Cultural Competition/Cultural Cooperation: U.S. Trade and Cultural Fair in Moscow and the Kitchen Debate, 1959

Following the conclusion of agreements regarding cultural and educational exchange, the United States and the Soviet Union staged state-sponsored exhibitions in the summer of 1959. The Soviet Union held an exhibition in New York, highlighting Soviet technological and artistic triumphs, and the United States built an exhibition in Moscow centering on consumer goods. At the opening of the U.S. exhibit in Moscow on July 24, 1959, U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev engaged in a lively debate about their respective political and economic systems inside the model of a modern American kitchen. This discussion became known as the "kitchen debate."

Several years earlier, had Khrushchev issued a call for cultural exchanges between the two nations. In June, 1957, Khrushchev made an appearance on the American television program Face the Nation in which he criticized the Western rhetoric that blamed the Soviets for preventing any intellectual or cultural exchange between the West and the East and argued that the United States was responsible for restricting the movement of culture, trade, or ideas. Calling upon the West to open opportunities for cultural exchange and trade was one part of a new Soviet effort that had begun after the death of Joseph Stalin and that aimed, not only to reach political and strategic agreements with the United States, but also to provide the Soviets access to information about U.S. developments in science and technology. By 1957 the Soviet Union appeared to have gained a strong edge in the development of rockets and missiles, but there were other areas in which the United States clearly remained in the lead. The call for increased exchanges and interactions was one way for the Soviets to gauge American progress.

Initially, the United States was caught off-guard by the suggestion, and so in responding, U.S. officials proposed programs of a limited scope. The Eisenhower Administration countered the Soviet criticism of the West's anti-Soviet rhetoric by pointing out the real impenetrability of Soviet censorship and suggested that the two countries make the initial step of allowing uncensored radio and television broadcasts to each others' countries. In 1958, the two nations signed a cultural agreement that provided not only for the exchange of broadcasts, but also of films, airline flights, magazines, and people, including students, athletes and artists. In signing the agreement, the Soviet Union gained access to information about U.S. technology and industry. For the United States, the initial benefit was not obvious, but the agreement provided the opportunity to introduce American culture into the Soviet bloc. In the long run, many have argued that this contributing to weakening the Soviet state.

Following these initial negotiations, the two sides also agreed to exchange national exhibitions. Although a signed agreement fixed the date of the exhibitions, established the venues, and settled a number of other technical points, extensive discussions followed regarding the planning of the events and the specifics of the exhibits. In New York, the Soviet Union displayed models of the Sputnik satellites, Soviet farm equipment, and examples of art. U.S. officials and organizers of the Moscow fair planned to keep overt propaganda out of the project, and focused on American consumer products in an effort to demonstrate the array of conveniences available to average American workers and their families. U.S. officials hoped that the display of clothing, processed foods, modern kitchen appliances, automobiles and color televisions would demonstrate the social benefits of a free society and a market economy.

As the opening of the U.S. exhibition drew near, Soviet propagandists began to try to dispel the excitement surrounding the upcoming fair and to divert the attention of Muscovites away from the U.S. exhibit. Soviet officials staged a number of competing fairs and events and issued frequent reports portraying the products displayed at the U.S. exhibit as being out of the reach of the average American worker. None of these efforts succeeded in drawing public attention away from the event, however. Over the course of the 42 days the fair was open for public viewing, more than 2.7 million ticketed visitors toured the site. The fact that the Moscow fair drew so much interest reflected a widespread curiosity about the United States in the Soviet Union.

U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon embarked on a ten-day tour of the Soviet Union that coincided with the exhibition in Moscow, and on the opening day, he and Khrushchev toured the exhibits together before the gates opened to the public. During this tour, the two men engaged in a frank exchange of opinions about the relative merits of communism and capitalism. The men stopped in the model kitchen as they argued, each moment captured on film. Although they disagreed about the general availability of the consumer goods to the public and debated the relative benefits of their economic systems, both men remained calm, even congenial, throughout the exchange. This dynamic conversation was widely publicized on both sides of the iron curtain and provided a compelling and open discussion of the economic underpinnings, advantages, and disadvantages of capitalism and communism. Although this "kitchen debate" captured international attention, it was only one of several discussions between the two during Nixon's visit.

Although it was a grand success by any standard, the 1959 U.S. Trade and Cultural Fair was the only exhibition of its kind held in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. This was at least partly because it was such a success; it provided information about the United States that directly contradicted major themes of Soviet propaganda and served to increase rather than satiate curiosity about the Cold War enemy. Even without such displays, however, the cultural agreement that preceded the exhibitions provided a step toward a more open exchange between the two countries. In the wake of the exhibition, Khrushchev embarked on an extended visit of the United States, whereas Nixon's widely publicized visit to the USSR helped him to clinch the Republican nomination in the 1960 Presidential Election.