Cold War Primary Sources | Nikita Khrushchev: Excerpt From Secret Speech on Berlin Crisis

Excerpt from "Khrushchev's Secret Speech on the Berlin Crisis, August 1961"

Excerpted from Cold War International History Project Virtual Archive (Web site)

"If [Kennedy] starts a war then he would probably become the last president of the United States of America."

In this excerpt from "Khrushchev's Secret Speech on the Berlin Crisis, August 1961," Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) spoke to his Communist Party leaders. These leaders included Soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko (1909–1989); the leaders of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Rumania; and most importantly, Walter Ulbricht (1893–1973) of East Germany. He was responding to the radio and television address of U.S. president John F. Kennedy (1917–1963; served 1961–63) on July 25,1961. Kennedy was speaking to American citizens about Berlin and Khrushchev. Much of...