Kennedy had had to push Khrushchev at Vienna to get him to agree on Laos. At first Khrushchev taunted his American counterpart with Cold War history, saying Kennedy “knew very well that it had been the US government [under Eisenhower] which had overthrown Souvanna Phouma.”[53] JFK conceded the point. He said, “Speaking frankly, US policy in that region has not always been wise.”[54] Nevertheless, he went on, the United States now wanted a Laos that would be as neutral and independent as Cambodia and Burma were. Khrushchev said that was his view as well.[55]
