we were at the eisenhower -- eisenhower library. and i said, you know, eisenhower really didn't need to send 1,000 paratroopers with the 101st airborne. he could have sent 50, 100 or 200, that they would have done the job, but he said that eisenhower, he had just won world war ii, he was the president of a major university without a phd. he was the darling of both political parties to be the standard bearer for president and he wanted to show faubus who was in charge, that he was tired of having this second-rate governor, as he saw him, push him around. and so on the 25th of september, when they finally sent the troops and we went to school with, you know, a convoy of jeeps and army station wagons and helicopters flying over, you got the feeling you were going to get into school that day. but -- but -- but i -- i -- i think, again, unintended consequences that that was really, at left in my mind, the first time that the federal government had really stepped forward to support that decision and to show african-american communities th

and he -- eisenhower's criticism of eisenhower when he came into office, excuse me, eisenhower's criticism of truman when he came into office was that the federal government hadn't even used the authority it had. and his pet example was the district of columbia, and eisenhower pledged on october 8th, 1952, that he would eliminate every vestige of segregation in the district of columbia. and within his first year in office much of that happened. truman didn't do that. eisenhower did. truman didn't do -- truman deserves credit for the executive order on desegregating the armed forces, by eisenhower in fact implemented most of it and had the prestige in the armed forces to make it happen. and he did make it happen in a variety of ways. he desegregated bases in the south. he desegregated federally controlled schools for military dependants in the south before the brown decision, and everybody who thinks that eisenhower was anti-brown really haven't done their homework, and you mentioned about my book. my book is not an opinion piece. there's not a phrase in it that's not rooted in a document o

and certainly in eisenhower's years, how did eisenhower feel about everything that had immediately preceded him and was he interested in dismantling? >> the moment is fair and he clearly came as a republican and the new deal and that campaign of a pamphlet the government publish in the 40s the top people have washed the dishes and he just thought this was the apex of silliness that the government entering people's lives. he believed in a natural goodness of the american people and thought the american people would be better off left to their own devices and not manipulated by pushy government. that said, he came to office leader of the party that had very much advocated dismantling the new deal and never lifted a finger to dismantle it. and so social security obviously not only survived but was expanded under the u.s. and our administration federal income taxes. we argue now in washington about whether it will revert to the pre-bush cut tax cuts and top tracks has had the whole tie yourself into knots about 4.5% higher. the top bracket was 91% and was in 1953 and was in 1961 when he left. s

we conclude with a newby ography about general eisenhower by jean smith, eisenhower in war and peace. >> he worked a seven-day week from the time he graduated from west point and he was focused, he was able, he was intelligent, he had a very good command of the language, macarthur speeches were written by eisenhower. and he had a marvelous command of the english language, and was very critical of staff members who weren't. and h he also knew how to get along with people. >> rose: al halperin, ray mabus and jean edward smith when we continue. >> funding for charlie rose was provided by the following. captioning sponsored by rose communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. >> we begin tonight with politics, with less than six months before election day, president obama and governor romney are active on the campaign trail. today's washington post abc news poll shows the candidates are tied on the key issue of the economy. this week, they sparred over romney's background in private equity. >> my opponent governor romney, his main calling card for why he thinks

he makes eisenhower chief of staff. as truman is trying to put together a postwar security structure, he absolutely needs eisenhower to help sell congress on the idea that stationing american troops in europe, he and eisenhower offers eisenhower to step aside if he wants to run. he saidi will serve as your vice president. they have a cordial and cooperative relationship. when eisenhower does decide to run in 1952, truman wishes him the best until the moment when eisenhower had the chance in wisconsin to denounce joe mccarthy and defend his revered mentor. george marshall. >> secretary of state marshall. >> right. eisenhower had in his speech where mccarthy would be present a defense of marshall and dropped from the speech. the new york times have a copy. of the full speech andthey revealed the fact that eisenhower at the last moment had chosen not to issue his defense of george marshall. >>what do you know why? >> he had been warned by other republicans that wisconsin was closed and the balance of the senate could be in

what is knows are the letters between eisenhower -- his newest are the letters between eisenhower and reagan's friends. >> did you see in the letters between nixon and reagan where ronald reagan kept saying i want to be the favorite son out of california. did he think of running? >> he started his campaign for president in 1968, 12 days after he was elected governor. there were some things that happened in 67 that undermines reagan's ability to act on that idea. promising ex anyone not be in primaries and then going out and entering them. >> this is a 625 page book. did you read this part of it? you get the sense that jfk did not think much of eisenhower. explain what you found. >> eisenhower was still enormously popular. he is not crazy about this guy who he refers to as "little boy blue." he views them as having a rich diet. he did not appreciate kennedy's entire -- the whole tone of his campaign in this new frontier. >> how old was the? >> that was when he was in his early 70's. he was the oldest president in the century. they were not crazy about each other. he felt like eisenhowe

when eisenhower does decide to run in 1952, truman wishes him the best until the moment when eisenhower had the chance in wisconsin to denounce joe mccarthy and defend his revered mentor. george marshall. mccarthy attacked him as a traitor. >> secretary of state marshall. >> right. eisenhower had in his speech where mccarthy would be present a defense of marshall and dropped from the speech. -- and at the last moment, he ended up dropping it from the speech. the new york times have a copy. they revealed the fact that eisenhower at the last moment had chosen not to issue his defense of george marshall. what do you know why? >> and do you know why he did? >> he had been warned by other republicans that wisconsin was closed and the balance of the senate could be in play. some said you could incite a riot. a lot of people were waving him off. you will have other opportunities to denounce joe mccarthy. do not do it in his home state. eisenhower for the rest of his life may have regretted the decision. he ends up not defending marshall. truman is appalled. he gets very worked up about it. he

eisenhower was a typical politician. in some ways he could be very cute about this and he would say later oh, i didn't send the troops to enforce desegregation. i sent them to uphold a federal court order. well, a federal court order about what? brown! that's what. and so ike would sometimes be cute -- too cute by half which was one reason why people looked at what he said publicly. sometimes they don't know where he's coming from because he'd be very politically cute about it. >> it is the first time that the troops were called in in this way. >> this was the first time -- first time that the federal troops were sent in to particularly a former confederate state since reconstruction after the civil war so this is not small potatoes. it's a big deal. but more important -- more important than the judicial appointments that lasted after little rock. >> all right. we've got some questions from the audience. these are good ones. i'm dr. carol anderson. i once heard you say when you visited simmons college when you spoke of p

eisenhower did not have that problem. kennedy had a number of southern senators and he had to decide whether he was going to do something that will make them unhappy because they can make his life unhappy also by blocking his legislation, by the administration, by depriving programs of money. it is one of many instances where it requires a little bit of confrontation. and the president and the attorney general shied away from that confrontation and appointed a number of segregationist judges in the south. this was very, very important. one thing the people don't understand that -- we understand the role of little rock. the role of judicial was key in the civil rights movement. if they get arrested, will they get out of jail? will there be an injunction? states want to join the protest. will the federal government act? as far as the boycott, what people don't know, in fact, the federal judicial helped save the bus boycott. they filed the lawsuit and got it in front of the federal judicia judiciary. the supreme court declar

after we leave eisenhower and it's john f. kennedy's time, what was happening in the country in terms of the naacp, in terms of what lawyers were doing. in terms of the restlessness of the black community about where civil rights was. the little rock niep that was considered a victory of sorts. but yet we were so far from legislation. >> really nobody knew whether and when or how school desegregation would really happen in the south. under president eisenhower's watch the 1957 civil rights act was enacted. the 1960 civil rights act. that gave the justice department additional powers to enforce civil rights, but really still very -- very significant constraints on what the justice department can do. the naacp is caught up with the struggle of trying to implement brown versus the board of education and then there was martin luther king who was catapulted to prominence with the montgomery busboy cot. king is also looking in 1960, 1961 for ways to push the movement forward. so what the context was a lot had been done. desegregatio

to the eisenhower justice department. laughed when he heard his name. you couldn't possibly appoint this guy. when kennedy comes in, cox gets appointed. he was probably the worst of the lot. eisenhower did not have that problem. by blocking legislation. and, you know, it's one of it is one that requires a little bit of confrontation. and the president and the attorney general shied away from the confrontation and appointed a number of segregationalist federal judges in the south. one thing that people don't understand is we understand the role in little rock. the role of judiciary is always key in the civil rights movement. we're going to have a protest. will there be an injunction against the protect. state courts want to join a protest. are they going to act? in fact, even as far back as the boycott, what most people don't know is that, in fact, the federal judiciary helped save the busboy cot because they won the boycott because they filed a lawsuit and they got it in front of the federal judiciary and eventually the u

after we leave eisenhower and now it's john f. kennedy's time, what was happening in the country in terms of the naacp, in terms of what lawyers were doing. kenneth mack, in terms of the restlessness of the black community about where civil right was. because the little rock nine, that was considered a victory of sorts. but yet we were so far from legislation. kenneth mack, i think i'll start with you. >> okay. >> all right. put the context for us. >> what was going on in the country? several things. first, the brown decision had been decided. it had been unevenly enforced. there had been the little rock crisis. but really, nobody knew whether and when or how school desegregation would really happen in the south. the justice department was trying to enforce existing civil rights laws, but there were holes in existing civil rights laws. it was mentioned earlier that under president eisenhower's watch, the 1957 civil rights act was enacted. the 1960 civil rights act that gave the justice department additional powers to enforce civil

still say truman did it without mentioning eisenhower when eisenhower came in, most of the units were still segregated, and by october of 1954 there wasn't a single segregated combat unit left. >> so, ernie, i'm just going to ask you from a personal standpoint if you, as a young man then, remember the impact of uncles, brothers, whomever coming back from the war and a change in a sentiment at that time. >> well, i had an experience, my dad actually fought in world war i, and he went to france, and i always wanted to know why would you go to the army and then come back home, and you couldn't vote, the world was segregated, and that was an atmosphere that i grew up in. and i think that the returning veterans, african-american veterans in the south, really had a lot to do. it's what i think is one of the untold stories about the civil rights movement, is that these men for the most part came back home after freeing germany, and when they came back home, they met the same issues. as they say s.o.s., same old stuff. >> thank you for the stuff. >> yeah. >> and that that really was sort of a

eisenhower didn't have that problem. he had to decide whether he's going to do something that will make them unhappy. by depriving programs of money. and it's one of many instances where it requires a little bit of confrontation. and the president and the attorney general shied away from the conversation and appointed a number of seg regulf of mexicoist judges in the south. the role of the judiciary was always key in the movement. are they going to get out of jail? we're going to have a protest. are the federal courts going to act? in fact, even as far back as the montgomery busboy cot what most people don't know is that nakt the federal judiciary helped save because they filed the lawsuit. they got it in front of the federal judiciary. eventually it was declared unconstitutional. so federal judges were going to be key in whether or not the movement was going to exceed or fail in st south. they issued rulings that were contrary to law. he would speak from the bench. he would refer to african-americans as monkeys. this is

but eisenhower was not known as in support of segregation.s unanimous decision, overturning plessy and overturning -- rendering school segregation unconstitutional. but ironically, it was during eisenhower's administration, a republican administration, that the first civil rights law was passed in many, many years since reconstruction. but eisenhower and the republican party -- well, i shouldn't say this totally. there were some pro-civil rights republicans back then, but certainly after the civil rights act was passed in 1964, the republican party became the party of opposition to civil rights. >> you talked a lot about how communism and black civil rights are kind of grouped together. i don't really see the connection between them and how they went about that. >> after world war ii, everybody thought that if we won the war, you know, and people thought african-american and civil rights activists, both black and white, thought of the war as a sort of double "v" campaign. victory overseas against fascism, and victory here against racism and j

actually, i guess taft had more than eisenhower did, and the consensus was eisenhower can win the election, taft can't. eisenhower got the nomination, conservatives were update, they looked up to him, had a great amount of admiration for. they all came on board, taft joined forces with eisenhower in the post-convention time in the campaign, taft then became the majority leader in the senate, and he and eisenhower worked closely together, but as time went on, conservatives, again, there weren't that many of them and they didn't have much of a national voice, but they became pretty uncomfortable with eisenhower. one of the things that really affected them when the russians invaded booud pest in 1956 and we didn't do anything, conservatives, anti-communists thought this was a time we needed to react, send troops in there, defend the counter-revolutionaries in budapest and nothing happened. by the time eisenhower left office in 1961, conservatives felt that he hadn't really served them particularly well. >> who is willmore kendall? >> he was a philosopher, political philosopher, yale graduate,

mitt romney is a lot like eisenhower, and he is a very good organizer and methodical person and prepared to systematically do what he thinks is right for the country, and i think that he might make a surprisingly good president. >> that where it gets to me, because eisenhower received the nazi surrender and won the war in europe and kept us out of the indo-china war and out of lebanon and the suez canal, and that is about it, but a man of peace, and the other guy is a guy who never saw war and talks like a hawk, and i have a problem like that. romney talks about he has been to war, but he hasn't. am i right? h. >> well, the parallels are not even, but the point is that stevenson is much more eloquent than eisenhower and stevenson was much more admired by intellectuals than eisenhower and presidents come from different backgrounds and who would have guessed in 1860 that lincoln would end up being as eloquent and effective as he was. i am just saying that -- >> you are saying it is a long shot? >> you are saying that you don't know today and he doesn't know today exactly what kind of presi

we had john kennedy trying to court eisenhower. >> right.nd over and over that actually presidents from different parties get along better than presidents from the same party which is not what we expected. we thought they'd branch out. they actually seemed to bond faster when they haveless in common. carter and ford get together. clinton and nixon.oeç even the current president obama seemed to get along best with the first bush. so we see that not because they're so much rivals inside their party for who's the greatest president of the era. >> reporter: but there is some intraparty rivalry which i found interesting including between future presidents reagan and nixon. >> there's no question that... both men are preparing for 1968. they're both from california, conservatives, different kinds of conservatives and they spent two years dancing around each other jockeying for position not trusting the other to do the right thing. competing in behind-the-scenes all the while in public pretending everything is just fine. >> meanwhile eisenhower is

eisenhower avenue closed down between the van dorn metro station and the eisenhower connector because building fire. you can see crews are on the scene and they've been there for a good hour or so trying to put this out i believe at a self-storage facility here inside the beltway on eisenhower avenue. you are going to want to use duke street north of eisenhower to get around this and again it's going to be there for a while. look at all that equipment on the scene closing down the roadway. it is -- we are not being told right now how long this will take so you want to plan early as you head outed door. thank you, kevin king, for this. we'll take you back over to our maps. if you're heading north on 95 to 395 on duke street, that's running smoothly. you just have your usual slow spots into woodbridge and springfield. we'll take a live look further north at duke street. this is running well. the interstate heading for the 14th street bridge past duke street. i'll keep you posted on that situation in alexandria at 6:00. >>> making news now at 5:51, this morning a powerful earthquake has

there would be a statue of a young eisenhower. innovative ways warriors to get around these days. >> a mysterious water creature pulled from the potomac. >> a mysterious water creature p[ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable and enjoying it less and less? upgrade to verizon fios tv, internet and phone for just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years with a two-year agreement. this is a limited time offer, so don't wait. get fios at this great low price. act now and you'll get $250 back. but hurry. this incredible offer ends june 2nd. alcall 1.888.get.fios. fios. a neork ahead. call the verizonon center for customers with disabilities at 8-974-6006 tty/v. >> some wounded veterans now to get it around. waysany of them received segue this week. >> in the shadows of the marine 56 service new wayare learning a stand and get around. >> it takes time to build up a tolerance. half are now amputees. awardedall being subways. -- segways. on an ied.d the number of service members limbs in combat reached last year inigh afg

is probably well reflected by the policies and presidencies of eisenhower nixon you know before nixon went crazy. the republican of my dad my dad was eisenhower republican and war and was very active in the party and and in fact i went door to door for barry goldwater nine hundred sixty four i was thirteen years whole three years later i was getting arrested in these lansing and you know anti-war riots but. that party you know. whites famous letter dwight eisenhower's famous letters brother edgar nine hundred fifty four you know there's the small number of oil millionaires who think that they can do away with social security and labor protections their numbers mall in their stupid you know that party is it seems gone. have you have richard lugar in indiana he's going to get wiped out this week that but that party one of the things that i say i see with great voting is that you know that party is there it's just the leadership of the party has become much more radical than the rank and file and they are taking risks and one of the big differences between liberals and conservatives in a

mitt romney is a lot like eisenhower. he is a great organizer, he is a very method cal person, he is systematic about what's good for the country. >> that's what gets me. eisenhower won the war in europe from the western side. eisenhower was a man of peace who kept us out of the china war and the suez campaign. he was a man of peace who had seen war. the other guy has never seen war and talks like a hawk. i've got a problem with that. romney talks like he's been to war, but he hasn't. am i right? >> the parallels aren't even, but the point is, steven son was much more eloquent than eisenhower. stevenson was much more admired by the intellectuals than eisenhower. >> it's such a stretch to compare him to ike. >> who would have known that -- i'm saying that you don't know today and he doesn't know today exactly what kind of president he would be, but look at obama. obama is one of the most articulate, eloquent people we've ever had, and i -- understanding of this city is extraordinary. >> that's your shot. let's take a look

he's very different from eisenhower. eisenhower was much older, different generation. eisenhower has been the five-star general in world war ii, born in the 19th century. kennedy much younger by three decades. obviously different perspectives, different levels of energy from a different political. and so, that posed a challenge. kennedy was different from eisenhower and some of his actions. eisenhower was generally faithful to his wife. kennedy hasn't been. so i knew that would be a challenge. >> host: how did you address that? >> guest: i want students in the general public to know he was thought that anybody else. he unfortunately did engage in affairs throughout his fee and does that undermine some of his policies to a degree. but i don't want to give too much attention to it because that was his private life and was between him and jacqueline kennedy. but it's also something that shouldn't be ignored. i did want to focus most of the book on what were his decisions and why did he make decisions he made. >> host: what is one decision you talk about the less consequen

where is eisenhower worked very carefully to make sure judges he put in place were pro civil rights to the extent of his ability. kennedy did not do that. as a sock to southerners he appointed segregationist judges. the impact of that, if you would. >> the impact of it was huge. so just to take one of the judges he appoints harold cox in mississippi. harold cox was proposed to the eisenhower justice department as a judicial appointment and herbert bradl laughed when he heard harold cox's name. you can't possibly appoint this guy when kennedy comes in. harold cox gets appointed. cox was probably about the worst of the lot. because they can make his life unhappy also by blocking his legislation, by writing on federal administration, by depriving programs of money, and yeah, it's one of many instances where it requires a little bit of confrontation, and the president and the attorney general shied away from that confrontation and appointed a number of segregationist judges in the south and this was very, very important. one thing that people don't understand that we understand the role of