Early Cold War Summits: Eisenhower, Nixon, Kennedy, and Khrushchev, 1959 and 1960

In 1959 and 1960, three historic summits occurred during the Cold War. In 1959, Vice President Richard Nixon traveled to the Soviet Union and met with Nikita Khrushchev. Later that same year, Khrushchev visited the United States and met with President Dwight Eisenhower. Less than two years later, President John Kennedy met Khrushchev in Vienna. This thesis argues that, although no accords were reached, all three of these summits eased tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union and helped avoid nuclear war between the two superpowers.