eisenhower was an interesting case. eisenhower was somebody who was noted? politics. -- was not interested in politics and wasn't interested in celebrity. had been a military man his entire life and in fact he refused to run for president in 1952 but allowed his name to be entered and nominated so he spent most of the 1952 primary campaign overseas in paris where he was cream -- supreme commander of nato. he has the presidential candidate who was offsite, who wasn't participating in his campaign, and so what did people do at various recalls and events supporting -- rallies and events supports eisenhower? they relied on people like clark gable, or helen hayes, to come out some speak on his behalf and to support him as a candidate. one of the interesting things about the 1952 campaign is that the democrats had been in power for 20 years. roosevelt had taken them through the depression and through most of world war ii. truman had his own term, and now many people in the country felt that there needed to be a change in government. the republican front runner was

eisenhower was a hero to monumental proportions. he was the person who had led the allied forces to victory in world war ii so many republicans in hollywood and many democrats would previously supported roosevelt found themselves being attracted to eisenhower. there was something about the man that inspired a lot of confidence in his supporters. one of the things that eisenhower represents for a lot of people is candidates are often very good at attracting people from the other parties. they are people who can bring in independents and bring in swing voters and in this case the swing voter democrats. this is something that eisenhower's advertising people knew and they worked very hard to exploit it. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> in the 1950s they were particularly concerned that politics have become an exercise in show business and their concern was that the politics would turn voters into an audience and audiences would soak up everything that i been told to them. this is the time when people didn't believe that advertising was a form of mind control

nting discusses general marshals military career and his relationships with roosevelt, truman and eisenhower. this one hour event is hosted by the new york historical society. louise: good evening and welcome to the new york historical society. i'm the president and ceo. sos a great thrill to see many of you this evening and our thautiful robert h. smi auditory. tonight's program as part of our short distinguished speaker series. mr. swartze to thank for his great support which and night which -- allowed us to invite so many historians to new york historical kit i would like to recognize and thank some of our trustees with us this evening. mr. michaelkett and weissberg. thank you so very much for all you do. on our behalf. all ofo like you thank our chairman's council members who are with us this evening and of course my very talented colleague, dale gregory, our vice president for public programs. lastevening's program will about an hour, and it will include a question and answer session. you should have received a note card and pencil as you enter the auditorium this evening. if not, colle

josiah bunting iii, discusses his military career, and his relations with presidents truman and eisenhower. this one our event is hosted by the new york historical society. >> we are thrilled to welcome josiah bunting iii back to the new york historical society. 2016, heretirement in served as president of the guggenheim foundation in new york city, and is the former superintendent of the virginia military institute in lexington, virginia. to newbeen a great fan york historical for many years, serving as advisor to our fabulous exhibition and most at the new york historical society. he is the author of several books including ulysses s grant, and a forthcoming biography of george c marshall. before we began come as always, i would like to ask you to make sure your cell phones are switched off. and now, please join me in welcoming general bunting to the stage. [applause] thank you. good evening. it is a pleasure and an honor to be here and to talk about my favorite person, excluding those of you. [laughter] i should begin by talking a little bit about our culture's feeling about the second

taft's opponent eisenhower. eisenhower says i will not run for president. i will endorse you have no problems. if you'll endorse nato i will not run. and r support nato and simply writes an editorial. they say maybe he will change his mind. >> okay. then who else do you have? you have the southern segregationist biblical themselves conservatives because i didn't like -- they were anti-labor union number one. it was a right to work state if you want. or midwestern. and they were segregationist. that was not. so how do you get coalition out of this group of people? it is very difficult. and it is important to remember that this is a time long before you have the polarization ideologically of the political party. so we now think of republicans and conservatives and democrats as progressives are the liberals. but in those days the professor has already noted the democratic party was a combination of northern liberals from minnesota and southern -- >> he was one of the more courtly. we are talking of people like the senator of mississippi. he is the n-word. and

eisenhower. >> john kennedy is amazed that eisenhower has not been doing more for nixon.er is. >> eisenhower defeated hitler. kennedy should be a pushover. save $600 when you buy select tempur-pedic adjustable mattress sets. find your exclusive retailer at tempurpedic.com. brtry new flonase sensimists. allergy relief instead of allergy pills. it delivers a gentle mist experience to help block six key inflammatory substances. most allergy pills only block one. new flonase sensimist changes everything. beth is a total boss. ♪ because she switched to the best deal in america. total wireless. she gets the largest most dependable 4g lte network... ...and five gigs of high speed data for thirty-five dollars a month. mommy didn't sign no contract. make it rain, beth. make it rain. thirty-five dollars. five gigs of 4g lte data. get a samsung galaxy s7, or bring your own phone. total wireless. total confidence. available at walmart. the future isn't silver suits anit's right now.s, think about it. we can push buttons and make cars appear out of thin air. find love anywhere. he's c

the opponent in 1952 was eisenhower and eisenhower goes and says i will not run for president. i will endorse you i have no problem. but i did run native for four years and you will endorse nato. or i will not run. and taft will not support nato. and they write an editorial for yale will change his mind. then who else do you have? you have these southern segregationists. they call themselves conservatives because he did not like the federal intervention in the economy they were very anti-labor union for one. and as part of the new, if you want most of them southern or midwestern and they were segregationists. taft was not. so how do you get a coalition out of this group of people? it's very difficult. >> and it is important to remember that this is a time long before you have the polarization of the political party. so we now think of republicans and conservatives and democrats as conservatives or liberals but in those days as professor alvin felzenberg has a ready noted, the democratic party was a combination of northern liberals like humphrey from minnesota and southern - wha

eisenhower is going out of office. when johnson leaves office in 1969, he is going to eisenhower as vice president and richard nixon. one of the questions came here was, what was the impact of the military-industrial complex? some may remember this phrase was used by dwight david eisenhower as part of his farewell address. beware the military-industrial complex. people were amazed that general president eisenhower was saying this. i would be interested in your -- mr. young: you mentioned eisenhower, that allows you to get to the question we did not get to earlier. there is a very important link to that among minnesotans. prolonging the war, i associate with the nixon administration, not so much with johnson. the other thing that was traumatic for the man and for us was what i call his abdication in 1968. he steps down. i have a feeling based on my own feeling at the time, that this was a major watershed in the way people -- johnson is sending us to vietnam, and if he does not believe in it and if he is stepping down, w

eisenhower is going out of office. when johnson leaves office in '69, going to eisenhower's vice president nixon. what was the impact -- here is the phrase, the military industrial come flex on prolonging the war. somebody rermtd this is a phrase that was used by dwight david eisenhower as part of his farewell address. people were amazed that general president eisenhower was saying this. >> you mentioned eisenhower and that gives me a chance to get back to laos. there is a link between that and our hmong minnesotans. the other thing which is traumatic for the man and for us was what i call his abdication in '68. he steps down. and i have a feeling based on sort of my own feeling at the time that this was a major water shed in the way -- if johnson, he is sending us all to vietnam and if he doesn't believe in it, and if he is stepping down, why should i go. but take it to the people. that communicated something that i thought was it set up this notion that we can't win. we are not going to win. something is wrong. nixon

now they get eisenhower. now, eisenhower was a very shrewd politician. and he let the party talk about roll back of the welfare state at home, which all republicans supported, and rollback of thei stalinist encroachment abroad. and buckley's surmised -- wasn't sure about what he was going to do about stalin. did believe the nato argument, thought maybe he could do better on foreign policy than stevenson. >> adlai fee stephenson. >> guest: not trying block... -- that that that he will be tougher on the cold war. but he had some doubts. he had some doubts about the domestic agenda. i discovered later that eisenhower rubbed his brother basically saying look, we just can't come in here and dismantle social security. and subsidies and federally subsidized mortgages and no sudden in one day or in one administration.love, the american people not only have gotten used to it they support it.and if i do that, i will not have the opportunity to pres and which was basically the same strategy that went all the way to the reagan era so she said we are going to have to

eisenhower. during that long illness, eisenhower and mccabe became friends. and as a result of that, mccabe was a friend of the eisenhower administration for the rest of her life. when anna may mccabe-hayes became the first woman in the united states' history of military history to reach the rank of brigadier general, mrs. eisenhower presented the stars that had been pinned on her husband when he made general years before. anna may hayes told us, i was very touched by mrs. eisenhower's kindness and generosity. now, years later coast guard captain jane hartley had laughed at the very idea that she would ever have joined the military. she told us, i'm a child of the '60s, the thought of going into the coast guard or any other military branch was about as far from my mind as it could get. however, during a dinner party at their home her husband's boss kept insisting that she should think about joining the coast guard because he said they really needed women, especially one with a master's degree in environmental biology. well, she said, anyway, i couldn't get th

they had aligned the presidency which is something eisenhower and truman and fdr had never done. this is just as bad as the klan which is a horrible comparison but again it was he waw votes in the south. >> in the past year i read about vietnam and watergate, and obviously that is the defining moment of his political career. how did you pick and chose how to navigate that? >> their coming from the sources who were released off the record guarantee or passed away. i spent what was supposed to be a 40 minutes interview and turned out to be a three hour discussion which was invaluable. i interviewed ben bradley before he passed away. had a very good feel for their work and a great admiration for it. what they did was so important is they kept the story alive until -- i need to slow down. >> many, many rumors spread about hidden nixon wealth after watergate. the only that bailed him out and 600,000 thousands and wrote books for the rest of his life to keep the wolf away from the door. money was never a great motivating factor which is interesting considering he came from such a poor

first thing that comes to mind, the eisenhower display. really, in the grand scheme of things it's not very really radical, but in the context of the presidential libraries, the idea of really delving into, and that exhibit could be bigger, deeper, but the idea of really giving space and air time to communities not doing so well urn the eisenhower presidency, i think is an important contribution, and, yeah, i think my hope is that the obama library will go further in that direction, and i guess the carter center too, certainly, if you're talking about interaction between the u.s. and other countries internationally, the carter center does that more than any other institution in the system. >> just a comment and question, and the comment, piggy backs on the statement that you entertain how the landscape, what the landscape of presidential libraries says about the library and president, perhaps, and the nixon library, and at the end of the exhibit, you see the tomb of the mr. and mrs. nixon, there is a little house you can tour that's his ch

eisenhower and it referred -- one author called it chach test. it means different things to different people. i look at as arrangements, mutual reliance, mutual dependence between the federal government and private sector defense industry for procuring or supplying advanced weapons to the u.s. armed forces. that is different than in arsenal system where the public sector supplies everything for itself, without relying on the private sector. so, for eisenhower it was a real concern, because he years -- he military part of the equation would come to derail properly free economic institutions in society , and he was a worried about the unwarranted influence defense contractors might be able to wield in government. for him, it was a pejorative .erm, things to worry about i use the term more neutrally in my work, and i think for a nation with a commitment to meeting at least some of its defense needs from the market rather than publicly owned factories, there is going to be a military-industrial complex of some port, -- of some sort, and the question

president eisenhower, in response to a soviet proposed moratorium on nuclear testing in 1958, wrote theier khrushchev. we believe banning nuclear weapons test would be an important step to reducing international tensions. there was no testing of nuclear weapons for three years until the soviets resumed in 1961. anxiety about the growing danger of radioactive fallout can build a powerful national movement which resulted in the 1963 test ban treaty. it prohibited testing the atmosphere, outer space, and underwater. john f. kennedy: i now declare that the united states does not propose to conduct nuclear tests in the atmosphere, so long as other states do not do so. paul: there is never been a test on the atmosphere or an and other side since then. john f. kennedy: this treaty is not the millennium. it will not resolve all conflicts. if coming its support of their ambitions -- war. it will not reduce our need for arms or allies, or programs of assistance to others. but it is an important first step towards peace, towards reason. a step away from war. paul: and the limited test ban treaty,

>> kennedy became one of the leading critics of president eisenhower and challenged as an hour on theright. eisenhower was too concerned with balanced budgets and trying to, you know, scaled-back the defense establishment. he cited what was then referred to as the missile gap, an alleged gap between the u.s. and the soviet union. so kennedy, in his senate years, was very, very hawkish. and he actually was, you know, something of a conservative, but yes, when he went into the white house, there was a sense -- he was 42, 43 years old. his initial meetings with khrushchev were very, very top. i think he actually walked out of one meeting saying, you know, that is the hardest meeting i have ever been at. he just dismantled me. so there is a sense of personal softness which, again, is somewhat ironic given this is that he was a war hero, incredibly disciplined, a tough person politically, but his early meetings with the soviets were not, you know, were not successful. they thought he was weak, that they could perhaps push him around. thatw would you say president kennedy would have graded

for eisenhower it was a real concern, because he feared the flow in both direction. he feared the military part of the equation would come to derail what he saw as properly free economic institutions in american society, and he was a worried about the unwarranted influence that he called the defense contractors might be able to wield in the councils of government. for him, it was a pejorative term, a thing to worry about. i use the term more neutrally in my work, and i think for a nation with a commitment to meeting at least some of its defense needs from the market rather than solely from publicly owned factories, there is going to be a military-industrial complex of some sort, and the question is how do you control it, regulated, have power distributed in it? >> when do you see it start? ms. epstein: i think it started in the late 19th century. you can certainly find earlier antecedents to the him military-industrial complex, but i really focus on the second part of that label, the industrial part. i do not think you can have a military-industrial complex that you

administration, along with the attorney general are really pushing as hard as they can on eisenhower to take a stronger pro- civil rights stand. to a nixon, who to get the republican nomination and 68 and to win the election, first gets in bed with thurman and then allows more of what we call the southern strategy to prevail. has that changed been something you could see coming , where does that fit in the analysis you do of nixon. >> i stop the book twice, the narrative to zero in on where we are on civil rights right now because i think it really illustrates his character. i think many politicians are expedient to some degree. nixon was almost totally expedient and yet in the 50s, in part because he wanted to get the black voters in the city against whoever he iran against, he reached out to martin luther king and made friends with him. he was a good friend of jackie robinson. he attended black social events in washington d.c. when no other white politician did and he was the first american vice president to visit a black family in their home. there is a wonderful letter, in whitti

kennedy or dwight eisenhower. he needs to speak with more sophistication with an audience like the european leaders behind him. >> shannon: it comes four months into the start of his president. for president reagan his first big international trip was two years into his first term. do you think this president will grow into the role about being the leader here? there could be tense conversations with some of these leaders once they leave this public ceremony today. >> i hope he will. because we all want president trump to succeed. i think what the europeans i've just come from europe. they are oef a little puzzled. when they hear secretary tillerson and mattis in europe. there is clarity and forcefulness in the united states opposing russia and they're not hearing that from president trump. so there is a gap between the president and his cabinet officers and what the europeans are hearing. i think president trump needs to speak more like his secretary of state and secretary of defense. >> shannon: he has been crit

much more visible than best truman or maybe eisenhower -- or mamie eisenhower. >> the speechwriter for kennedy spoke at the national archives once and he was quick to know that president kennedy's speeches were kennedy's speeches, not his speeches. what you know about the process they worked together in coming up with the speeches? stephen: dick goodwin was also speechwriter for president kennedy and he worked on the city on the hill speech that famously jfk said we will be judged by the answer to for question. were we men of judgment? were we men of integrity? were we men of dedication? what's the last one, doug? [laughter] stephen: dick described the process and basically jfk asked him to look at lincoln's second inaugural. they talked about the ideas that president kennedy wanted in his speech. he would come up with a draft and president kennedy would mark up the draft and then come back with another draft and frequently kennedy would mark that one up as well. i think it was a collaborative process. no president could write all of his speeches and president kennedy had some gifted p

president eisenhower signed the act that created the intertate highway system in 1956. if you think about that time, that was the height of the cold war. if you look at p pictures in the 30s, it looks like our interstate highway system like it does today. we realized he couldn't move military vehicles around the united states without an attack on the lower 48. and he, that was part of the motivation, so there was really a big federal effort, partly it was movement of shipments and people partly national defense. but to knit the nation together, so there was this big increase in the federal gas tax at that ti time. a big increase to fund the construction of the interstate highway system which took decades to complete the system. to design and correct that system. what's happens sthans time, gas taxes at the time of eisenhower were like user fees because if you think a four door ford got about the same as an oldsmobile, so if you drove a mile on the interstate, you used about the same amount of fuel, but what's happen happened, everybody's heard of a doublemy. more are dr

truman and ike did not play ball on that 100 days thing, although eisenhower knew he had to get us out of the korean war quickly. he made us a promise, i will go korea in my first month in office and solve it. he did eventually solve it post 100 days in june of 1953. kennedy started playing as a democrat and capturing the new frontier bottled off the new deal. let's talk about the spirit and not get into the policy weeds because we don't want to be compared to fdr too closely. in the end, john f. kennedy after his first 100 days, left office, he had an 83% approval rating, john kennedy. thatwas in the middle of first 100 days when he had the bay of pigs, which many historians thought it was a fiasco. kennedy took blame for it, failed exercise in cuba. why? why did he have such a high? because he reached across the aisle. he launched the peace corps in may of 1961. an incredible program for young people. he started with the alliance for progress. he engaged in the space race. alan shepard came in during the first days of kennedy's administration and when the space race was on. by may 25

he had criticized eisenhower for being asleep at the wheel. and so he said invading cuba, that sounds like a bold plan. that will demonstrate that i'm a -- demonstrate real change. and it was a fiasco. it was a disaster. as anyone looking at the plans could have predicted. but kennedy learned from that mistake. and he then ratcheted back his activism and became more restrained. he became much more wary of a pre-existing plan that hadn't gone through sufficient rigorous analysis. >> he had had such a disaster in his first year with the bay of pigs that he decided in the midst of the cuban missile crisis i better make a record of this. because i need to have my side. and i need to have what i said to my advisors. and so he recorded himself in -- in his telephone conversations and particularly in his meetings. so the secret behind closed doors, executive committee meetings, and cabinet meetings that kennedy had in real time in the midst of the cuban missile crisis, you can hear. one of my favorites is a phone conversation that he had with former

. >> eisenhower had said, no, that didn't happen, et cetera, et cetera.d been drawn into a trap. by khrushchev. >> the soviet leader was able to show not only that they shot down the plane but they had the pilot. >> francis gary powers, an ordinary man, caught up in extraordinary circumstances and in a way magnified by them. >> i realize that i have committed a grave crime and i realize that i must be punished for it. >> the evidence of espionage, currency, presumably for the spy to buy his way to freedom. and the spy's last resort, a poison needle with which he could kill himself instantly if captured and threatened with torture. >> no one wants another pearl harbor. this means that we must have knowledge of military forces and preparations around the world. the safety of the whole free world demands this. >> our government was in effect admitting that we had previously lied and that we had committed espionage, admissions no nation had ever made before. >> how will this mission affect the united states do you think? >> i feel it gives the americans a bla

commitment to security, which every president has done at every nato meeting since eisenhower. bit more at what president trump said in brussels yesterday. president trump: spent 2% of gdp on defense last year, we would $119 billion her defense and ctive for the financing of additional reserves. chronicd recognize with underpayments and growing is ats, even 2% of gdp insufficient to close the gaps modernizing readiness and the size size -- threats. f nato countries made full and complete contributions, the nato it d be even stronger than -- oday the uk and s., make the 2% mark or higher. do you agree with what the said?dent guest: i agree in principle, but it is more complicated than that spending 2% on gdp s important aptitude and i agree the europeans need to meet the united states halfway in sharing the burden. on the other hand, it also comes on what you spend, you can waste money and sort of spend it on military bans, but on paper, you spend 2%. with the 2% today, it is just important to write, what are we getting out of this? lanes, ships, getting rid of units to do the w

eisenhower was a great reader of history. truman, kennedy. barack obama. >> charlie: i saw barack obama and i saw him because we're doing something for a future project and i said how's the memoir coming and he said i've already written two chapters. i said that's amazing. he said i started writing in tahiti. it's not a history but a memoir. >> it will be an important book. >> charlie: because of unique insight and the capacity he has for words. >> absolutely. very talented writer. and a gentlemen. >> charlie: interesting. bush 41, john meacham was going to call the book "the left gentlemen" and his publisher wanted something else. >> i have known seven presidents i interviewed them or spent time with them. nothing like you have but the one i know best is bush senior. >> charlie: 41. >> and i knew him, met him well before he got in politics and he's a wonderful human being. >> charlie: that's what comes out doesn't it? the sense of integrity, you ma t mant -- humanity and patriot six a man at 18 years old gets accept to yale and goes to the n

you can see the building in the background, before it with named after eisenhower. you can see mrs. hoover playing catch with their two dogs. then, the dogs run through a reflecting full having a good time. >> we know, in the hoover ball scene, the president is playing .n a sweater running around also in the scene where they fish, they are fishing in the suit. >> at the time, mr. hoover believed a gentleman should be properly dressed at all times. you wouldn't see him -- occasionally casual films of ambition, he would lose the tide. sometimes he wouldn't have had either, but he would trade that for hip waiters and a fishing vest. >> what you think that was shot? >> the film of him fishing off of the boat is off of the coast of florida. it was taken in january or early february of 1929. he and mrs. hoover visited their long family friends jeremiah and cap are no bank -- catherine milbank. they met sometimes in the 20's and the french of extended for an additional four decades. >> you mentioned the president's grandson peter huber, he is the one that donated these films is he still al

i said it going into the commercial break, eisenhower.way. liz: i did not give it away, thank you very much. reporter: i was born during the eisenhower administration. i don't think you were yet. liz: no, i was not, i was born very shortly after jfk was murdered. very shortly after, so, lbj. thank you very much. reporter: young girl. liz: as we travel through life, some are lucky enough to have a teacher so inspiring, he or she actually changes the course of our lives. and for me, gil chestertown was that person. he taught journalism at beverly hills high school for decades. he inspired legions of us to become print and broadcast reporters, anchors, writers, producers. he was tough. he was gruff, but he taught us all that a profession in journalism was an honorable one, if you took it seriously, focused on the facts. his students went on to write for papers all around the world. "the l.a. times," "the new york times," international herald tribune and work at networks from abc, in. bc, cbs, cnbc, bloomberg and yes, right here at fox busine

one was three days in january about the transition between eisenhower and kennedy and what makes the book so powerful is eisenhower's concern and nuclear weapons were an issue, the cuban missile crisis happened right after that transition, and his concern about ensuring that you have control over the military while the five-star general there's a lot thathere is a lots into the other is of eisenhower and it's the time of the crisis in the first time we've really got involved in the middle east and the mistakes that we made. they are very informational books. one of the first books i've read in a long time is on the right brothers. have you read that? he's wonderful. he's just a genius. so, all these people from north carolina, all you had was a bunch of sand and wind so just remember that. i was going to ask what newspapers do you read classics? >> guest: usa today, wall street journal, the atlantic magazine, sometimes i will look at the daily beast. i read a whole panoply and then i get the clips sent to me. i look at cbs, cnn, fox news website, the bbc. but i also like to look at t

he was there when eisenhower was there. and the senator from 1939 known as mr. conservative. and said if americans to not have health care then they should be given for free. >> it sounds like it is the approach the house republicans have taken. >> when you go home and everybody is chilling annual bulls sides politicians like anybody yelling at them. you don't like people yelling at you. but you deserve it when you get yelled that. [laughter] i don't understand that and i am hoping if you involve the democrats to have a bill to be sustainable but the whole system needs to be improved. >> as you may have heard we are neary the 100 delaware mark and first could you give a grade how he has done in his 100 days? >> the second part about roof correa with that leadership you have seen from the president having run against himwith the decision making process. >> i have no idea. >> are you concerned? >> to describe your state of mind. >> first of all, with the first 100 days in the course with john mccain we were very unsettled with what we were arguing. and then my wife came to see

the person became closest was dwight eisenhower. he was enormously egotistical. he was a very proud guy. he learned how to control it and discuss it. his cultural norms were do not boast, do not show off. he let other people take the credit in world war ii. dealing with stalin, churchill, they are pretty prideful people. he had a way of laying low. he did this again and again and again. as president of the united states, he posed as a genial, goofy, adamant president. that is not what he was at all. behind the scenes, he was pulling all the strings but letting other people play the heavy, be the hawk. eisenhower had this ability, he did not have to be the smartest guy in the room. he was so confident that he could be humble. that made him a very effective leader. again, to give a plug, to -- amazon sales, we are close to our endpoint. i would love to go on for another hour or so. one more question for both of you. event ofwn from the importance today taking place at a certain palm beach resort. that is the meeting of president trump and xi jinping. what i would a

it was the invention of dwight eisenhower. he appointed a guy named sherman adams who was so famously gruff and tough that they called him the abominable knowman. i started with hr haldeman who was nixon's white house chief, nixon is a fascinating character because as you know, he became the poster boy for watergate, the worst scandal in american history and jack would tell you and many of his successors would tell you that he really created the template for the modern white house chief, the empowered white house chief who is the president's gatekeeper, the honest broker, we hope, of information that flows to the president and at the end of today he executes the president's agenda. that has been true since haldeman and also been true that every president who strays too far from that template regret it. we can talk about that. let me add that what a delight it is to be here at the carter library where i spent many days digging through the archives and reading jack's memos to the president and reading resident jimmy carter here

eisenhower. emphasized the problem in 1953 of the domino theory.e emphasized that if laos happened to fall to vietnam and to the communist of the northern vietnamese, then potentially, this could lead to the fall of myanmar and thailand and eventually, india. seer this, we do start to that eisenhower signed the 1954 southeast asian treaty organization, an attempt to halt the communist expansion in the area of southeast asia. this is followed with john f. in 1962 thissigns foreign assistance act. launch theway to deployment of u.s. troops to vietnam and to train allied forces. prior to this, with the french and vietnam laos and laos becoming an independent country in 1954, this gives an ofortunity for the expanding the economist forces to come in and expand even into laos. and we do start to see a large communist group that starts to emerge in laos. so an important thing to remember is that, what were the mong doing at this time? weretioned that the mong supporting the royal laos government against the japanese. as the communists were encroaching in

think back, one of the major components of our infrastructure when we think about it during the eisenhower administration is building that interstate system connecting coasts, connecting cities, connecting states and that is something that has been so important to us. but apparently not important enough to keep and maintain. i'm very familiar with the systems that we have. went to the other four yearly school, apprenticeship program where i spent four years in after graduating and working up and down the delaware river on refineries, on bridges and our infrastructure. we know how important that is in . and because of many others, we need to remember that the dignity of the job is so important. we have 211 attorneys here in the congress, but only one electrician. only one carpenter, one iron worker and one painter. diversity comes in all shapes and sizer, there are attorneys, farmers and doctors, brage those experiences in this floor to remember why we are here and anybody who drove on a road to get here today understands what infrastructure means. but somehow, we haven't paid attention. we

eisenhower had this ability -- he did not have to be the smartest guy in the room. hewas so confident that could be humble and that made him a very effective leader. to give a plug and push amazon sales, the name of the we are close to our endpoint and i want to ask one more question. i would love to go on for another hour or so but one more question to both of you that is drawn from the event of importance today taking place at a certain palm beach resort and that's the meeting of president trump and the chinese president. what i would ask you to do is ,alk about what each of you what your policy would be toward china, toward a very aggressive, increasingly belligerent china and south china sea and elsewhere. would be inlicy light of what we have been discussion -- what we have been discussing? the success of the post 1945 order and the bumps in the road we have discussed. memo at the slip a 11th hour to jared kushner who is really running everything, what it say? despiteuld say that everything, despite the hubris, arrogance and mistakes, u.s.-led world order has m

. >> host: one is called "three days in january" transition between eisenhower and kennedy. the thing that makes it so power for me is eisenhower's concern, nuclear weapons was an issue, cuban missile crisis happened during, rights after that transition, and his concern about ensuring that you had civilian control over the military. from a three star-- a five-star general, i mean. >> right. >> host: a lot that translates and the other about eisenhower, "ike's gamble", the suez crisis, the first time that we really got involved in the middle east and the mistakes that we made and big mistakes, they're very informational books. let me ask you. >> one more that i read, i think one of the best books i've read in a long, long time. david mccollough's book on the wright brothers. and he's just-- >> wonderful. >> a genius, just a genius. >> host: at the world war ii museum. >> all the people from north carolina, kittyhawk, all you had was a bunch of stands in the winds and we created the airplane in ohio so just remember that. [laughter] >> national title or not. we claim aviation,

, former president eisenhower in 11964 was talking to walter cronkite and he said to walter cronkite, you know, walter, my son john graduated on d-day, graduated from west point on d-day. and over the last 20 years i've watched he and his wife raise their family and have the experiences they've had and he said many times i thought about these young men and the life they didn't get to lead because of what they were asked to do. and particularly to have the person sitting there 20 years later who ultimately was the person who asked them to do what they were asked to do and to understand that that's the kind of decision he thought about. it's the kind of sacrifice we should think about as we think about those who didn't get to pursue their dreams, didn't get to see the family they had grow up or have the family they would have liked to have had because they lay down their lives so that we could take care of our families, so that we could realize our dreams, so we could enjoy the freedoms that our nation is truly blessed with and make us truly extraordinary in our belief and our defense o

had eisenhower been president, this person would have taken a ride on old sparky.t this person did was treason. it's horrific. it's horrible. to see this person waltzed out with this huge bit of change no less and still be eligible for funds. when i was a member of congress having to do constituent work to make sure guys who lived up to their responsibilities and duties could get va care and we have this guy waltzing out with this kind of money. in this situation, it is despicable. >> eric: this gal. walked in this guy, walked out the scalp. >> kat: might not end up getting the benefits. you are convicted in military court. we will see what happens. chelsea manning served seven years. the 35 year sentence is more than murderers, rapists, spies received. the information chelsea leaked show detainee abuse, it showed the civilian casualties in the iraq war were probably higher than officials were telling us. she sought wrongdoing. she exposed it. she served time for what she did, and i think it's absolutely good, a great thing now that she's free because the sentence

eisenhower also, and kennedy. barack obama, great reader of history.rlie: barack obama recently, i fact, i said to him, happened to meet with him for a future project, i said, how has it been? he said he is already written two chapters. it's amazing. ien i was out in tahiti, started writing immediately. he said it's not a history, is a memoir. david: and it will be an important book. charlie: because of his influence and the capacity of his words. david: absolutely. very talented writer. and a gentleman. charlie: interesting, that. bush 41. there are going to call the book "the last gentleman," but the publisher wanted something else. david: i have known several presidents, either interviewing or spend time with them. nothing like you, but the one that i know the best is bush senior. i knew him and met him well before he got into politics. he's a wonderful human being. charlie: that's what comes out. a dignity and integrity, and patriotism. here's a man, who at 18 years yale, doesn'tat go to yell, he goes to enlist in the navy. in the navy.pilot then h

if you month later and 58 president dwight d eisenhower authorized the birth of our bed that advanced research project agency and it was at a time-- this predates the creation of nafta. on the satellite in space program would go into this agency this agency would do everything possible, throw bureaucracy to the wind. darpa did this quite successfully and under a year acre eventually to what it is today, which is a 3 billion-dollar a year agency. it still bears summing the traits in its early days with a lack of drucker's inability to move quickly to find new projects. unlike the national science foundation it doesn't need peer-reviewed. it can move quickly. it doesn't have permanent employees. it has the ability unlike other parts of government to fail and hopefully to succeed as well. if the originator of sony technologies that have changed that a build of our daily lives including drones, weapons, driverless cars and you could argue and i think i agree that it's the most successful research agency ever created at least the most successful military research agency. it doesn't mean it

the other again is about eisenhower and it's the time during the crisis and the first time that we've really got involved in the middle east and the mistakes that we made. very informational books but i want to ask you let me give you one more i read that was one of the best i've read in a long time and that's the book on the right brothers. all these people from north carolina all you have is a bunch of sand and wind in tikrit into the airplane in ohio, so national title or not, we claim aviation, not you. >> host: you're going to get some pushback on that i'm sure. but i was going to ask what newspapers you read? >> guest: "the new york times," usa today, "the wall street journal," i look at times, the atlantic magazine, sometimes i will look at the daily beast. i read a whole panoply and then i get clips sent int in to me. i look at cbs cnn, fox websites, the bbc. it's a lot of stuff. i walked in here with a guy from spain and i congratulated him on the victory and he was really happy and i said there is a great golfer and he puts it on the green. he said i missed, i messed, i made

>>iz eisenhower said no that didn't happen. >> he was able to show not only had they shot down the plane they had the pilot. >> frances gary pours, an ordinary man caught up in extraordinary circumstances and in a way magnified by them. >> i realized i've committed a grave crime and i must be punished for it. >> the evidence of espionage. a spy's last resort, a poison needle with which he could kill himself instantly if captured and threatened with torture. >> no one wants another pearl harbor. this means we must have knowledge of military preparations around the world. the safety of the free world demands it. >> our government was in effect admitting that we previously lied and that we committed espionage. admissions no nation had ever made before. >> how will this incident effect the united states? >> i feel will give the americans a black eye all round the earth. >> i toent think we should admit it. we have a right to protect ourselves. >> the shoot down was such a big event that basically torpedoed the chance to have a peaceful period and the beginning of the scariest part of the col

eisenhower was a great reader of history. truman, as we said. kennedy.ack obama, great reader of history. barack obama recently, in fact, on monday, i said, i happened to meet with him for a future project. i said to him, how is the memoir coming? he said, i have already written two chapters. i said, what? that's amazing. he said, when i was out in tahiti, i started writing immediately. it is not a history, but a memoir. david: it will be an important book. charlie: because of his unique insight and capacity with words. david: absolutely. very talented writer. and a gentleman. charlie: interesting, that. was goingohn meacham to call the book "the last gentleman," and his publisher wanted something else. david: i have known seven of the presidents. i have either interviewed them or spent time with them, nothing like with what you have, but the one that i know the best is bush senior. charlie: right, 41. david: and i knew him well before he got into politics. he's a wonderful human being. charlie: that's what comes out. david: it really is. charlie: the se