Cold War politics were on display when Vice President Richard Nixon, and his wife, Pat, made an 18-hour visit to Auburn and Syracuse on May 17 and 18, 1960.

Nixon, considered the front-runner for the Republican nomination for president, was to speak at a testimonial dinner for 80-year-old Congressman John Taber in Auburn, before being the guest of honor of honor of Stephen Rogers, publisher of the Herald Journal, at a breakfast in the Persian Terrace at the Hotel Syracuse.

Pat Nixon was to be honored by Central New York Republican women at a reception in the Hotel Onondaga.

Nixon's visit came just as relations between the United States and the Soviet Union were heating up. On May 1, the Soviets shot down a U2 spy plane and captured its pilot, Gary Francis Powers, who admitted he worked for the CIA.

A summit in Paris on May 16, had seen Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev storm out of the meeting after President Dwight Eisenhower agreed to only a "suspension" of spy flights.

The summit ended without any more meetings between the two leaders, and Eisenhower's trip in Moscow in June was cancelled.

Greeted at Hancock Field by an estimated 2,500 people, Nixon got the crowd "roaring" by declaring how "very proud of the way President Eisenhower had represented the United States" in Paris.

In Auburn, Nixon said he believes that "Mr. Khrushchev should apologize to the United States and other nations for breaking up the conference," and for the "thousands of espionage agents he has working throughout the world and the U.S."

When asked why Eisenhower's trip to the Soviet Union was cancelled, Nixon said the Soviets were nervous he would receive "a massive welcome."

At the Hotel Syracuse the next day, the Vice President, the Post-Standard reported, "touched off a news story of major international importance."

When asked what the U.S. should do if the Soviets impose the death penalty on Powers for spying, Nixon responded that there were "a number of incidents in this country of Soviet personnel who have engaged not only in "air spying" but "on the ground spying."

Nixon then warned that the U.S. might make reprisals against Soviet spies should anything happen to Powers.

He finished his stay with an informal meeting with school officials at the Hotel. He warned them "not to use the Communist yardstick in determining the quality of education in the United States." And he declared the U.S. to have the "best mass education in the world."

Pat Nixon charmed Syracuse in her stay in the city. Described as "warm and friendly," she shared bouquet of roses with more than two dozen children after getting off the plane at Hancock Field.

"I'm so glad so many get to enjoy them," she said.

She remembered fondly campaigning here in 1958. She was heard saying, "We always like to come to this area, it is such a beautiful setting."

More than 1,100 women thronged to meet her the next day at the Hotel Onondaga, nearly doubling the 600 expected.

The Post-Standard's Norma Stone wrote, "Not a few shins were bruised by needle-heels and elbows jabbed into sensitive ribs, but, everyone was determined to shake Pat Nixon's hand."

Her "charm and stamina" made an impression, Stone wrote.

The Nixons left shortly afterward for Buffalo. Nixon would win the Republican nomination, but lose a close election to John F. Kennedy.

This feature is a part of CNY Nostalgia, a section on syracuse.com. Send your ideas and curiosities to Johnathan Croyle: Email | 315-427-3958.