DIPLOMACY: A Triumphant Middle East Hegira

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Despite its improving relations with the Arabs, the U.S. has been able to maintain its traditional ties to Israel, a feat that it has been struggling to achieve for years. What is more, American initiatives have cost the Soviet Union, the Arabs' military, political and economic backer since the mid-'50s, prestige and clout in the Middle East, although the Soviets continue to have a major role in the region (see box page 19).

The highlights of the presidential trip, country by country:

EGYPT. Appropriately, Nixon's trip began in Egypt, by far the most populous (36 million) and most powerful of the Arab countries and the one that took the lead in softening the Arabs' implacable hostility toward Israel. President Anwar Sadat gambled his political future on the belief that he could enlist American support in working out a lasting settlement with the Israelis. Because the 48½-hour visit of the presidential party had such great symbolic value for the Egyptians, it was carefully conceived and staged like a triumphal pageant, an exercise in diplomatic theater.

The mood was set in opening ceremonies at the airport. Sadat greeted Nixon warmly and immediately began an animated conversation in English with his guest. "I have been looking forward to this day from the time I took office," Nixon responded, adding that he wanted "to establish new relations between the U.S. and Egypt."

More than 300,000 exuberant, cheering Egyptians lined the seven-mile route as the two Presidents rode in an open limousine to Cairo. They perched atop walls, perilously packed balconies, clung to lampposts, balanced from bus windows and roof ledges. Bands of white-turbaned men wearing flowing blue galabias played primitive reed flutes in Nixon's honor. American flags fluttered, and the sky rained red, white and blue confetti. Amid the ubiquitous (if unflattering to Nixon) portraits of the two Presidents, signs in Arabic and English blossomed and bobbed: WE TRUST NIXON. GOD BLESS NIXON. KEEP IT UP, NIXON. Clapping and dancing, a crew of workers on an open truck lifted branches in homage and chanted: "Nixon, Nixon, yehya [long live] Nixon!"

That night, the Nixon party attended an elaborate state dinner on the grounds of the ornate Kubbeh Palace, once the favorite residence of Egypt's Kings, where the President and his wife had a newly decorated wing for their use. Colored lights played on the shrubbery and exquisite Persian carpets covered the grass. Sadat gave Nixon Egypt's highest honor, the Collar of the Nile, in recognition of his efforts for peace. Kissinger got the second-ranking award, the Order of the Republic, and Sadat, knowing full well where the real power lay and careful of Nixon's sensitivities, pointed out that the Secretary had performed well "under the wise leadership of President Nixon."