JFK+50: Volume 5, No. 1728
KHRUSHCHEV DEMONSTRATES NEED FOR ANGER MANAGEMENT CLASSES
New York City (JFK+50) Fifty-five years ago today, September 29, 1960, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev displayed a need for anger management classes when, according to BBC NEWS, "twice pounded his desk and twice...shouted interruptions to show his disapproval" of UN forces presence in the Belgian Congo.
The outbursts came as British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was speaking in support of UN President Dag Hammarskjold. The Soviet Premier also "began shouting" when the Prime Minister "referred to the...four power summit" called off after a U.S. spy plane was shot down.
A short time later, Nikita Khrushchev stood and shouted in Russian..."You accept my disarmament proposals and I'll accept any controls."
According to the History Channel website, two weeks later, on October 12, 1960, the Soviet leader once again lost his cool at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. The HC describes this outburst as a "tantrum."
Mr. Khrushchev removed one of his shoes and began pounding it on a table in protest. In attempting to restore order, President Frederick Boland "broke his gavel."
The Soviet Premier's attitude issues would continue after the election of President John F. Kennedy. JFK was taken aback by the Soviet Premier at their meeting in Vienna in the summer of 1961. At the end of a long meeting with Nikita Khrushchev, President Kennedy described it in private as "the worst day of my life."
SOURCES
"Khrushchev anger erupts at UN," BBC On This Day, September 29, www.news.bbc.co.uk/
"Nikita Khrushchev throws a tantrum at the United Nations," This Day in History, October 12, www.history.com/
Vice-President Nixon & Premier Khrushchev
NARA Photograph (1959)
