Objectives
The exhibit was sponsored by the American government, and it followed a similar Soviet Exhibit in New York City earlier that year. It featured many displays of the latest "home appliances, fashions, television and hi-fi sets, a model house priced to sell an 'average' family, farm equipment, 1959 automobiles, boats, sporting equipment and a children’s playground, this exhibit was intended to narrow the gap between the Americans and the Soviets and improve the political relations between them. However, the "exhibition was also a tool of cultural diplomacy against the Soviet Communist Regime" as the American politicians wanted to demonstrate the advantages of capitalism to the Soviets. This is evident in Vice President Richard Nixon’s speech on the opening night of the Exhibition on July 24, 1959 as he congratulated USSR’s Premier Nikita Khrushchev and the Soviets on their advances in astronomy and rocket science, but quickly returned to focus on the United States' strong points, especially the concept of freedom.
The various displays of the exhibit were all successful in promoting the American way of life as superior to the Communist regime and lifestyle. For instance, the model of the modern kitchen was a great attraction for most visitors and even sparked the infamous "Kitchen Debate."
A multi-screen film was presented, "Glimpses of the USA" by Charles and Ray Eames.
Read more about this topic: American National Exhibition
Famous quotes containing the word objectives:
“Along the journey we commonly forget its goal. Almost every vocation is chosen and entered upon as a means to a purpose but is ultimately continued as a final purpose in itself. Forgetting our objectives is the most frequent stupidity in which we indulge ourselves.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)