eisenhower made peace. after eisenhower made peace in korea not one american served died in combat for the next eight years. [applause] eisenhower believed limited war with the contradiction in terms. you don't go to war unless you mean to go to war and you do it all out and as a result you remain at peace for the next eight years. eisenhower also was even-handed in its approach to his foreign-policy. when britain and france and israel invaded, took the suez canal our two oldest allies, our youngest allies general eisenhower insisted that they withdraw and he not only insisted that he organized or the secretary of secretary of the treasury a round, a run on the british pound which left the british with no alternative but to withdraw. domestically eisenhower's progressive conservative. he believed largely in a balanced budget and he was against deficit spending but he also believed the government had a positive role to play. the interstate highway system, which eisenhower -- which was eisenhower's brainchild

eisenhower consider doing that. there was a moral argument for going first, before the soviets could build up. they rejected that idea. they did not do it because it was ultimately immoral and godless. but they had to think about it. maybe before the russians could hit us, we would hit them. >> the number of nuclear weapons when we had in the country when he started as president and a number when he left. >> 1000 to 20,000. i think there was too much of a buildup. ike wanted to send a message. we are on stoppable, strong, we will crush you if you think about it. in doing that, the nuclear genie got out of the bottle in a big way. we have a lot of weapons, some blame launch weapons, a bomb dropped weapons, missiles, and there is a view that we over did that. the arsenal got too big. >> you refer in your book to the sunday night dinners in georgetown. >> this is the high chattering class. the well-to-do, harvard and yale, the cool crowd, in the cafeteria. >> where did you go? >> i went to harvard. i teach at princeton

>> eisenhower? >> rose: yes. >> deceptively so because he had bad syntax and liked to play -- i mean he liked to be my band is fred wearing and the paians and i don't like classical music and all of that. >> rose: that was all for show. >> partly for show. i mean he was a closet intellectual deep think read. >> rose: did he go back to playing poker? >> he never went back to playing poker and he had a hard time getting bridge partners because he was sort of disagreeable, he used to chastise his partners, his son and wife quit playing with him because he was so disagreeable. >> rose: the book is called ike's bluff, eisenhower's secret battle to save the world, evan thomas. we will be right back. stay with us. >> rose: isadore sharp is here, he wanted to call it thunderbird, the name was taken so sharp and his partners decided on four seasons. that name has become and iconic global brand, sin synonymous wih quality and luxury, the four systems now manages about 90 hotels and resorts in 36 countries in

eisenhower as well. i have a -- i also want to say my earliest political memory is my mother saying general eisenhower was nominated at the 52 republican convention so that gives away what my age might be but i have a serious question concerning how history is recorded regarding the incident of may 1, 1960 and i have reference to mmo of general who was in a two president eisenhower. after checking with the present i informed mr. bissell of the cia that the u2 makar pressure may be undertaken provided it is carried out prior to may 1. that memo and less is written to cover general goodpaster -- suggests that the u2 might not have been authorized by a president president eisenhower but in fact would would have bea rogue operation directed by the director of central intelligence. if anyone can draw on that. thank you very very much. i appreciate it. >> general goodpaster did not go out on anything. the president approved the u2 flied. there is no question the president approved it as a president regretted a

eisenhower as well. i have a -- i also want to say my earliest political memory is my mother saying general eisenhower was nominated at the 52 republican convention so that gives away what my age might be but i have a serious question concerning how history is recorded regarding the incident of may 1, 1960 and i have reference to mmo of general who was in a two president eisenhower. after checking with the present i informed mr. bissell of the cia that the u2 makar pressure may be undertaken provided it is carried out prior to may 1. that memo and less is written to cover general goodpaster -- suggests that the u2 might not have been authorized by a president president eisenhower but in fact would would have bea rogue operation directed by the director of central intelligence. if anyone can draw on that. thank you very very much. i appreciate it. >> general goodpaster did not go out on anything. the president approved the u2 flied. there is no question the president approved it as a president regretted a

what was his view of eisenhower? >> guest: george f. kennan have a lot of respect for eisenhower. no respect for john dulles. for eisenhower a great deal of respect. because george sensed as many people did that he was different from his superficial appearance and manner. eisenhower was a master of being underestimated and giving the impression that he was a light weight when in fact he was running the whole show and the critical point came as early as 1953 after dallas had fired george f. kennan. eisenhower hired him to study top-secret study group to rethink the idea of containment which dollars had been criticized and so they do this secretly over the summer at the national war college and there are three competing task forces which come up with opposite conclusions. george f. kennan recommended continuation of his own policy and in kennan's memoirs he describes how eisenhower took over this meeting when reports were presented, wove them all together in a sense is no one else had thought of and everyone in the meeting walked away from that with no question whatever about who wa

it was clear that warren surprised eisenhower and led the court in a direction he did not expect. that is sometime it is case when it comes to supreme court appointment. >> reporter: the supreme court, a couple of generations ago follows the election returns. does it? well that's hard to say. when the supreme court in 1954 in brown deed board of education ruled that separate was inherently unequal in education and became the slow painful process of integrating schools the decision was anonymous and was written by warren appointed by eisenhower. you could argue that the court then was leading public opinion that did shift in the years to follow. the voting rights act of 65 and ended legalized segregation in the south. in roe v. wade, also a republican appointee. the court has twice upheld -- the 8-0 1974 decision ordered nixon to turn over his tapes. republican presidents want to appoint conservative justices. philosophically divided yes but not always the way the presidents who pick them expect it. >> reporter: a 1968 interview in which the chief justice talks about the turbulentt

. >> eisenhower answers america. >> dwight eisenhower's team lead the way to bring the candidate righto america's living rooms. >> help me put the lid on crazy government spending. >> the ads were very effective. they made more than 40 eisenhower america spots. >> the camera in eisenhower was looking up to him, and the voters voters -- he was looking down a bit. adley stevens felt it was not proper to run the ads. >> eisenhower won by a landslide. and then stevens was running in his own television ads. >> jennifer: those were the days. now i'm joined again by charlie pierce and karl frisch. karl i want to read you this about campaign tv ads. do you agree? >> yes. [ laughter ] >> i think anybody who has ever been a part of making television commercials can tell you that. and it's particularly true when budgets of money is being spent. let's say you are running for congress. it's great to have millions of dollars, and have millions of dollars spent on your behalf but at a certain point, all of the ads in the world can't get you elected. you can look at examples all over the country of we

four years ago susan eisenhower, the granddaughter of dwight eisenhower endorsed president obama andke during the democratic national convention. now she's making the case in president obama's reelection. the challenger mitt romney says, "as a result of this campaign i am more confused than ever about what mitt romney stands for. i know little of his core beliefs if he has any. no one seems to agree on what they are and that's why i don't want to take a chance on finding out." i love the way you put that. is there any belief to determine he will last? he's the cellophane man. is there anything beneath the tie and shirt. is there any belief to determine that will last beyond the current speech? >> that's the problem. he had to run to the extreme right to get the nomination to begin with. now classically candidates move into the middle, but he didn't do that until late in the campaign,. which leads you to believe he was with the ideas he was espousing during the primary. he's made commitments. he's not part of the religious right but he's made commitments to the religious right. he's m

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 in fact i went door to door for barry goldwater nine hundred sixty four i was thirteen years hard three years later i was getting arrested these lansing and you know anti-war riots but. that party you know. why it's 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 you know one of the big differences between liberals and conservatives in am

. >>> and why would eisenhower endorse a democrat for president?usan eisenhower comes here to talk about it. >>> and does anyone really have a grip on who mitt romney is? this is "hardball," the place for politics. >>> well, with one week before the election, remember that? we've got lots of new poll numbers in the presidential race. let's go to the "hardball" scoreboard. we start in florida where a new cnn poll has mitt romney leading by one point, but a new ppp poll from florida has president obama up by one point. 49%, 50%. in ohio a new pp p poll has the president leading by four, 51%, 47%. new hampshire, a small state that may play a big role on election night. the new pp p poll has the president up by two there. in north carolina a new poll from elan university, shows the race tied, who would have thought that. finally to oregon, a state president obama won by 17 points in '08. the race is tightening there. it's down to 47%, obama, 41% for romney. we'll be right back. ♪ ooh baby, looks like you need a little help there ♪ ♪ ooh baby, can i do

yes, johnson -- let me start with eisenhower. eisenhower was quite disappointed in warren. it is famously, although perhaps apocryphally attributed to eisenhower, i made the biggest damn fool mistake of my presidency, he's now sitting on the supreme court. there's various versions of this quote, but it is quite clear that johnson -- or, beg your pardon, that eisenhower was disappointed both in warren and in brennan. there is a infamous episode early in warren's tenure as chief justice which warren recorded in his memoirs where he went to a dinner party at the white house hosted by eisenhower, black tie dinner, stag dinner, and john davis, the lawyer for south carolina, was invited and sat within earshot of warren. warren was quite offended to be there at a time when brown was still pnding before the court, to have one of the litigants, needless to say, thurgood marshall was not invited to this party. and then even more awfully at the conclusion of dinner and as they were getting up to go for cigars and drinks, eisenhower took warren by the arm and gesturing to the southerne

susan eisenhower comes here to talk about. she's endorsing president obama again. >>> does anyone really have a grip on who mitt romney is? this is "hardball," the place for politics. allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. i just finished a bowl of your new light chicken pot pie soup and it's so rich and creamy... is it really 100 calories? let me put you on webcan... ...lean roasted chicken... and a creamy broth mmm i can still see you. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. >>> we have lots of new poll numbers in the presidential race. let's go to the "hardball" scoreboard. in florida where

. >> host: was eisenhower a fan? >> eisenhower is the chief of staff that the marines beat back successfully. he most famously said the? marines have a propaganda? machine.kes a this gets and then sell much trouble that is then theyor t mobilize the coalition in blow response to truman blow up.ve? >> host: are you a 1995,? marmion? >> i joined in 1995 straight out of college. in from hartford connecticut. ti i served on active duty and in the reserves ever since. now i am and cod nidal per gries served in afghanistan one year-ago then the pentagon. also at camp with juneut and ina in south bend indiana. te >> what are the tensions? there is said dependent relationship? of >> i would not say that nowtoo but you can hide in the past re with that too much work in the present but it is a? su remarkable success story. nes in this interesting in the 40's the navy says we take??? care of you.??????? ? pay for the equipment that you use. you should be happy that we are here. after the amphibious forces the sto

it's called ike bluff president eisenhower's secret battle to save the world. got a beef with ike that i didn't know i had. because i like ike, you like ike, everybody likes ike. turns out ike was a huge approximates ussy. (laughter) >> no, he wasn't. >> stephen: he was. he was. he was afraid of going toe-to-toe with the russskies in nuclear annihilation. >> he was not, he was brave, he was a brave soldier. but he didn't want to fight wars. he wanted to bluff the russians. 1950s. communism was on the march and he didn't want to fight a nuclear war. he didn't want to fight any kind of war but he bluffed with nuclear weapons. >> stephen: he was the ally. he knew that we won world war ii with nuclear bombs, did that escape his attention. >> he didn't want it to do hiroshima or nagasaki at home or in russia. he saw what nuclear bomb kos do and didn't want to use them. >> stephen: but you say he was unwilling to do first strike. >> well, he didn't-- yes, he didn't want to go first. he thought about it. he actually, interestingly, he thought about going first and try

>> was president eisenhower fan? of the? marines?????? >> neither truman or eisenhower were fans of the? marines.??? both are army veterans.????? eisenhower said chief of staff of the army when they did the? first restructuring under which marines beat back very????? successfully. president truman was famously said in? his letter and cautio? pace that the braves have a? propaganda machine that is??? ?most equal to stalin.???? this gets me so much of a???? piteous he is making his public? apology and that's the date the? mobilize their coalition for?? three divisions in three rings in response to truman's bl?ow ? >> are you a marine click?? >> im.? >> when did you serve?????? square. >> i joined in 1995 straight out of college.?? trinity college in hartford connecticut and graduate work a? io.???? i served on active duty for five years and up in the the reserves ever? since.???? site 17 years and now, but i'm? incognito at the naval academy? until summertime and then i get? a haircut.???

you mentioned president dwight eisenhower. president eisenhower wrote out letters. one of them congratulated the great members of military allies that have conducted and succeeded in the greatest invasion in history still to this day and forever. he wrote out another letter. that was a letter of resignation to the united states army for the failure in normandy. somehow, we have lost that accountability. i have been heavily criticized because i called for the resignation of the chairman of the securities and exchange commission. we have got to start also holding people accountable and we have got to reward people who succeed. somehow, in washington today, and i am afraid on wall street, greed is rewarded, excess is rewarded. as president of the united states, people will be held accountable in my administration. >> do you have something to say to senator mccain about what he just said? >> i think senator mccain is absolutely right we need more responsibility. we need that not just when there is a crisis. we have had years in which the economic ideology has been what

eisenhower kept us out of vietnam.explicitly said i don't want to fight wars -- >> kept us out of suez, too. >> libya was an eisenhower type operation. don't only -- >> the hidden hand. >> yeah. only do the things that the united states is uniquely available to provide. so provide things like intelligence that other countries can't, but don't put boots on the ground, don't put pilots in danger. >> well, colin powell said he has concerns about some of romney's views on foreign policy. let's listen to the general. >> one day he had a strong view about staying in afghanistan, but then on monday night he agrees to withdrawal. same thing on iraq. almost every issue that was discussed on monday night, governor romney agreed with the president with some nuances, but this is quite a different set of foreign policy views than he had earlier in the campaign, and my concern, which i have expressed previous in a public way is that sometimes i don't sense that he has thought through the issues as thoroughly as he should have. >> ar

eisenhower had a rule. if i know you, you're not going to work for me.e that run the biggest companies and put them in binders and throw them on my desk and i'm going to cull through them and we're going to get the right people there. >>> coming up next, we will ghae inside jfk's oval office. his daughter, caroline kennedy, will be here with new audio from the 35th president. >>> and later, msnbc nbc's j.j. ramberg will be here with her new book that gives essential tips for small business owners. >>> but first, bill karins. >> i don't have a tip for him. go back to school? maybe? >> do something else? >> stop grabbing -- when you walk through the door. it's like -- i don't even bother. he opens the door for me with that look on his face i'm like i'm not walking through it. bill? >> i mean, if mika -- it's fair. if you're going do it to me, fair game. >>> let's talk about severe weather last night. we did have some severe storms that rolled through arkansas and mississippi. we do have a couple thousand people without power. thankfully we didn't have too

julie nixon eisenhower wrote a very good book about her mother. her mower one of the least known i think of the first lady's we've had in modern times. mrs. nixon, very private person, never heard from again after the nixons left the white house for call top. she never did interviews. she never wrote her own memoirs. mrs. nixon was somebody i tried to bring to life in the book. >> you written several historical fiction books. you've written nonfiction. you've written novels. how do you approach historical fiction. >> i always tell people who are contemplating writing it if they haven't written before, don't read too much about the period that about the writing about. read more from the period. if you really want to know how people thought, how they spoke, the way their minds worked, read what actually came out of the period. in other words, eliminate the middleman. i think this is why some historians are not very fond of historical fiction because it tries to do something different. you know, historians always have to hedge their bets a little. th

eisenhower's chief of staff of? the younger women to?????? restructuring, which the marines ? back very? successfully.?? president truman was famously?? said in a letter of really??? incautious haze that the marine? have a propaganda machine that ? almost equal to stalin.??? biscuits and in so much trouble that he is to make a huge publi? apology.??????? that is the day they mobilize?? their congressional coalition to get their special protection fo? three divisions in response to? ?uman's? blowout.???? >> host: are you a marine?? >> guest: i am.?? >> host: manages her become? aware? >> guest: i joined in 1895? straight out of college. actually trinity college in? hartford connecticut and graduate work at yale.?? i? served on active duty for f? years and have been in the??? reserves are present, are? present, so i'm 17 years in now? i am incognito here at the nava? academy till summertime and then ?get my haircut.???? ?ster would be served? >> guest: i served in afghanistan just about a year?? ag

>> host: president eisenhower a fan??? >> guest: neither truman or?? eisenhower were a fan of the marine.?? both army veterans.?? they tried to do the first?? restructuring, which the corp. beat back scefly.? truman said in a letter of really incautious haste, that?? the marines have a propaganda machine almost? equal to stali? he's in so much trouble that he? makes a public apology, and?? that's the day they mobilize th? congressional coalition to get special protection for three?? divisions and three wings, in? response to truman's blow up. >> host: are you a marine??? >> guest: yes, i am.?? >> host: when did you serve? where? >> guest: joined in 1995,? straight out of college.?? >> host: yale? >> guest: trinity college in hartford, connecticut, and then? yale. i served on active duty for fiv? years, reserve ever since. i have 17 years in now, but i'm incognita here until summer time, and then i get my haircut? >> host: where did you serve?? >> guest: afghanistan, just?? about a year ago, and then in?? the pentagon and quite

a work then he's always with his sleeves rolled up on the campaign trail could you imagine the eisenhower sitting down with the ladies of the view and saying. i mean come on this is disrespectful it's the president show reality show and it's real as the rest of the reality shows there is no reality it's a country that's gone out of its and running mindless wars i love it the military changing its strategy now more toward north africa and other sections of the middle east oh yeah after you did such a great job in afghanistan and iraq move on. it's failing at every level and by the way this is very important think about the economy is going down and for so many people they're losing their homes trillion dollars in debt for college students that can't get jobs thirty percent of the jobs created in august for low paying service sector jobs working at fast food great food restaurants and where's the economy we. are they really talking about the economy it's not the economy stupid as they once said it's war and that's all they're talking about and that's an interesting point in terms of the eco