JFK+50: Volume 5, No. 1714
KHRUSHCHEV BECOMES 1ST SOVIET HEAD OF STATE TO VISIT USA
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Fifty-six years ago today, September 15, 1959, Nikita Khrushchev arrived here in the captial of the United States becoming the first Soviet head of state to visit our country.
The Premier attended formal receptions after being welcomed at the airport by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and riding in a motorcade downtown. Very quickly, the two world leaders sat down for a 2 1/2 hour discussion.
Upon arrival, Khrushchev said..."The Soviet people want to live in friendship with the American people."
According to the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, the two-week visit "was cloaked by barely concealed threats and marked by chaos."
Most familiar is the Premier's expressed desire to visit Disneyland which was turned down by his hosts because of security concerns.
After a week of talks with President Eisenhower at Camp David, the Premier toured the United States guided by Vice-President Henry Cabot Lodge. In Hollywood, Khrushchev seemed to enjoy the performance of the Can-Can by actress Shirley MacLaine and her company of "scantily dressed...young ladies," although Mrs. Khrushchev did not.
SOURCES
"Khrushchev arrives in Washington," This Day in History: September 15, www.history.com/
"Khrushchev Visits America-A Cold War Comedy of Errors, Act I.," Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training," www.adst.org/
Eisenhowers & Khrushchevs
KHRUSHCHEV BECOMES 1ST SOVIET HEAD OF STATE TO VISIT USA
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Fifty-six years ago today, September 15, 1959, Nikita Khrushchev arrived here in the captial of the United States becoming the first Soviet head of state to visit our country.
The Premier attended formal receptions after being welcomed at the airport by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and riding in a motorcade downtown. Very quickly, the two world leaders sat down for a 2 1/2 hour discussion.
Upon arrival, Khrushchev said..."The Soviet people want to live in friendship with the American people."
According to the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, the two-week visit "was cloaked by barely concealed threats and marked by chaos."
Most familiar is the Premier's expressed desire to visit Disneyland which was turned down by his hosts because of security concerns.
After a week of talks with President Eisenhower at Camp David, the Premier toured the United States guided by Vice-President Henry Cabot Lodge. In Hollywood, Khrushchev seemed to enjoy the performance of the Can-Can by actress Shirley MacLaine and her company of "scantily dressed...young ladies," although Mrs. Khrushchev did not.
SOURCES
"Khrushchev arrives in Washington," This Day in History: September 15, www.history.com/
"Khrushchev Visits America-A Cold War Comedy of Errors, Act I.," Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training," www.adst.org/
Eisenhowers & Khrushchevs
White House State Dinner (1959)
NARA Photo
