"How PEPSI briefly became the 6th largest military in the world" This story involves RICHARD NIXON and RUSSIA. This is ONE WEIRD HISTORICAL STORY involving Richard Nixon, Pepsi, and RUSSIA. Interesting but strange, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYqWoQ95m7Q "Almost everyone in the world has a favorite soda that they enjoy whenever they get the opportunity. But, is your favorite tasty drink worth giving up a military arsenal big enough to stock a whole country? Well, at one point in history, the Russians thought so. In 1959, then-President Dwight Eisenhower wanted to bring our America culture to citizens of the Soviet Union and show them the benefits of capitalism. To showcase their ideologies, the American government arranged the "American National Exhibition" in Moscow and sent then-Vice President Richard Nixon to attend the opening — but things were about to take a turn for the worse. Nixon and Soviet leader Khrushchev got into an argument over the topic of capitalism versus communism. Their conversation got so heated that the vice president of Pepsi intervened and offered the Soviet leader a cup of his delicious, sugary beverage — and he drank it.  Years later, the people of the Soviet Union wanted to strike a deal that would bring Pepsi products to their country permanently. However, there was an issue of how they would pay for their newest beverage, as their money wasn't accepted throughout the world.  So, the clever country decided to buy Pepsi using a universal currency: vodka! In the late 1980s, Russia's initial agreement to serve Pepsi in their country was about to expire, but this time, their vodka wasn't going to be enough to cover the cost. So, the Russians did what any country would do in desperate times: They traded Pepsi A FLEET OF SHIPS AND BOATS for a whole lot of soda. The new agreement included 17 submarines, a cruiser, a frigate, and a destroyer. The combined fleet was traded for three billion dollars worth of Pepsi. Yes, you read that right. Russia loves their Pepsi.  The historical exchange caused Pepsi to become the 6th MOST POWERFUL MILITARY IN THE WORLD, FOR A MOMENT before they sold the fleet to a Swedish company for scrap recycling. https://www.businessinsider.com/how-pepsi-briefly-became-the-6th-largest-military-in-the-world-2018-7 RICHARD NIXON ALSO WORKED for Pepsi as ONE OF THEIR LAWYERS before this. A future president of the United States who worked for Pepsi-Cola was Richard Nixon. In 1962 Nixon was defeated for the governorship of the state of California. He felt that his political career was totally over. Nixon then hoped that he could obtain employment as a lawyer for Coca-Cola. It was however Pepsi’s CEO (Chief Executive Officer), Don Kendall, who acted quickly and snatched up Nixon as a partner in the law office for Pepsi-Cola. This decision by Pepsi was influenced by the fact that Nixon had helped the company to introduce the Pepsi product brand to the Soviet Union (Vice President Nixon had personally convinced Nikita Khrushchev, USSR Premier, to try Pepsi). Nixon's actions had started the wheels turning and Pepsi would over time gain public popularity in the USSR. For this key reason and others, Pepsi wanted Nixon to work for them. Nixon was Pepsi’s man. Pepsi’s courage in Nixon’s abilities paid off big in 1968 when Nixon was elected as PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. The U.S. President was a very strong supporter of Pepsi and Don Kendall. When Nixon resigned in 1974 over the Watergate scandal, his problems at the time caused major problems for Pepsi. Conspiracy theories had the company involved in the harsh and incongruous scandal. Pepsi was left on shaky ground. It worked hard to have and keep good public relations!