Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2021 March 6

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March 6

Richard Nixon's thoughts on what he would have done in regards to Vietnam had he won back in 1960?

Did Richard Nixon ever say and/or write what he would have done in regards to Vietnam had he won the US Presidency back in 1960 (when he ran against JFK)? I don't necessarily mean say or write in 1960; rather, it could have been said or written later on when Nixon was reflecting back on his 1960 loss as well as on the Vietnam War. Futurist110 (talk) 03:44, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

Vietnam was not yet a significant foreign policy preoccupation for the U.S. in 1960. It was the issue of "Quemoy and Matsu" (near Taiwan) and the so-called missile gap that were the stuff of debate, so I doubt you'll find much. But someone may prove me wrong. Xuxl (talk) 14:24, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

Before the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, the U.S. was not heavily involved in Vietnam, and Vietnam was not a major issue for most Americans... AnonMoos (talk) 15:47, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

Although Nixon was Vice President during the period when there was a significant increase in financial and military aid to South Vietnam, so he must have had a view on the issue. Nixon’s Retrospective on the Vietnam War mentions that he advocated direct support for the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, but no mention of the 1960 election campaign, however he doesn't seem to have been among the "doves". Alansplodge (talk) 19:01, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

Thanks! For what it's worth, Nixon does write about Vietnam to some extent here: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=UyfcLYY9F0gC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:Richard+inauthor:Nixon&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjg3--YlZzvAhWPZhUIHe8fAoAQ6AEwBXoECAQQAg#v=onepage&q&f=false In this memoir of his, Nixon compares the people who wanted to give South Vietnam to the Vietnamese Communists in 1965 to the people who wanted to give the Sudetenland to Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany back in 1938, arguing that appeasement didn't work back then and was not going to work in regards to Vietnam either. Futurist110 (talk) 02:08, 7 March 2021 (UTC)

This link would probably work as well: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=UyfcLYY9F0gC&printsec=frontcover —Tamfang (talk) 02:18, 12 March 2021 (UTC)

Painting by Abraham Hondius

On our page for Abraham Hondius it says at the end of the article that "His last known work is Ape and Cat Fighting over Dead Poultry, dated 1690." and, of course, I can find this phrase repeated all over the place, from articles that just regurgitate whatever is written on Wikipedia (is there a name for this?) but I can't find anything about that actual painting, just lots of other paintings of dogs fighting boars, etc. Does this painting exist? I'm aware of a painting by him that shows a monkey and cat fighting by a fire, but that's not it.95.150.37.158 (talk) 17:13, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

You're right, De aap en de kat is dated 1670 so not the one (BTW, it depicts The Monkey and the Cat, a fable in which a monkey uses an unwilling cat's paw to pull chestnuts out of a fire). Haven't found anything else, even searching in Dutch. Alansplodge (talk) 19:20, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Volumes 1-2 (p. 351) says of Hondius: "The last dated works are from 1689 and 1690", but without telling us the titles or subjects. Alansplodge (talk) 19:28, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

I could find only one work of Hondius dated 1690: "Bergmeer met herten en vogels".  --Lambiam 11:55, 7 March 2021 (UTC)

Apparently, the phrase was lifted from this source. I think the flow was from there to Wikipedia and not in the reverse direction, not only because of the general similarity of the text on ChinaOilPainting.com to the oldest revision on Wikipedia, but more specifically because of the duplication of the clause "where he spent the rest of his life". The same duplication, marginally paraphrased, is found in the version upon creation, but the redundancy was removed a minute later. I cannot find anything resembling this in reliable sources.  --Lambiam 12:41, 7 March 2021 (UTC)

Antarctica in WW2

Writing draft for Events in Antarctica in WW2. any main operations besides New Swabia, Auxilliary cruiser Komet and operation Tabarin? Should I add rumors of nazi bases in antarctica? Gandalf the GroovyGandalf the Groovy (talk) 21:32, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

Have these rumours received significant coverage in several independent reliable sources?  --Lambiam 11:33, 7 March 2021 (UTC)

Secret Nazi military base discovered by Russian scientists in the Arctic from The Independent, formerly a reliable British broadsheet, but not sure that still holds now it's online only and had several changes of ownership. Alansplodge (talk) 13:18, 7 March 2021 (UTC)

Although that's in the Arctic, not in Antarctica. Xuxl (talk) 14:23, 7 March 2021 (UTC)

D'oh! Alansplodge (talk) 18:12, 7 March 2021 (UTC)

Alas, yes: "Did Hitler have a base in the Antarctic?" in Nature no less (spoiler alert: no), "The Psychology of Extraordinary Beliefs: The Nazi Bunkers of Antarctica", "Weird Antarctica - the truth behind secret Nazi bases and aliens", "Hitler's Antarctic Base: The Myth and the Reality". Clarityfiend (talk) 19:29, 7 March 2021 (UTC)