Red Vituperation

May 13, 1958 - On this day Vice President Richard Nixon was attacked by an angry mob in Caracas during a goodwill tour of South America.

Resentment against the United States and its anti-communist policies had reached a boiling point across Latin America. Earlier that year, the U.S.-backed Venezuelan dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez had been overthrown in a military coup, and many Venezuelans were furious that the United States had granted him asylum after his fall from power.

As Nixon’s motorcade drove through Caracas, protesters overwhelmed the Venezuelan security forces and surrounded the vice president’s car. The mob smashed windows with rocks and fists, spat on the vehicle, and nearly overturned it before the motorcade finally broke free and raced to the U.S. embassy. Several members of Nixon’s entourage were injured in the chaos.

The incident became one of the most notorious attacks ever carried out against a high-ranking American official on foreign soil. President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded by ordering U.S. naval forces toward the region while Venezuelan troops reinforced security around Nixon for the remainder of his visit.