Richard Nixon speaks at the opening of the American Exhibition in Moscow's Sokolniki Park. Nikita Khrushchev, Pat Nixon, and others sit in chairs beside a podium

The exhibit was sponsored by the American government, and it followed a similar Soviet Exhibit in New York City earlier that year. It featured many displays of the latest "home appliances, fashions, television and hi-fi sets, a model house priced to sell [to] an 'average' family, farm equipment, 1959 automobiles, boats, sporting equipment and a children’s playground, this exhibit was intended to narrow the gap between the Americans and the Soviets and improve the political relations between them. The various displays of the exhibit were all successful in promoting the American way of life as superior to the Communist regime and lifestyle. For instance, the model of the modern kitchen was a great attraction for most visitors and even sparked the infamous "Kitchen Debate."

Richard Nixon was elected the 37th President of the United States (1969-1974) after previously serving as a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator from California. After successfully ending American fighting in Vietnam and improving international relations with the U.S.S.R. and China, he became the only President to ever resign the office, as a result of the Watergate scandal. "People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I earned everything I've got."