Adlai Stevenson was the Democratic Presidential candidate in '52 an '56. He was seen as being soft on communism, having advocated a ban on testing the H-bomb. He was thinking about running again in 1960.
Smithsonian wrote:On January 16, 1960, [Soviet ambassador Mikhail] Menshikov invited Stevenson to the embassy for caviar and drinks to thank him for helping negotiate Soviet premier Nikita Kruschev’s visit to the U.S. But there was an ulterior motive. At one point, reports John Bartlow Martin at American Heritage, Menshikov pulled notes from his pocket and began delivering Stevenson a message he said came directly from his boss, encouraging him to seriously consider another run for president.
In a memorandum he wrote later, Stevenson recalled:
Before returning last week from Moscow, he [Menshikov] had spent considerable time alone with Premier Khrushchev. He [Khrushchev] wishes me [Menshikov] to convey the following: When you met in Moscow in August, 1958, he [Khrushchev] said to you that he had voted for you in his heart in 1956. He says now that he will vote for you in his heart again in 1960. We have made a beginning with President Eisenhower and Khrushchev’s visit to America toward better relations, but it is only a beginning. We are concerned with the future, and that America has the right President. All countries are concerned with the American election. It is impossible for us not to be concerned about our future and the American Presidency which is so important to everybody everywhere. *NOTE: there is much more to the memo in the article.
Stevenson said he was rattled by the conversation, and declined the invitation (Adlai did not run in 1960). He made notes after the conversation, which he drafted into a memorandum. Maddow says the memo was delivered to Eisenhower. That is not discussed in the Smithsonian article. The article confirms that Stevenson gave NY Times writer James Reston information about the meeting.
Mark Twain said history doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes.