dick nixon was in the theater group, and they met. ow, i will also encourage you that if you have not been able -- the other part of the pat nixon exhibit you need to see, to see a different side of dick nixon, is to read the excerpts from the lot of letters. we have a ten dependency to think of di -- one of the most eye-opening experiences of my research was reading the love letters between the two of them. there was a -- all of these letters are playful, writing back and forth, and he was really chasing her. and he would sometimes -- she would need a ride into los angeles so he would take her into los angeles and maybe she was going to meet somebody else there, you know. but he would take her and then they would go on long drives, and they would go 'the coast, and they would each take a book, and then they would get out of the car and perhaps have a picnic lunch and then read their open book. it was a very quiet kind of dating. but eventually it progressed into something else, and they agreed to get married. so it was a very -- it's

for example, we're all still trying to figure dick nixon, right? i looked, for example, and nixon in his free time liked to bowl alone and sometimes wore a black suit to do it. i mean, that begins to explain things, right, everyone? who does this, right? who does this? [laughter] so i guess all books end up being trilogies, right, everyone? so here's the end. so "affairs of state," i've tried to take a different perspective on our presidents and, for example, we all know about george washington. but we study washington at yorktown. what brilliance. we study washington's courage, dashing crossing of the delaware christmas night which saved the revolution. but who were george washington's girlfriends when he was a kid? and you find that the teenage washington on more than one occasion basically goes back home in many tears because he was turned down and puts pen to paper and writes roses are red, violets are blue type of poems. he once wrote that cupid's arrow has been shot through my heart when yet another girl turned him down. so this is another lo

the young dick nixon of the gop house is now saying he wants change.rouble is what he's said before and where he talked today. the super hawk of the party gave his manifesto at the city's nonprofit war room, the american enterprise institute. what he came out for, some new dedegree that colleges have to conduct employment surveys to say what jobs there are for history majors, english majors, you name it. i guess he wants to cut down on these people taking liberal subjects in college that allow you to think and express yourself. he sounds like he wants the federal government to have become a helicopter mom hovering over all of us. and they say democrats are intervening in people's live. what will republicans do next to try to deflect from their history of starting unnecessary wars, chasing minorities and others from the polling places. being hawkish and undemocratic are not exactly great recruiting posters. let's face it. helping me to explain the latest republican face lift are john feehery and dee dee myers. we'll start with this. we know karl rove pl

we are also trying to figure out dick nixon. for example, i looked and said nixon liked to boulogne and some palms were blacks it to do it. here does this? so i guess all books in the being trilogies. here is the end. here is the trilogy. affairs of state to might try to take a different perspective. for example, we all love of george washington, but we started washington in yorktown. brilliance. we steady his courage and dashing crossing of the delaware would save the revolution. who would george washington's girlfriend when he was a kid? and you find that teenage washington and more than one occasion basically go some in tears because he was turned down and puts pen to paper and writes roses are red and violets are blue to palms. he once wrote that cupid start has been shot through my heart when yet another broken into and out. this is a different look at washington. during my degrees and doctoral study by professors did not tell me about washington's teenage girl friends. so when this kind of fun and provides us with an impor

about what ike said about nixon in '68, when they asked him about, name one important decision that dick nixonlly 1960, when nixon had been vice president. >> '60, yeah. >> yeah, joe writes, ike and dick is a highly engrossing political narrative that skillfully takes the reader through the twisted development of a strange relationship that would help shape america's foreign and domestic agenda. >> who knew joe was such an elegant book review peer. >> he loves reading history books about american presidents. this was a perfect match. >> and the biographer is a terrific writer. longtime editor at "the new yorker," at "the washington post," has written fiction about washington. it has a nice kind of inside feel, but also a grasp of history and sweeping narrative. terrific book. >> we had amity slays on yesterday on coolidge and his impact, and also, gosh, the really tragic personal stories that were a part of his life. >> yeah, and amity sclais has a great feel of where the republican party happens to be at any particular moment. and instead of just echoing what's being said, she'll look ahead a

if you go to youtube and put in dick cavett richard nixon, you can see the head of the free world sayo his h. r., cavett. how can we screw him? [ laughter ] >> some will think i'm making that up. if you don't believe me, go to youtube. >> john: that was pretty rare that he actually -- it is shocking to think nixon had enemies. >> i know. how could he? i had offended him in various ways including the fact that when lennon had me maintain he needn't be deported by the nixon white house that i did and they were not pleased with that. and several other things. but hearing the president -- nixon liked among other things, i won't say his name again the great unindicted co-conspirator loved to -- as you know, illegally punish people with the i.r.s. he did that to my staff. >> john: oh. >> wealthy people. >> john: that shows how much confidence he had in his point of view. >> still dead. >> john: i see him at mets games all the time. some more after the break. what john brennan didn't say at his hearing today because nobody even asked him. my commentary coming up next. with accident forgivene

[laughter] so, yeah, i think -- i feel sorry for dick nixon. think eisenhower was pretty bad to his vice president. sir? >> hi, jim casey, savannah. eisenhower may not have sent any troops into combat, but a lot of what he and his state department did certainly laid the groundwork for the disaster in vietnam starting with -- being installed as president and sending advisers over there in the late '50s. any comments on that? >> yeah, sure. eisenhower is not blameless on vietnam, but in 1954 when the french were failing there at dien bien phu, there was tremendous pressure to send in ground troops from his own, in fact, his own general wanted to use tactical nuclear weaponses as did secretary of state john foster dulles as did richard nixon. and eisenhower said if we send troops, the jungle will consume an army birdie visions. i mean -- by divisions. i mean, he knew how badly an asian land war can go. and his view always was -- he was an all or nothing guy. now, it is true -- and dulles had a lot to do with this -- that when the french got driven

richard nixon had ehrlichman and alderman, and bush administration had dick cheney, and people say this president is above that sort of thing. i say, whatever you argue, nice guy, and aprilable, wonderful family, but the fact of the matter is, and i've seen this since the -- not just a snub of fox news -- for a guy who says he doesn't watch fox news, didn't like fox news, the chatter, minelessness, whatever, he knows and remembers or staff conveys to him every little critical story that pops up on fox news. so my only point in saying this is, there's a disconnect between your surface cool and your -- >> he is not a nice guy. that's the truth. he is not a nice guy. republicans and consult tenants and candidates keep saying he is a nice guy, just over his head. he is not a nice guy and he is over his head and he is an idealogue, and he can talk about woodward, which is pauling what woodward has done to him but but what bothers me is this public trust with the american people. he is abusing and it lying to us constantly. he is not a nice guy. for instance he could fire sperlin x today. he

i was looking at, nixon reviewed ike and dick this past weekend. that tortured relationship. here ike is taking kissinger to the said, basically scolding him, you betrayed him, you left him out in the cold. and all of these presidents seem -- ex-presidents seem to come around and are defensive of those, even if he attacked them. >> what's so remarkable with those two is you end up at the very end of eisenhowerer's life with his grandson marrying nixon's daughter. we had a club wedding. and eisenhower, like the others, one his last conversations with nixon was him saying, i'm yours to command. and nixon said that to reagan. i'm yours to command. >> did you get the idea ike liked nixon? >> no. >> did you get that sense? >> i think what was so terrible -- jeffrey frank shows this -- what was so maddening for nixon is nixon didn't matter to him anymore than a lieutenant matters to a four-star general. he always saw him as a lieutenant. he always saw him as his underling. and ike never thought twice about playing bridge at camp david with some of the post powerful men in the world

nixon. with us now, the author of "ike & dick: portrait of a strange political marriage." re. of course, 1952. ike sent dewey, i guess, turnover get nixon off the ticket after the checkers speech, or before the checkers speech. and then in 1956, he tried to get rid of him again. and then in 1960 went after him. and then according to your book in 1964, ike didn't step forward and say, hey, maybe nixon is the guy. he said he's a two-time loser. what was with this relationship? >> really complicated. obviously, and i think it started off with eisenhower as a five-star general and nixon was a lieutenant. the way he always regarded nixon was staff and never certainly won his trust. he thought nixon was loyal, he liked him well enough. he said once, i don't think dick is really presidential timber. >> and you saw pictures in this book. i mean, images in this book of eisenhower playing bridge with the most powerful men in the world at the time up in camp david and nixon being sent off to walk around the trails by himself. >> yeah, nixon -- eisenhower had three great hobbies. fly f

nixon there a few months after entering the white house for the first time. this presidents day weekend the "new york times" article features "ike and dick," a look at the complicatedhis vice president, richard millhous nixon. one of them often bullied the other and usually nixon on the receiving end. check out this 1960 campaign ad from then presidential candidate john f. kennedy. >> every republican politician wants you to believe that richard nixon is, quote, experienced. they even want you to believe that he has actually been making decisions in the white house, but listen to the man who should know best, the president of the united states. a reporter recently asked president eisenhower this question about mr. nixon's experience. >> i just wondered if you could give us an example of a major idea that he has adopted as the decider and final -- >> if you give me a week i might think of one, i don't remember. >> bad. jeffrey frank is the author of the new book "ike and dick." good to see you sir. thanks for coming in. >> good to be here. >> that's just one of many examples of general eisenhower, then president eisenhower, belittling richard nixon. what was it abou

of alumni of the nixon administration who worked on the domestic side rallied and raised a lot of money for this program. i received contributions from donald rumsfeld. i believe dick cheney. i think paul o'neill provided some funding. member people. the fault of the domestic side of the head ministration hasn't received the b.j. of the administration hasn't received the domestic side of the administration has not received that much attention. for the watergate interviews, i used the trust fund. i was very conservative about the way i used the money. the library received one half of the ticket money that came into the library. that money was our trust fund. i used the money for public programming because the nixon foundation shut down all funding. normally, these libraries, people don't know, but the utilities are paid by the federal government. the staff is fedele and their salaries are paid by the federal government. but public programming, there is no funding for that. congress does not appropriate any money for that. we are mandated to do non- partisan work, yet we don't have any non-partisan money. i participated in the negotiations with the nixon foundation.

nixon that year and win the presidency and that is just the beginning of the story. jeffrey frank gone to great lengths to document and piece together this complicated relationship in "ike and dicksenior editor at "the new yorker." welcome to the show, jeffrey. i guess where i start is i grew up and i think most people have an instinctive impression, probably not that inaccurate of nixon as a master of the dark arts. we have a very negative view of him instinctively and we have instinctively a positive view of eisenhower but reading your book and reading up more on their relationships over the years i find myself feeling sympathetic for nixon and as this guy that just longed for some sort of acceptance by eisenhower, some sort of a connection with him that was never there and you write at one point nixon saw in eisenhower a man to radiate kindness and acting with casual cruelty. can you explain that a little bit? >> a couple of things. you should probably give eisenhower credit still for being pretty good. he had great instincts of war and peace and looking at nixon, looking at nixon in this period, he wasn't yet the disgraced former president but a very intelligent, very ambiti

group of alumni of the nixon administration who worked on the domestic side rallied and raise a lot of money for this program. i received contributions from donald rumsfeld. i believe dickcheney. i think paul o'neill provided some funding. member people. the fault of the domestic side of the head ministration hasn't received the b.j. of the administration hasn't received -- the domestic side of the administration has not received that much attention. for the watergate interviews, i used the trust fund. i was very conservative about the way i used the money. the library received one head- one half of all of the ticket money that came into the library card -- one half of the ticket money that came into the library. that money was our trust fund. i used the money for public programming because the nixon foundation shut down all funding. normally, these libraries, people don't know, but the utilities are paid by the federal government. the staff is fedele and their salaries are paid by the federal government. but public programming, there is no funding for that. congress does not appropriate any money for that. we are mandated to do non- partisan work, yet we don't have any