Unholy Fury (66 page)

President Richard Nixon and Australian Prime Minister William McMahon after their meeting in November 1971. McMahon was enraged at not being forewarned by the White House that Nixon was going to China. (Corbis Images)

That dress: Sonia McMahon's eye-catching attire stole the show at the official White House dinner in November 1971, and remained etched onto the minds of senior US policy makers. (Corbis Images)

Despite their differences, Whitlam and US Ambassador Marshall Green established an effective working relationship. It was not without its moments, however. They are pictured here at an American Independence Day function in July 1975, not long before Green's departure from the post. (A6180, 11/7/75/26, NAA)

Whitlam with US National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger before Whitlam's meeting with the president. Kissinger would dismiss Whitlam as not a ‘heavyweight'. (A8746, KN 12/11/74/33, NAA)

‘At last: the climax'. Cartoonist Alan Moir's depiction of the likely conversation between Whitlam and Nixon captured the prevailing atmosphere in the press that the meeting would probably not accomplish much, despite the fevered build up. (Bulletin, 4 August 1973, reprinted per kind permission of Alan Moir)

Oval Office smiles: yet the grins for the camera could not mask the stormy path of relations between Whitlam and Nixon in the months leading up to their meeting on 30 July 1973. (M151, 51, NAA)

Nixon escorts Whitlam to his car after their Oval Office meeting. The president was reported to have told Marshall Green, ‘You know, Marshall, he's quite a guy', but trouble in the alliance would continue to plague the relationship right up to the moment of Nixon's resignation from office in August 1974. Also pictured here are Henry Kissinger, Marshall Green and Australian ambassador to the US, James Plimsoll. (White House Press Office, Richard Nixon Library, Yorba Linda)