Eisenhower, not wishing to start the visit on the wrong foot, dismissed all the senior staff and advisers from the Oval Office, keeping only two translators. In a 10-minute tête-à-tête Ike delivered his planned personal appeal to the Soviet leader, saying that Khrushchev “had an opportunity to become the greatest political figure in history” by taking up the cause of peace and changing the direction of Soviet policy. But the gesture fell flat.
