 1970.

[33] Stuart to Haldeman, 18 March 1970; Stuart to Haldeman, 29 April 1970, Folder 1976 Olympic Games, Box 170, Alpha Subject Files, Papers of H.R. Haldeman, Staff Member and Office Files, White House Special Files; Eliot to Kissinger, 14 May 1970, Folder [EX] RE 14 Olympic Games, Box 8, Recreation-Sports Files, Subject Files, White House Central Files, NPP, NACP; The New York Times, 13 May 1970.

[34] Wenn, ‘A Turning Point’.

[35] Landry and Yerlès, The International Olympic Committee, 80–84; Killanin, My Olympic Years (London), 4–5, 9; Minutes of the 69th Session of the International Olympic Committee, 12–16 May 1970, pp. 12–4, IOC Historical Archives, Samaranch Olympic Studies Centre, Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland.

[36] Lord Killanin, My Olympic Years (London), 4–5, 9.

[37] The New York Times, 13 May 1970.

[38] The New York Times, 13 May 1970; Minutes of the 69th Session of the International Olympic Committee, 12–16 May 1970, pp. 14–16, IOC Historical Archives, Samaranch Olympic Studies Centre, Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland.

[39] Rocky Mountain News, 3, 8 November 1972; The Denver Post, 5 November 1972; Whiteside, Colorado, 151–3, 157.

[40] Whiteside, Colorado, 156, 158, 170; Minutes of the 69th Session of the International Olympic Committee, 12–16 May 1970, p. 15, IOC Historical Archives, Samaranch Olympic Studies Centre, Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland.

[41] Whiteside, Colorado, 156, 158, 170; Minutes of the 69th Session of the International Olympic Committee, 12–16 May 1970, p. 15; Minutes of the Executive Board Meetings, 28 January 1972–1 February 1972, pp. 11–2, 20, 27–30, 35–6, IOC Historical Archives, Samaranch Olympic Studies Centre, Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland.

[42] Minutes of the 72nd Session of the International Olympic Committee, 31 January–1 February 1972, pp. 19–25 and Annex 6, pp. 58–64; Minutes of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee, 27–30 May 1972, pp. 29–35 and Annex 6, pp. 19–32, IOC Historical Archives, Samaranch Olympic Studies Centre, Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland.

[43] Minutes of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee, 18–22 August, 1, 6–8, 10–11 September 1972, pp. 17–20, IOC Historical Archives, Samaranch Olympic Studies Centre, Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland.

[44] Cole to the President, 21 November 1972, Folder [EX] RE 14 Olympic Games 1/1/71 2 of 2, Box 8, Recreation-Sports Files, Subject Files, White House Central Files, NPP, NACP.

[45] Fell to Nixon, 4 December 1973; Harrigan to Cole, 22 January 1974; Nixon to Killanin, 13 February 1974, Folder [EX] RE 14 Olympic Games 1/1/73, Box 8, Recreation-Sports Files, Subject Files, White House Central Files, NPP, NACP.

[46] Minutes of the 75th Session of the International Olympic Committee, 21–24 October 1974, pp. 7–11, IOC Historical Archives, Samaranch Olympic Studies Centre, Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland.

[47] Minutes of the 75th Session of the International Olympic Committee, 21–24 October 1974, pp. 7–11, IOC Historical Archives, Samaranch Olympic Studies Centre, Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland.

[48] Killanin, My Olympic Years (New York), 173; Killanin, My Olympic Years (London), 4. There are significant differences between the American and British versions of Killanin's book. The introduction in the US edition is shorter with many bitter paragraphs about the Moscow Olympics and the boycott missing. The information in this section of this article comes from both versions, and from the Minutes of the 75th Session of the International Olympic Committee, 21–24 October 1974, pp. 7–11, IOC Historical Archives, Samaranch Olympic Studies Centre, Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland.

[49] Landry and Yerlès, The International Olympic Committee, 80–4.