Khrushchev’s Son, ‘Feeling Like a Newborn,’ Becomes U.S. Citizen

PROVIDENCE, R.I. —  Nikita S. Khrushchev’s son became a U.S. citizen Monday, choosing the material advantages of capitalism 40 years after his father vowed communism would easily surpass the American way of life.

“I’m feeling like a newborn. It’s the beginning of a new life,” the 64-year-old Sergei Khrushchev said after taking the oath of citizenship. At his side was his wife, Valentina Golenko, who also took the oath to defend the United States.

They became American citizens 40 years after Nikita Khrushchev told then-Vice President Richard Nixon on July 24, 1959, during the famous “kitchen debate” in Moscow: “In another seven years we will be on the same level as America. When we catch [you], in passing you by, we will wave to you.”

Another time, the Soviet leader said his country would “bury” the United States. Khrushchev has said his father’s “we will bury you” remark was misunderstood. The remark meant that capitalism would die and that the Soviet economic system would outlive it, he said.

Sergei Khrushchev, once an important missile engineer for the Soviets, and his wife have been living in the United States since he came here in 1991 as a visiting instructor in Cold War history at Brown University in Providence, where he still teaches.

Since then, Khrushchev has become as American as a Buick or a Pontiac--in fact, he owns one of each. Khrushchev lives in a ranch house in Cranston, a suburb dotted with lawn sprinklers and grills. The home has central air, a Jacuzzi and an entertainment center.

Khrushchev and his wife have grown accustomed to the American way of life, so they decided to make the arrangement a permanent one by becoming U.S. citizens.

Along with 242 others, Khrushchev and his wife stood up from their seats and said, “I do” when U.S. District Judge Ronald R. Lagueux asked if they promised to be good citizens. Then all 244 recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Most of them, including Khrushchev, held miniature American flags.

Asked if he feared that his relatives back in Russia could face hostility because of his decision, he replied: “No, no! You’re still living in the Cold War. It’s a different Russia.”

Still, there are some in Russia who see Khrushchev’s decision to become an American as a betrayal.

His son, Nikita, who still lives there, has been helping his dad gather material for books about the Cold War era. Some officials have hindered him because of his father’s action, he said.