Which of the following best explains why Nixon's foreign policy was a departure from previous administrations'?

Nixon's foreign policy marked a significant departure from those of previous administrations primarily because he was more open to engaging directly with communist leaders, notably during his historic visits to China and the Soviet Union. This willingness to negotiate was characterized by the policy of détente, which aimed to ease Cold War tensions through dialogue and diplomatic relations rather than military confrontation.

Previous administrations, particularly in the early Cold War era, often adopted a more confrontational stance towards communism, largely adhering to the containment strategy that sought to prevent the spread of communism through various means, including military intervention and support for anti-communist regimes. Nixon's approach, therefore, represented a strategic shift towards acknowledging the existence of communist powers and seeking to work with them, which was exemplified by his engagement with leaders such as Mao Zedong and Leonid Brezhnev.

This orientation towards diplomacy was also instrumental in leading to significant arms control agreements, such as the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT), further illustrating how Nixon's foreign policy broke away from the more ideologically rigid stance of his predecessors.