When Nixon put America first and took the dollar off gold

尼克松将美国利益置于首位,并使美元脱离黄金。

Behind the Money

2026-06-10

40 分钟
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Today, when people hear the name Richard Nixon, they probably think of Watergate. Few remember another one of his most controversial acts – his suspension of the dollar’s convertibility into gold. The “Nixon Shock” as it became known was a quintessentially America First policy, which shattered the postwar global monetary order. But the US president was far more concerned about juicing the US economy and winning re-election than he was about upsetting America’s closest allies. In this second episode about Nixon’s pivotal decision, Professor Jeffrey Garten tells the story of its aftermath, while hosts Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth explore the parallels with the present-day America First presidency. Further reading: Three Days at Camp David: How a Secret Meeting in 1971 Transformed the Global Economy, by Jeffrey E Garten (2021) Gold and the dollar crisis, by Robert Triffin (1960) Our Dollar, Your Problem, by Kenneth Rogoff (2025) Credits: Getty Images, Associated Press, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library To enjoy future episodes, be sure to subscribe to The Story of Money wherever you get your podcasts, also on the show's dedicated YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@FTTheStoryOfMoney Hosts: Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth Producer: Laurence Knight Executive Producer: Manuela Saragosa Original music: Breen Turner Broadcast engineers: Bianca Wakeman and Petros Gioumpasis Podcast Development: Laura Clarke Video editor: Kristen Kenyon and Josh Divney at Podcast Discovery Learn more at www.ft.com/tsom or get in touch at thestoryofmoney@ft.com. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  • What Nixon actually does is he sends John Connally to try and persuade the same trade partners

  • who are feeling so bruised to renegotiate their exchange rates with the dollar.

  • How did that go down?

  • He basically said it was their problem to figure out.

  • And he told them basically, you guys have to revalue your currencies.

  • And they said, why is all the adjustment on our side?

  • And he said, basically, it's your fault.

  • We have been subsidizing you left and right in all kinds of ways for 25 years.

  • You owe us.

  • We are not devaluing.

  • You're going to revalue.

  • And that first meeting was a total stalemate.

  • Today, in The Story of Money.

  • 2:30 on Friday the 13th.

  • Ooh, ominous.

  • On August 13, 1971. The presidential helicopter Marine One is preparing

  • to take off from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington,

  • D.C. On board is the President of the United States, Richard Milhous Nixon,

  • along with a select group of his most trusted economic and financial officials.

  • They're heading off for a make-or-break meeting.