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Nearly 6 Decades Later, Lessons From The Nixon-Khrushchev 'Kitchen Debate'

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Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, center left, talks with U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon during their famous "Kitchen Debate" at the United States exhibit at Moscow's Sokolniki Park, July 24, 1959. While touring the exhibit, both men kept a running debate on the merits of their respective countries. Standing to the right is Khrushchev's deputy, Leonid Brezhnev. (AP Photo)
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, center left, talks with U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon during their famous "Kitchen Debate" at the United States exhibit at Moscow's Sokolniki Park, July 24, 1959. While touring the exhibit, both men kept a running debate on the merits of their respective countries. Standing to the right is Khrushchev's deputy, Leonid Brezhnev. (AP Photo)

On July 24, 1959, Vice President Richard Nixon debated the merits of capitalism versus communism with the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev. It became known as the "Kitchen Debate" because part of it took place in a model American kitchen set up for the American National Exhibition in Moscow.

Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson and Peter O'Dowd speak with Julian Zelizer (@julianzelizer), professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University and a CNN political analyst, about whether the debate offers any lessons for today.

This segment aired on July 24, 2018.

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