'A dear and hoped-for guest': Eisenhower's cancelled trip to the Soviet Union and the final year of his presidency/ Adam Boon

This analysis evaluates plans for President Dwight Eisenhower's visit to the Soviet Union in June 1960, prior to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev revoking his invitation at the Paris summit a month before. The plans were at an advanced stage prior to cancellation. The aborted trip is a footnote in the scholarship, but reconstructing the plans allows understanding the trip as part of the wider context of American diplomacy in 1960 and reveals its purpose in a new depth. Whilst the trip would not have been a critical juncture in the Cold War, understanding it informs appraisals of the final year of Eisenhower's presidency. It provides insights into two questions of relevance for Eisenhower scholarship: What was the trip's purpose? How would it have fitted into Eisenhower's wider diplomatic plans in 1960?

POLICY, DIPLOMACY