--- title: Richard Nixon and Nikita Khruschev's Kitchen Debate: Pepsi and Peace description: July 24, 1959: Nixon and Khrushchev spar at the opening of an American exhibition in Moscow, in what becomes known as the “kitchen debate.” canonical: https://time.com/3961121/khrushchev-nixon-kitchen-debate/ author: Jennifer Latson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-24T14:30:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:02:26.840Z article:section: History og:title: Richard Nixon and Nikita Khruschev's Kitchen Debate: Pepsi and Peace og:description: July 24, 1959: Nixon and Khrushchev spar in what becomes known as the “kitchen debate” og:url: https://time.com/3961121/khrushchev-nixon-kitchen-debate/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb30a20803b0caffa/69885b32524fc0e0d7df3989/nixon.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Nixon Argues With Khrushchev og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Richard Nixon and Nikita Khruschev's Kitchen Debate: Pepsi and Peace twitter:description: July 24, 1959: Nixon and Khrushchev spar in what becomes known as the “kitchen debate” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb30a20803b0caffa/69885b32524fc0e0d7df3989/nixon.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # When Khrushchev Said No to Pepsi but Yes to Peace by [Jennifer Latson](https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/) ## Jennifer Latson Jul 24, 2015 2:30 PM UTC  Richard Nixon makes a point during an argument with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, Moscow,, July 25, 1959. Richard Nixon makes a point during an argument with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, Moscow,, July 25, 1959.Howard Sochurek—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty by [Jennifer Latson](https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/) ## Jennifer Latson Jul 24, 2015 2:30 PM UTC Nikita Khrushchev was not impressed by the color television. He took what [TIME described](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,825793,00.html) as a “skeptical sip” of Pepsi. And when he and then-Vice President Richard Nixon made their way into the “sleek, gadget-stocked” kitchen of a model American ranch house, the Soviet Premier’s irritation came to a head. “ You Americans think that the Russian people will be astonished to see these things,” he said. “The fact is that all our new houses have this kind of equipment.” “We do not claim to astonish the Russian people,” Nixon retorted. “We hope to show our diversity and our right to choose. We do not want to have decisions made at the top by one government official that all houses should be built the same way.” On this day, July 24, in 1959, while Nixon was in Moscow for the opening of the U.S. National Exhibition, he and Khrushchev bickered about communism and capitalism, arms and ultimatums, hypertension and détente — everything, in short, except the kitchen sink, although they did discuss the merits of washing machines. The exchange, which was videotaped and later broadcast in both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., became known as the “kitchen debate,” and it brought Nixon a reputation as a diplomatic master, capable of disarming Khrushchev’s bluster without ever backing down. As TIME reported: --- > “” --- While the hour-long conversation was tense at moments — as when Khrushchev told Nixon, “You know nothing about Communism except fear” — it led to “laughs, finger-shakings, and more argument” later in the day, [according to the New York _Times_.](http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0724.html#article) And while Khrushchev expressed disdain for the technological wonders of the American model home — “Don’t you have a machine that puts food in your mouth and pushes it down?” he asked “with heavy sarcasm,” per TIME — the pair agreed, importantly, on one thing. Standing in an American kitchen in Communism’s capital city at the height of the Cold War, Khrushchev declared, “We want peace with all other nations, especially America.” “We also want peace,” Nixon agreed. As they left the kitchen, Nixon put an arm on Khrushchev’s soldier and said, “I’m afraid I haven’t been a good host.” According to TIME: --- > “” --- **_Read more from 1959, here in the TIME archives_**: [Foreign Relations: Better to See Once](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,825793-1,00.html) ### The 55 Times Richard Nixon Was on the Cover of TIME  Aug. 25, 1952 TIME  Nov. 10, 1952 TIME  Jan. 18, 1954 TIME  Oct. 10, 1955 TIME  The Nov. 5, 1956, issue of TIME Boris Chaliapin  Nov. 12, 1956 TIME  Dec. 9, 1957 TIME  Aug. 3, 1959 TIME  Aug. 1, 1960 TIME  Oct. 31, 1960 TIME  April 14, 1967 TIME  Mar. 8, 1968 TIME  Aug. 16, 1968 TIME  Nov. 15, 1968 TIME  Jan. 24, 1969 TIME  Feb. 28, 1969 TIME  Aug. 15, 1969 TIME  Oct. 24, 1969 TIME  Nov. 21, 1969 TIME  April 20, 1970 TIME  June 8, 1970 TIME  Oct. 5, 1970 TIME  Oct. 26, 1970 TIME  July 26, 1971 TIME  Aug. 30, 1971 TIME  Jan. 3, 1972 TIME  Mar. 6, 1972 TIME  May 1, 1972 Time Magazine  June 5, 1972 TIME  Aug. 28, 1972 TIME  Oct. 2, 1972 TIME  Nov. 20, 1972 TIME  Jan. 1, 1973 TIME  Jan. 29, 1973 TIME  Apr. 30, 1973 TIME  May 14, 1973 TIME  Jun. 4, 1973 TIME  June 18, 1973 TIME  July 9, 1973 TIME  July 30, 1973 TIME  Aug. 20, 1973 TIME  Aug. 27, 1973 TIME  Oct. 29, 1973 TIME  Nov. 5, 1973 TIME  Apr. 1, 1974 TIME  April 15, 1974 TIME  May 13, 1974 TIME  May 20, 1974 TIME  June 24, 1974 TIME  July 1, 1974 TIME  July 22, 1974 TIME  Sept. 16, 1974 TIME  May 9, 1977 TIME  May 2, 1990 TIME  TIME ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3961121/khrushchev-nixon-kitchen-debate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3961121/khrushchev-nixon-kitchen-debate/"},"headline":"When Khrushchev Said No to Pepsi but Yes to Peace","datePublished":"2015-07-24T14:30:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:26.840Z","description":"July 24, 1959: Nixon and Khrushchev spar at the opening of an American exhibition in Moscow, in what becomes known as the “kitchen debate.”","url":"https://time.com/3961121/khrushchev-nixon-kitchen-debate/","keywords":["politics","russia","Cold War","Foreign Relations","nixon","USSR"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb30a20803b0caffa/69885b32524fc0e0d7df3989/nixon.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Latson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb30a20803b0caffa/69885b32524fc0e0d7df3989/nixon.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Nixon Argues With Khrushchev","caption":"Nixon Argues With Khrushchev","creditText":"Howard Sochurek—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/politics/","name":"politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3961121/khrushchev-nixon-kitchen-debate/","name":"When Khrushchev Said No to Pepsi but Yes to Peace"}}]}] ```