Kathleen Smith is author of “Moscow 1956: The Silenced Spring”

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Why was 1965 such a pivotal year in in the Soviet Union? How did it help set the course of the past half century of Russian history. Joining us on this edition of the Nixon Now Podcast to answer these questions is Kathleen Smith. Dr. Smith is Professor of Teaching at the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service. Her area of expertise is issues of memory and historical politics of Russia.

Program Highlights:

– Research behind the book.

– Why 1956 was a significant year for the Soviet Union.

– Nikita Khrushchev’s background.

– Stalinism versus Khrushchev’s leadership.

– Krushchev’s Secret Speech”

– Stalin’s victims

– How Khrushchev’s leadership inspired the generation that shaped Perestroika in the 1980s.

– Khrushchev’s foreign policy.

– Khrushchev’s influence today.

Further Reading:

Khrushchev, Nikita. “‘On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences,’ Delivered at the Twentieth Party Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.” 25 February 1956.

Nixon, Richard. Memo to President Dwight Eisenhower After Meeting with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. August 1959

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Photo: “The Kitchen Debate:” Vice President Nixon debates Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in an American Exhibition in Moscow on July 25, 1959 (Time Life Collection/Getty).