During the Cold War, U.S. President Richard Nixon announced to a shocked audience that he was going to visit the People's Republic of China. This trip ended 25 years of no communication or diplomatic ties between the two countries, Nixon used this to gain leverage against the Soviet Union and drove a wedge between the PRC and the Eastern European nation, results included a significant shift in the Cold War. This trip had repercussions that can still be seen today. Every successive U.S. President after Nixon (with the exception of Jimmy Carter) has visited and matianed relationships with China and they had since opened their economy to capitalists countries.