September 9, 1976: Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Communist Party of China, and that nation's dictator since the successful completion of his revolution in 1949, dies in the national capital of Beijing.
Mao had fought Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek for control of China, and was losing the civil war, when the Japanese invaded, beginning the Pacific phase of World War II. He redirected his troops to help beat the Japanese. Then he switched back to fighting Chiang, and he won. Then he split with the Soviet Union, and challenged them for the leadership of the Communist world.
But no one beats Father Time. In his memoir In the Arena, former President Richard Nixon wrote of what Mao was like during their momentous visit in 1972, and 4 years later, after Nixon had been forced to resign the Presidency, and Mao was dying (using the earlier English version of his name):
When I saw Mao Tse-tung in 1972, he had already suffered a stroke, but he was still mentally alert and obviously the man in charge. When I saw him again in four years, he had suffered another, more serious stroke, and the onset of Parkinson's disease had stiffened his movements. His shambling stride had become an eighty-two-year-old man's slow shuffle.
His mind was still quick and incisive, but his speech was just grunts and groans. His expressions show that he understood what I said, but when he tried to answer, the words would just not come out. If he thought the translator had not understood him, he would impatiently grab a notepad and write out his comments.
It was clear that he was no longer capable of leading the most populous nation in the world. But no one had the power or the courage to tell him to retire until the grim reaper called him to meet Marx a few months later.
On May 27, 1976, Mao met with Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan, father of later Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The photographs taken showed just how ill he looked. Mao decided to end his public audiences.
It is now widely believed that it wasn't Parkinson's disease that was affecting Mao's movements, as was thought by the West at the time, but amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a.k.a. Lou Gehrig's disease. He suffered 2 heart attacks in 1976, before suffering an even more severe one on September 2, and yet another on September 5. He fell into a coma on September 7, and his life support machines were turned off at midnight local time, September 9. His death was announced at 4:00 PM local time that day.
Aside from the Soviet Union, who downplayed the event, the other Communist nations were effusive in their praise, especially North Korea and the newly-united Vietnam. Yugoslavia, then Communist but opposed to the Soviets, issued a statement from President Josip Broz Tito: "Without him, modern China would be unimaginable."
As for the world's democracies, some were more respectful than others. Speaking for America, President Gerald Ford said, "When I visited Beijing in December 1975, I had the privilege of meeting Chairman Mao. Our conversation has promoted the development of U.S.-China relations along the lines envisioned by our two countries. Please let me declare now as I did then, that the United States is determined to complete the normalization of our relationship on the basis of the Shanghai Communiqué. This will be an appropriate channel to praise his vision and will benefit the people of both countries."
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister James Callaghan issued a joint statement: "His influence far exceeds China's borders, and he will undoubtedly be remembered as a world-famous great politician." French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing said, "France will not forget that it was Chairman Mao Zedong and General de Gaulle who deeply admired him that led to the mutual development of our two countries."
Pretty much the only openly hostile reaction was, understandably, from the Republic of China, a.k.a. Taiwan, who had faced the death of Chiang Kai-shek only the year before. They cited "the anti-humanity and anti-human rights falsification regime," which had included the disastrous Great Leap Forward in the 1950s and the dastardly Cultural Revolution of the 1960s.
It took 2 years for the post-Mao power struggle to be settled, and Deng Xiaoping won out. He did what Mao was not really able to do: Modernize the country. To do so, he had to abandon most of the principles of Communism, and embrace free-market reforms: Within 10 years, China was still authoritarian, but was Communist in name only.
It remains so today, as the huge portrait of Mao still looks out from the wall of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, over Tiananmen Square to the east. Mao's Mausoleum and the Monument to the People's Heroes, patterned after Vladimir Lenin's in Moscow, is to the south of the Square, and the National Museum of China is east of the Square.
*
September 9, 1976 was a Thursday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:
* The New York Yankees beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2 at Yankee Stadium. Thurman Munson and Chris Chambliss hit home runs, in support of Ken Holtzman, who went the distance for the win. Hank Aaron, in his last full month as a major league player, had an RBI double for the Brewers. It was his 3,769th career hit (he would get 2 more), his 623rd double (he would get 1 more), and his record 2,296th RBI (he would get 1 more). He had not hit a home run since July 20, and would not hit another, finishing with a record 755.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Rick Wise pitched a 2-hit shutout. Jim Rice hit a home run, and Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-2, but did draw 2 walks. Jim Lonborg went the distance for the win.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Frank Robinson, the former Orioles star, now managing the Indians and in his last full month as an active player, did not put himself into the game. Buddy Bell and George Hendrick homered. Brooks Robinson, in his last full season, did not play. Reggie Jackson, in his only season as an Oriole, went 1-for-4. Ken Singleton homered.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Montreal Expos, 6-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Lou Brock went 2-for-4 with a stolen base.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the California Angels, 6-5 at Royals (now Kauffman) Stadium in Kansas City. George Brett singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Texas Rangers, 6-0 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Rod Carew appeared as a pinch-hitter in the 7th inning, and, characteristically for him, got a hit. Uncharacteristically for him, it was a grand slam home run. Dave Goltz pitched a 3-hit shutout.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at the Astrodome in Houston. Bob Bailey singled home the winning run in the top of the 11th inning. Pete Rose went 3-for-6, and Johnn Bench went 3-for-5 with an RBI.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-3 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Dave Winfield did not play in this game.
* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum.
* And the New York Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates were not scheduled.
No comments:
Post a Comment