According to John Green in the series, <em>Crash Course US History,</em> the North lost several battles during the beginning years of the Civil war due to ineffective leadership from the Union Generals. A term he called <em>Ineffective Generaling</em>.
This was in reference to the ineffectiveness of leaders such as Maj. Generals Benjamin Butler, John Pope, Ambrose Burnside and even the overly indecisive and cautious George McClellan all of whom allowed the Confederacy to gain an advantage in battles against the Union which was larger and better equipped.
President Nixon believed that normalizing relations with China would "b) drive a wedge between China and the <span>Soviet Union," which was a Cold War goal. </span><span />
