Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev (left center) engage in a discussion in front of a kitchen display at the U.S. exhibit at Moscow's Sokolniki Park on July 24, 1959. | AP Photo Nixon and Khrushchev stage 'kitchen debate' in Moscow, July 24, 1959

On this day in 1959, Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev engaged in a heated debate about the respective merits of capitalism and communism during the opening ceremony of the American National Exhibition in Moscow. The confrontation, which became an iconic event in the Cold War, occurred in a model U.S. kitchen that had been set up for the fair.

For the event, U.S. exhibitors built an entire house, crammed with labor-saving devices. “This house,” Nixon said, “can be bought for $14,000 (about $92,000 in current dollars), and most American [World War II veterans] can buy a home in the bracket of $10,000 to $15,000. Let me give you an example that you can appreciate. Our steelworkers, as you know, are now on strike. But any steelworker could buy this house. They earn $3 an hour. This house costs about $100 a month to buy on a contract running 25 to 30 years.”


“We have steelworkers and peasants who can afford to spend $14,000 for a house,” Khrushchev countered. “Your American houses are built to last only 20 years, so builders could sell new houses at the end. We build firmly. We build for our children and grandchildren.”

For his part, Khrushchev also said Russians focus on things that matter more rather than luxury. In a satirical spirit, he asked Nixon whether there was a machine that “puts food into the mouth and pushes it down.”

At one point in their debate, the Republican vice president told the Soviet leader, “I appreciate that you are very articulate and energetic.” Khrushchev responded, "Energetic is different from wise." Whereupon Nixon said: If you were in our Senate, we would call you a filibusterer. You do all the talking and don't let anyone else talk … To us, diversity, the right to choose, the fact that we have 1,000 builders building 1,000 different houses is the most important thing. We don't have one decision made at the top by one government official.”

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William Safire, who was working at the time as a New York-based publicist for a firm hired by the kitchen’s designer, had spotted Khrushchev and Nixon walking nearby and enticed them to stop at the model kitchen, where he took a photo of their exchange. Safire went on to become a speechwriter in the Nixon White House and, subsequently, a New York Times columnist.

Khrushchev voiced doubts that Nixon would make good on his promise that the Soviet leader's part in their debate would be translated into English and broadcast in the United States. As it happened, the three U.S. television networks aired the debate in full on July 25; two days later, it was also seen on late-night Moscow television, although Nixon’s remarks were only partially translated.

SOURCE: “DEBATE GOES ON TV OVER SOVIET PROTEST,”BY RICHARD SHEPARD, NEW YORK TIMES, JULY

