eisenhower, the man from abilene. never in history have so many americans known so much about the very essence of one man. >> 100 million americans know eisenhower the way you know a neighbor. we know him by heart. >> why do we care for him? not because he is a general but because, instinctively, we believe in him. we hail him as the hometown boy who is all the best about america. he grew up in the heartland, main street, usa. >> i come here first to thank you, to say a proudest thing i can claim is that i am from abilene. [applause] i want to speak first of the dreams of--. frequently, they are to be a streetcar conductor, where he sees himself as the town policeman. above all, he may reach the position of locomotive engineer. but always in his dreams is that day when finally he comes home. comes home to a welcome from his own hometown. >> the fields of kansas claim ike as a native son. >> but the cattle state of kansas, hard to the railroad tracks of deafness in, texas, that's where he was born. on the red river way

they tasted slavery to frenchmen eisenhower as a liberator. this ally likes i too. across the english channel, which hitler could not cross the people of battered london who never would yield to the blitz surrendered with a cheer to ice? to every londoner that has ever taken one of my soldiers into his home. i say you'll always have my profound gratitude. to everyone who has smilingly directed one of my men to the albert hall or the marble lights i owe thanks also. churchill spoke for all history to remember babies and gentlemen you have just seen and listened to the words. of a great commander a man who has proved not only his capacity to organize and regulate the movements of armies. but man's heart and who had shown a capacity? for making great nations marched together more truly united than they ever have before and so by sincerity and simplicity a canton conquered britain back home in america the wife all the world calls me with the first to say i like ice and then the rest of the shouted it too not hail the conquering hero but bursting with pride in a great fr

eisenhower did. eisenhower came of his first time. he wouldn't shake the hand of the man who said bring me the peace treaty. he found a way to avoid that. >> since we are talking about his character, what about his humor? i have a letter here. this is from sir roger tubby. this is in 53, and i just want to read it kind of quickly. i appreciate it very much, your first editorial was not enclosed. it instructed me to read it, but i didn't. i don't seem to have had an opportunity. toby was taking over adirondack daily enterprises. he says, be sure to pay a lot of attention to local situations. parent each associations, the nights of columbus, the masons. be it personal and accurate. roger, this is an ignoramus talking to an expert. what was his humor like? it comes through in this. >> his humor was there, it was real. he was great at self deprecating himself. i think there is one place where he talks about the people turning out to see the president when he comes to town. coming out to see the cardiff giant. he makes one of himself and t

or james birds, so he who he never sort of got over and then eisenhower would he let eisenhower have it in when it basically from the from the 52 campaign when i was now a last stevenson? and truman truman and truman who had always they'd always had a pretty well actually a very respectful relationship and then then it all changed truman. i didn't truman was partially more with deeply offended when when eisenhower didn't come to the defense of general marshall when mccarthy attacked him. and then when he code that he would call marshall. i forget the words he used but but the the the essence was morally morally bankrupt and they and they so after that there was no forgiveness possible and and he really let marsh truman have it. i mean as our have it in the memoirs and and and and actually so i actually didn't have it too. but which is a way and and eisenhower was i said, i wasn't they they were not fond of each other. that's it by that time. they it was a sort of a reconciliation not never a real one after that and so on. but anyway, that's the place that's what truman's real voice i

eisenhower had khrushchev to camp david.and interesting about that was eisenhower was the first american president to make use of helicopters for presidential travel. so he spontaneously, the soviets did not want khrushchev on the helicopter. so i asked him directly in person, can i give you a tour around washington? and he said, well, if the american president's going to get on, i can get on. they didn't tour around washington and then later they went on to camp david and enjoy a great time up there. interestingly, khrushchev liked that americans made sikorsky helicopter so much, and he talked eisenhower into letting him by two, that he took back with him to the soviet union. [laughter] then a great story, another soviet story, was with nixon. >> right. >> so he has oppression of up to camp david and interestingly, even though he had been there, brezhnev claimed in his memoir that he didn't know much about the this campaign replace, the embassy didn't know much about this campaign. lacey was suspicious but where did he wait

eisenhower had no interest in cuttingst the 91% tax rate they inherited from fdr's new deal.nd kennedy did not explicitly run on it butpl he said i want % growth. i want low unemployment because there have been three recessions during the eisenhower years. three recessions that is a little known fact but it is true factually. and the connection to reagan some 25 years later was reagan lowered marginal tax rates also. and help read and night and more abundant in economy i would argue is i did quite a bit on our show the reagan tax cuts launched almost a three decade long prosperity. the jfk tax codes launch a decade long prosperity. but unfortunately was unwound and undermined by lbj great society. richard nixon, gerry ford, jimmy carter, none of them understood tax cuts. none of them understood the incentive the growth effects of lower marginal tax rates. maybe we can talk about that some more. and some very smart people are still around thankfully my dearest friend and mentor and robert mondo nobel prize winner, jack kemp and others brought the supply-side. essentially the k

they tasted slavery to frenchmen eisenhower as a liberator. this ally likes i too. across the english channel, which hitler could not cross the people of battered london who never would yield to the blitz surrendered with a cheer to ice? to every londoner that has ever taken one of my soldiers into his home. i say you'll always have my profound gratitude. to everyone who has smilingly directed one of my men to the albert hall or the marble lights i owe thanks also. churchill spoke for all history to remember babies and gentlemen you have just seen and listened to the words. of a great commander a man who has proved not only his capacity to organize and regulate the movements of armies. but man's heart and who had shown a capacity? for making great nations marched together more truly united than they ever have before and so by sincerity and simplicity a canton conquered britain back home in america the wife all the world calls me with the first to say i like ice and then the rest of the shouted it too not hail the conquering hero but bursting with pride in a great fr

it's interesting because there's, there's a transition between eisenhower and kennedy, the second of two meetings that they had, and this, when it takes place in january 19th, 1961, the day before kennedy is inaugurated as president. and they talk about the trouble spots in the world, all the trouble spots, of which there are many. and you can see eisenhower's almost relief in relinquishing this problems and giving them over to jack kennedy. and kennedy leaves the white house and as the limousine is departing, he looks at and eight in the back seat and says of eisenhower, how can he stare in the face of disaster with such equanimity? but it's, it's a quit enormity which defines kennedy in that most, you know, dark power, in that most desperate hour of his presidency in the cuban missile crisis. he has come. there's almost preternatural calm that comes over jfk. he's measured, he doesn't panic, he doesn't paint himself into a corner, and he's desperately looking for a way out. >> i mean, that is the public kennedy, write? the grace under pressure. and as you say in the title, what's h

kennedy looks so different from dwight eisenhower and from franklin roosevelt and from ronald reagan.but all those four presidents are in the top ten of all presidents, but for very, very different reasons. but by god, if you love your country and you give us our very best, things are going to wind up pretty well for the american people and for the world. >> i think the microphones are working their way around here. >> ken adelman! >> yes, thank you very much for this, it's a wonderful discussion. mark, your books are great, your four part series with lbj is great. it's a wonderful occasion. two questions. number one is, we all learn that character is primary, it's very important. and it's very odd that kennedy's character of public service was so exemplary and so inspiring, and his personal character was not so exemplary and so inspiring. there seems to be a total split between the public service that he did and the values that he had, and the private values that he had, which were pretty despicable if you look back at it now. second point is, you are absolutely right, the cuban miss

dwight eisenhower was a pretty straight ahead guy.and the best i could come up with is eisenhower's definition of an atheist. now what eisenhower's definition of an atheist is! he says it's somebody who goes to a football game where notre dame plays smu, and he doesn't care who wins. [laughter] okay. a running out of time. so i'm going to tell you, i've got to tell you a story about lyndon johnson. i actually got a couple more reagan stories i can tell, but i'll tell you about lyndon johnson. and this is one lyndon johnson -- it's not at all clear that st. john's have much of a sense of humor. so stories were told about lyndon johnson rather that story is told by lyndon johnson. but here's one that does capture the essence of lyndon johnson. and it's told of the 1960 democratic campaign for the nomination for president. and lyndon johnson has thrown his hat in the ring, and the other two principal candidates are stewart symington, a senator from missouri, and john kennedy, a junior senator from massachusetts. and the three men are sit

in 1960, he is running, not eisenhower. the final gallup poll before the election turned it too close to call, so it was. the votes were finally counted, john f. kennedy had won the presidency by the narrowest populist vote in american history. both kennedy and nixon received slightly over 34 million votes so that out of a total of over 68 million votes, the largest turnout in american history at that time. kennedy had won by the incredibly narrow margin of slightly over 100,000 votes out of 68 million. or one tenth of 1%. to put it another way, he won by a margin of less than one half vote per precinct across the country, spread out. the electoral vote was not as close, because kennedy won a number of the larger states. but even that was closer than it seemed. an analysis of the terms in various states, show a shifting of fewer than 20,000 votes, from kennedy to nixon in five key states, would have thrown in the election to nixon. and the possibilities were fascinating, and became even more so in light of alleged voter fra

that's eisenhower.who denies working people the right to unionize, such a person doesn't belong in our political system. that was the 1950s that continued c for some years into the 60s. then we get into the reaction that escalated under reagan and compared eisenhower with what we hear today from the remnants of life remains in the party that he represented. it's quite a change and tells us about the regression. >> let's get some of the calls involved and begin with barbara in massachusetts. please go ahead and ask your question. >> thank you for your amazing career. continuing with president eisenhower and his famous statement about the emergence of the military industrial complex. we've all watched decades of grotesque spendingng on weapons but now we see this conflict in ukraine where chinese munitions like stingers and javelins and switchblade drones and other kinds of drones, these tiny micro weapons are able to take out the macro weapons of the tanks and the jet fighters and the naval ships. what d

think about the the moral weight on general eisenhower who sent all those men to die on the beaches in france. and then you have donald followed by his children and they are emblematic of a fundamental american problem, which is these weak white-collar crime laws and our focus on street crime rather than sweet crime. thomas is calling from washington dc thomas, please go ahead. yeah, hi. this is smith from the colony of washington dc. this is nothing new if you look at america america is always had a streak of fascism and racism and just like president johnson said all you got to do is bring up the racism part and white america will vote for you. they'll let you please see your pocket. this is why profits in office has continued being officer because a large portion of white america likes and and likes what he does. thanks. well, i agree with you about that when donald made his announcement in 2015 his latest announcement of running for president. what did he do right off? he said murders and rapists coming from mexico and he gave a comfort aidan comfort to people who want to be bigots

that's eisenhower. anyone who denies working people the right to unionize, a firm essential rights, such a pe such a person doesn't belong in our political system. that was the 1950s. for some years into the 60s. then we get into the reaction which escalated under reagan. compare eisenhower with what you hear today from the remnants, of what remains of the party that he represented. quite a change. tells us a lot about the regression of the past 40 years. >> host: let's get our callers involved and begin with barbara in massachusetts. barbara, go ahead and ask your question of noam chomsky. >> caller: thank you for your amazing career. continuing with president eisenhower, his famous statement about the emergence of the military-industrial complex. we all watched decades of grotesque spending on weapons, but now we see this conflict in ukraine where tiny munitions like stingers and javelins and switchblade drones and other kinds of drones, these tiny micro weapons are able to take out the elephantine ma

the american military-industrial complex, experts tend to recall the so-called prophecy of dwight eisenhowerthirty-fourth president of the united states, and, according to the americans, who did not allow the cold war to develop into a nuclear connection of a huge military establishment with a huge military industry is a new phenomenon in history united states we must be aware of its dire consequences and must take steps to prevent the military-industrial complex from knowingly or unintentionally acquired influence of unacceptable proportions, the possibility of a catastrophic increase in power in the hands of those to whom it should not belong exists and will continue to exist half a century later, one can state with confidence and regret eisenhower's prophecy, it came true, but no one heeded the warning military-industrial lobbies. today, the foreign policy of the united states and the formation of the budget and economic policy of the situation around ukraine to a large extent determines this, proof of this is america's chief military officer . economic and political sponsor of the kiev r

exist half a century later, it is possible to state with confidence and regret the prophecy of eisenhowersas elk, but no one heeded the warning military-industrial lobbies. today, it largely determines the external political course. of the united states and the formation of the budget and economic policy of the situation around ukraine there is evidence that america is the main military economic and political sponsor of the kiev regime. the united states has already delivered more than $ 5 billion worth of weapons to the sun, which is almost equal to the entire ukrainian military budget and the states are not going to stop. apparently, more than 6,000 jevelin portable anti-tank systems were transferred to kiev, several thousand other lighter anti-tank systems 1,500 stinger portable anti-aircraft missile systems more than a hundred switch blade barrage shells, they are also called kamikaze drones hundreds, armored vehicles, thousands, rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers, tens of thousands of shells, tens, millions, cartridges, complexes, counter-battery, electronic warfare, devices n

eisenhower to a certain extent. she came from a very humble background, she worked most of her life, here we have a picture of her earning her way through college, she worked as a teacher. then we go to the next slide, and you could see that even as she and dick got married and started their political career, they were still struggling. this is, they said used most of their own money to finance his early career. when they became vice president, they were still struggling to try and kind of get by. she was still making a lot of room clothes. she had some her own but not too much help. so she still has a lot of things that she's doing. one last point that i think is important here before we get to the president's presidency. and this third picture, a little picture, the bottom is actually taken in between there, kind of, their years in washington. -- has sold his first book. he he's working for a big so it's this particular picture is a trip that they took to berlin. but i do want to mention that after the nixon's lef

eisenhower went their deliberately so he could witness first hand nazi crimes crimes. he found so hard to grasp that. he predicted what we have experienced in recent years. holocaust denial we are all profoundly indebted. to the richie boys for me it's a personal matter. but for our nation and the world it is a universal matter. of hope resilience and freedom it is now. my pleasure to read this letter from president biden it is it is my honor and this comes from the white house on his stationary. it is my honor to join the united states holocaust memorial museum in recognizing the extraordinary valor of the ritchie boys. a special military intelligence unit whose members contributed to turning the tide of history. and help save democracy and humanity during world war two. many of the richie boys were jewish refugees. escaped persecution and nazi germany and enlisted to serve in the united states armed forces to help america and our allies. win the war? many lost family members and loved ones to unspeakable horrors of the holocaust. and turned unfathomable pain into pur

the american military-industrial complex, experts usually recall the so-called prophecy of dwight eisenhower, the thirty-fourth president of the united states and, as the americans believe, who did not allow the cold war to develop into a nuclear compound of a huge military establishment with a huge military industry is a new development in us history. we must recognize its dire consequences and must take action to ensure that the military-industrial complex, intentionally or unintentionally, acquires influence of unacceptable proportions, the possibility of a catastrophic increase in power in the hands of those to whom it should not belong exists and will continue to exist half a century later, it is possible to state with confidence and regret eisenhower's prophecy, it came true, but no one heeded the warning military industrial. today, the foreign policy of the united states and the formation of the budget and economic policy of the situation around ukraine largely determines this, america is the main military economic and political sponsor of the kiev regime. the united states has alread

eisenhower's advice was aimed at a truth.you only attend to the urgent, important problems will become urgent soon enough and you won't be prepared. for example, it was important to knock back donald trump's proof-free claim that the election was stolen. >> we will win this. and as far as i'm concerned, we already have. >> dickerson: that lie became urgent soon enough. >> i was slipping in people's blood. you know, i was catching people as they fell. you know, i was -- it was carnage. it was chaos. >> dickerson: officer carolyn edwards testified as to what happens when you let important matters slip. >> i ran towards the west front, and i was trying to hold the line. >> dickerson: president trump's lawyer held the line by threatening to resign when trump pressed the justice department to over turn the election. the entire leadership of the justice department held the line. vice-president pence held the line. the reason these hearings are important enough to be considered at the same time we focus on the urgent matter of infla

she actually got along very well with me eisenhower. she got invited to the family quarters before --. did she also had a good relationship with mrs. johnson as as nancy had just pointed out she and mrs. johnson new one another for the years when she was the second lady mrs. johnson was what her husband was in the senate so they had a relationship and mrs. johnson was very good about inviting her inviting the nixon's in to kind of see how they were going to live in the white house thing. we have one more picture on this slide of this and this was this was one of her first goals when she moved into the white house was to get the family set up so that they could be comfortable now once she does that once she realizes that then her next goal really is to think about how she is going to approach how she is going to approach her job as first lady? and this is where we get to this that that shot. i had in the beginning about about the little people the ordinary people and the big shots the the first day that they're actually in the white hous

they tasted slavery to frenchmen eisenhower as a liberator. this ally likes i too. across the english channel, which hitler could not cross the people of battered london who never would yield to the blitz surrendered with a cheer to ice? to every londoner that has ever taken one of my soldiers into his home. i say you'll always have my profound gratitude. to everyone who has smilingly directed one of my men to the albert hall or the marble lights i owe thanks also. churchill spoke for all history to remember babies and gentlemen you have just seen and listened to the words. of a great commander a man who has proved not only his capacity to organize and regulate the movements of armies. but man's heart and who had shown a capacity? for making great nations marched together more truly united than they ever have before and so by sincerity and simplicity a canton conquered britain back home in america the wife all the world calls me with the first to say i like ice and then the rest of the shouted it too not hail the conquering hero but bursting with pride in a great fr

there is a wonderful graphic that tracks from the late eisenhower period two today with the understanding of government trust is -- host: i will put that graphic on screen for viewers as you talk. guest: great, thank you. what you can see is, in the late 1950's and early 1960's, the majority of americans, and it did not matter which party they were affiliated with -- the majority of americans had a great deal of trust in government. we saw that begin to go down during vietnam. obviously, very divisive period in the late 1960's in the united states, and we saw trust in government begin to erode. with the watergate scandal, it eroded considerably more, so by the time richard nixon left office in august of 1974, trust was way, way down. only a minority of americans trusted -- said they trusted government some or all of the time to do the right thing. i think the interesting thing is not simply what watergate did to push down trust in government or, in a sense, to shatter americans' faith in government, but it marked a dividing line between an era of trust and, now, a very long era of distrus