By the time of Khrushchev’s departure, at 11:00 p.m. on September 27, the cold war had shifted from a bitter rivalry into something else, a competition to be sure, but one that could be disputed with words and ideas rather than nuclear weapons. The two leaders had engaged with one another on a personal, human level as never before. Khrushchev’s visit had been at times tense and awkward, at times comic and downright goofy. But it had sparked curiosity and even some goodwill. Ike told a press conference that the “threat” of war over Berlin had been lifted. In his last act in the United States,
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