NIXON: In America we like to make life easier for women.
KHRUSHCHEV: Your capitalistic attitude toward women does not occur under Communism.
NIXON: This attitude towards women is universal. What we want to do is make life more easy for our housewives. This house can be bought for $14,000. Any steel worker 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.
KHRUSHCHEV: We have steel workers and peasants who can afford to spend $14,000 for a house. 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.
NIXON: American houses last for more than 20 years, but after 20 years many Americans want a new house or a new kitchen. Their kitchen is obsolete by that time. The American system is designed to take advantage of new inventions and new techniques.
KHRUSHCHEV: This theory does not hold water. Some things never get out of date. Houses, for instance, and furniture. I hope I have not insulted you.
NIXON: I have been insulted by experts. Everything we say, on the other hand, is in good humor. Always speak frankly.
KHRUSHCHEV: The Americans have created their own image of the Soviet man. But he is not as you think. You think the Russian people will be dumbfounded to see these things, but newly built Russian houses have all this equipment. In Russia, all you have to do to get a house is to be born in the Soviet Union. You are entitled to housing. In America, if you don’t have a dollar, you have a right to choose between sleeping in a house or on the pavement. Yet you say we are the slave to Communism.
NIXON: This exhibit was not designed to astound but to interest. 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.
KHRUSHCHEV: On politics, we will never agree with you. For instance, Mikoyan likes very peppery soup. I do not. But this does not mean that we do not get along.
NIXON: You can learn from us, and we can learn from you. There must be a free exchange. Let the people choose the kind of house, the kind of soup, the kind of ideas that they want.
KHRUSHCHEV: The construction workers didn’t manage to finish their work. This is what America is capable of. And how long has she existed? 300 years? 150 years of independence and this is her level. We haven’t quite reached 42 years, and in another seven years, we’ll be at the level of America. After that we’ll go farther. As we pass you by, we’ll wave "hi" to you, and then if you want, we’ll stop and say, "please come along behind us." If you want to live under Capitalism, go ahead. That’s your question, an internal matter, it doesn’t concern us. We can feel sorry for you, but really, you wouldn’t understand. We’ve already seen how you understand things.
NIXON: I, very early in the morning, went down to visit a market, where the farmers from various outskirts of the city bring in their items to sell. There was a great deal of interest among these workers and farmers. The exhibition from that standpoint would, therefore, be a considerable success. There must be a free exchange of ideas. There are some instances where you may be ahead of us, for example, the development of the thrust of your rockets for the investigation of outer space. There may be some instances, for example, color television, where we’re ahead of you. But in order for both of us benefit...
KHRUSHCHEV: In rockets we’ve passed you by, and in the technology...
NIXON: You see, you never concede anything.
KHRUSHCHEV: We always knew that Americans were smart people. Stupid people could not have risen to the economic level that they’ve reached. But as you know, "we don’t beat flies with our nostrils!" In 42 years we’ve made progress.
NIXON: You must not be afraid of ideas.
KHRUSHCHEV: We’re saying it is you who must not be afraid of ideas. We’re not afraid of anything.
NIXON: Well, then, let’s have more exchange of them. We all agree on that, right?
KHRUSHCHEV: Good. (Khrushchev turns to translator and asks: "Now, what did I agree on?")
NIXON: Now, let’s go look at our pictures.
KHRUSHCHEV: Yes, I agree. But first I want to clarify what I’m agreeing on. Don’t I have that right? I know that I’m dealing with a very good lawyer. Therefore, I want to be unwavering in my miner’s girth, so our miners will say, "He’s ours and he doesn’t give in!"
NIXON: No question about that.
KHRUSHCHEV: You’re a lawyer of Capitalism, I’m a lawyer for Communism. Let’s kiss.
NIXON: You would have made a good lawyer yourself. Here you can see the tape which will transmit this very conversation immediately, and this indicates the possibilities of increasing communication. And this increase in communication, will teach us some things, and you some things, too. Because, after all, you don’t know everything.
KHRUSHCHEV: If I don’t know everything, then you know absolutely nothing about Communism, except for fear. Now the dispute will be on an unequal basis. The apparatus is yours and you speak English, while I speak Russian. Your words are taped and will be shown and heard. What I say to you about science won’t be translated, and so your people won’t hear it. These aren’t equal conditions.
NIXON: There isn’t a day that goes by in the United States when we can’t read everything that you say in the Soviet Union. I can assure you never make a statement here that we don't read in the United States.
KHRUSHCHEV: If that’s the way it is, I’m holding you to it. Give me your word. I want you, the Vice President, to give me your word that my speech will also be taped in English. Will it be?
NIXON: By the same token, everything that I say will be recorded and translated and will be carried all over the Soviet Union. That’s a fair bargain.
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