eisenhower. now, lyndon johnson, of the three presidents, was probably the poorest, and he went to college for one year, and had to drop out, although he eventually finished, and he taught at a mainly mexican-american school in texas. the willhousen school, where you can see him in the back here. it was this experience that was really formative for lyndon johnson in realizing that we are wasting resources, unless we activate the resources of all of our people, we're not going to be a great country. that had a tremendous impression on him. beginning in he 1960s, these resources started to activate. this is betty freidan in 1950 with her son, daniel. she was especially fond of this picture because many people depicted her --shows has no interest in family and is just a radical feminist and it's bunk. her book, "the feminine mystique" which came out in 1962, was a landmark book there were free landmark books, betty's book rachel carson's book pie silent spring "and ail generated interest in the whit

i think truman was snubbed in certain ways by eisenhower, and eisenhower felt very differently. i'm interested to hear what you think, actually, about that. >> well, i -- >> and if i remember correctly -- >> repeat the question. >> oh, yeah, yeah. sorry, sorry. yeah, that's a good point. so the gentleman was asking when eisenhower took over, there was an uncomfortable relationship between truman and and eisenhower at that time, right? from my reading, what i understand was that eisenhower was upset because truman had invited eisenhower's son to appear at the inauguration, i think, without eisenhower's knowledge as a surprise. and eisenhower, i think, was offended -- am i getting this correct? -- because -- >> [inaudible] >> we need the mic. [inaudible conversations] >> what actually happened was during the campaign eisenhower was visiting wisconsin, and senator joe mccarthy denounced george marshall who president truman felt was the greatest living american at the time. he said there wasn't a medal big enough for george marshall. he had tremendous respect for him. and joe mccart

for our nation are memorialized in marvel and bronze in the company of washington and lincoln, eisenhower and grant. are, susan b. anthony and martin luther king jr., we gather to recognize another american champion, senator robert joseph dole. and this pantheon of patriots, we are privileged to honor this leader of great integrity, deep dignity and extraordinary courage. we are blessed to be here with senator dole and his extraordinary wife elizabeth with whom he has just shared, they just celebrated 42 years of beautiful marriage. [ applause ] >> elizabeth -- elizabeth is an american hero in her own right. i join steny in recognizing her. our nation is better for her strong leadership and her service in the cabinet and the united states sen at that time. we now thank her for her tireless work on behalf of our hidden heroes, the military caregivers who sacrifice every day for our veterans and our country. thank you, elizabeth. [ applause ] >> senator bob dole has demonstrated his steadfast commitment to country right from the start. when the second world war broke out we all know bob lef

. >> man: eisenhower answers america. >> the democrats have made mistakes, but aren't their intentions good? >> well, if the driver of your school bus runs into a truck, hits a lamppost, drives it into a ditch, you don't say, "his intentions are good" -- you get a new bus driver. >> what is the most important issue confronting the american people in this election campaign? >> the 1960s presents our country with great opportunities and great challenges. >> mann: they were dreadful. i think there was no room for an emotional appeal in a political ad -- that they had to be fact-based, rational presentations. >> probably the most exciting ones involved a jingle, because it was the jingle era on television. >> ♪ ike for president ♪ ike for president ♪ ike for president ♪ ike for president ♪ you like ike, i like ike ♪ everybody likes ike for president ♪ ♪ hang out the banners, beat the drums ♪ ♪ we'll take ike to washington ♪ >> sabato: virtually every product was sold with a jingle. so "i like ike" with prancing elephants became the symbol for eisenhower in 1956. >> ♪ ♪ kennedy, kennedy, ke

president eisenhower back on the green by the same golf course designer, president george h. w. bush and a little weekend tennis game, no big deal. [laughter] the clintons went to camp david every weekend. they loved to camp for thanksgiving so i got to see them twice and they would bring their large extended family. if you don't know part of the family is senator barbara boxer. the somewhat musician and dick kelly his stepfather at the time. you sit back and watch these folks and it's kind of like our family to some degree. again we are in the world but not of their world. we learned th learn the balance. president obama behind. this is put in by nixon. and then this very poignant and somber story about kennedy that president kennedy and the kids with vocationally and i mentioned a 91-year-old gentleman so he was the commanding officer and at this moment is when jackie comes knocking on the door and says excuse me can your kids come out and play with john john and carolyn, sure, they would love to. as i'm interviewing chuck in his living room, in his kitchen last year and his s

so call david, the other thing eisenhower did is he renamed and he took in the eisenhower's home state of colorado and he named their cabinet president of the lot which it is today. >> .. you are the only family with two daughters, seven and four, inside the camp. maybe you have guests on the weekend. play dates are interesting that they can be difficult with security protocols, gated access road and everything else you can and can't do. one of those early challenges. the loneliest century, chapter 61 of my favorite in the book, talk about the willingness of command, self-interest backing, a committee, club, a team, your business. sometimes the hard decisions you have to make and deliver what the president has dealt with and how they use camp david and what we felt responsible for the upkeep. upper left is icl going to an inspection inside the hangar in the shouting missed about 1800 feet above elevation. look at the president. i principally see two purposes, a place to get away to rest, relax and recharge. and a place to take administration or international leaders to work diplomacy.

this was a gun presented to dwight david eisenhower and was one of his favorite guns. there is a fun story about this gun in our museum. our senior curator, phil fryer, in his early days at the museum was standing near this exhibit and he watched a gentleman come up and stand in front of the case looking at it. the guy looked like a secret service agent out of central casting. he would look one way and then another and he stood there for several minutes. finally, phil asked if there was anything he could tell him about the gun. and the man said no, but i could tell you about this gun. i had that gun in my hand the first in my hand the first and the last day on his job. he had been a secret service agent. his first day on the presidential detail, eisenhower was meeting with a foreign dignitaries who he wanted to take out hunting. the agents went into the gun room and the head agent told everyone to grab a shotgun because they were going hunting. the other agents left this one here and the kid said, that is a good-looking shotgun. and his boss said, that is ike's gun. an

khrushchev describes kennedy as being the same as eisenhower. we could have this discussion off-line about why people are convinced that khrushchev had this view. in the materials released in 2002-2003, i did not see evidence of him saying that kennedy is this immature guy we cannot take seriously. viewhchev had this bizarre of the american system. he was interested in wall street and the pentagon. again, it is a foolish game to debate with such a brilliant biographer. korea, yes,to north i think given that north korea is not the soviet union -- the soviet union was a threat to us --itarily -- that behooved that was the argument for engagement. engage the south koreans in finding a way for a source of deterrence is a better idea. we have two disruptors simultaneously. our first objective should be to contain or persuade the american s to be -- to keep ratcheting up the volume. >> [inaudible] this will be our last question because we want to leave equal time for the second half of our panel. on the eisenhower point, i did make eye contact with my

and as always dwight eisenhower. never fight alone, never fight for long. what happens in this country because we are in flexible, we dig our heels and get into longer and longer engagements in the longer they get to the more we have to justify this to the public that we do this by continuing to ramp up the notion of the threat itself. there are boogie man i've never seen such a group of terrified people of the things that harlan points out so well in the book that could be employed and prioritize the threats to the country. thank you for the opportunity to be here. >> likewise, thank you very much in thank you, harlan. it's a general honor for you to invite me. actually, i would say -- [inaudible] >> i'll get into the book of the moment. it's provocative, clear and pretty much correct. the second world war when you are saying winston churchill -- [inaudible] not just because your grandfather played such a central role of the second world war, but the last war america got into for noble reasons and it's not just nobl

so eisenhower agrees to this deal. he would later write, one week later after signing the darlan deal, he would write george marshall -- i value this aid more than the active participation of their troops. we have these advantages through the influence of the entire group with which we have worked. i value this aid. what is this aid? eisenhower came to casablanca to watch french and americans work together to unload 30,000 troops in 13 hours on the second convoy that had arrived in casablanca. for eisenhower, this is worth everything because the logistical lines he badly needs to keep american troops supplied are going to come true. there are 140 americans in french morocco. by the end of there are more 1942, than 60,000 american troops. it is a huge increase. and they were everywhere. americans were popping their tents in town squares. so, the movie. we are going to have to talk about the movie. warner bros. could not believe it's luck because they opened up the newspaper and there are headlines about this place calle

eisenhower said he has a good isolation take it. taste, let him take it. when he retired, misses eisenhower asked him to get the gun to bring it out to the car. she had him drive it to nra headquarters and take the gun and presented to the nra museum. this gun has a lot of presidential history. a little bit of nra history with it, too. is a very elegant one engage shotgun -- 20 gauge shotgun. the next one is a big, large shotgun. folks know colt as a maker of classic revolvers in the 1880's. at the same time they were making double-barreled shotguns. this is one of their big hammer shotguns. they were popular in 12 gauge, which is still a big, heavy shotgun gauge for today. 10 gauge, which is even bigger. this one is an eight gauge, which is bigger still. it is the only eight gauge shotgun that cold ever made -- colt ever made. they made it for grover cleveland. a big, heavy, massive gun. cleveland was a large man. the only person ever to be elected for two nonsequential terms as american president. theodore roosevelt was probably our shootingest president

anyway -- dwight eisenhower. anyway, he said never fight unless you have to, never fight alone, never fight for long. and i think what happens in this country is because we are inflexible, we dig our heels in, then we get into longer and longer engagements. and the longer they get, the more we have to justify this to the public. and we do this by continuing to ramp up, you know, the notion of the threat itself. i mean, we're sitting here in washington thinking that, you know, that there are boogiemen under all kinds, every kind of bogeyman under our beds. i've never seen such a group of terrified people, and yet the things that harlan points out so well in his book that could be employed, you know, to alleviate and prioritize the threats to this country, these aren't even being tried. so well done, harlan -- >> susan, thank you. >> -- and thank you for the opportunity to be here. >> ed. >> that's brilliant, susan, thank you. >> likewise, thank you very much, fred. and thank you, harlan. it's a genuine honor for y

so eisenhower agrees to this deal.he would later write, one week later after signing the darlan d.l., he would write george marshall -- i value this aid more than the active participation of their troops. we have this advantage through the influence of the entire group to which we have worked. i value this aid. what is this aid? eisenhower came to casablanca to watch french and americans work together to unload 30,000 troops who have arrived in casablanca. these are the logistical lines he badly needs. there are 140 americans and french morocco. by the end of 1942 there are more than 60,000 american troops. it is a huge increase. they were everywhere. americans had tense in town squares. town squares.n so, the movie. we are going to have to talk about the movie. warner bros. cannot believe it's ,ot because it -- its luck because they open up the paper and their headlines about cause of longer. casablanca was not well known to the american public until the american invasion of north africa, but here are headlines talkin

of the eisenhower group. which has advised fortune 500 companies in the us and abroad including ibm, coca-cola and i could go on without susan but just it is wonderful to have you here. we have a policy analyst, a member three different blue ribbon positions for three secretaries give visiting philip to the harvard institute of politics and distinguished fellow at the center for national interest. thank you. and then rounding out the group, another one of the more provocative and interesting thinkers whose writing i follow closely, commentator, for the financial times. he has worked for the ft since 1995 and before that the guardian. and the ft served as capital markets over south asia bureau chief and in new delhi and washington. in washington bureau chief. with that, let me turn over to harlan to share with us the conclusions of your book. after which i will ask susan and ed to make some initial remarks in them we will move right into discussion. >> thank you for your very generous and gracious remarks. wel

with: i could have begun eisenhower in the book. one of the things that shocks me is nobody beat me to this book. it's extraordinary when you think about it that no one had looked at this history in quite this way before. you could go back to sherman adams, the civilian version of dwight eisenhower's army chief of staff. he was known as the abominable snowman. man. haldeman took it to another level. they were obsessed with trying to get this right. again in nixon's words, the lord high executioner. he was the guy who was the gatekeeper, he brokered information and was in charge of communications. he was the guy who executed the president's agenda. the fascinating paradoxical thing about it is haldeman who wrote the template for the water and white house chief failed in the end spectacularly to speak truth to power during watergate, which was richard nixon's downfall. host: we will take calls now for chris whipple. we will put the numbers on the bottom of the screen. you said this type of book is not been done before. why did you dec

[applause] president dwight eisenhower, he choose to be memorialized here.lot of people can be president of the united states but hardly anybody can be a five-star general. [laughter] anyway, he stands in bronze in the rotunda. he once said, president eisenhower, a people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. senator dole's life and career embody's that ethos. he's dedicated a lifetime of holding our american principles and advancing our founding values. senator dole firmly believes in the value of justice. embattled in congress in the 1960s to expand the civil rights of every american. he believes in fairness, fighting to create and push the americans with disabilities act over the finish line of my colleague, mr. hoyer mentioned, that worked with him on that important legislation. bob also believes in honoring human dignity. together with senator george mcgovern, he extended the life line of food stamps, school lunch initiatives and special nutrition initiatives to millions of women, children and working families. high school mcg

this was a gun presented to dwight david eisenhower and was one of his favorite guns. there is a fun story about this gun in our museum. our senior curator phil fryer in his early days at the museum was standing near this exhibit and he watched a gentleman come up and stand in front of the keys looking at it. the guy looked like a secret service agent out of central casting. he would look one way and then another and he stood there for several minutes. finally, phil asked if there was anything he could tell him about the gun. and the man said no, but i could tell you about this gun. i had that gun in my hand the first in my hand the first and the last day on his job. he had been a secret service agent. meeting with a foreign dignitaries who he wanted to take out hunting. the agents went into the gun room and the head agent told everyone to grab a shotgun because they were going hunting. the other agents left this one here and the kids said -- that is a good-looking shotgun. and his boss said -- that is ike's gun. and the president said that the kid had a good eye and h

dedicate eisenhower park. going to ceremony, there was a platform stage with many dignitaries, black music, a lot of happiness, everybody was absolutely pleased that the president chose to honor us with a visit. i remember at the time they dedicated the monument, i was theght by my mother to see unveiling. my mother was a very small woman, frankly, a being a small child, i could not see anything coveringe brown canvas over the monument. a very nice lady picked me up to see the unveiling, the cover was ripped off and you could see the name eisenhower and the five stars of his general rank. fantastic, at that point, he came down to the started shaking hands with people. this woman picked me up a second and said shake cans with the general. he had such a pleasing, pleasant face. that inspired confidence. i am in newport, rhode island, home of the harborside. about ida len more wis. lewis was the most famous woman lighthouse keeper in the united states, more importantly she was the fit -- most than lighthouse keep

dwight eisenhower had great faith in prescott bush. in fact, put him on a short list of vice presidential candidates he was considering and thought that he should be president himself. he expressed that aspiration for prescott bush. >> no nixon people. [laughter] >> but he was extraordinarily moderate by today's republican standards. in fact, as you pointed out to me at lunch, he was the president of the planned parenthood chapter in his hometown in connecticut. >> yeah. >> so a very moderate force. when george h.w. bush throws his hat in the ring, it's as county commissioner for the republican party or in harris county, texas. and he's battling john bier chers, as you say, who are extraordinarily radical and virulent in their thinking. and they don't want an establishment republican particularly from the northeast to tell them how to run things. george h.w. bush achieves the office, and he invites them in. he has the spirit of inclusion where he brings them into the party operation. he unites them by including them. it's a remarkable

i understand that susan eisenhower, the granddaughter of president eisenhower, who in 1957 signed the commission into existence -- thank you for that. for joining us. john gore, acting assistant attorney general for civil rights at the united states department of justice, and cameron quinn, the officer for civil rights and civil liberties at dhs and also a former virginia state advisory committee member for civil rights in virginia. we have several people who have traveled from california, illinois, and missouri to be with us. thank you for coming from afar and thank you to everyone in our staff who has been with us today. you make sure we do the work we need to do. thank you to our staff director, our general counsel team, and to the same person who is, in addition to the acting director at the office of civil rights evaluation, and to the stellar team in that office who write our civil rights reports. thank you to the office of management, including budget and finance, the clearinghouse division, and human resources, who keep us paid, who keep us in operation, and to keep us in effe

but anyway, he stands in bronze in the rotunda, and he once said, president eisenhower did, a people embattled in congress in the 1960s to expand the civil rights of every american. he believes in fairness, fighting to create and then push the americans with disabilities act over the finish line as my colleague mr. hoyer mentioned who worked with him on that important legislation. bob also believes in honoring human dignity. together with senator george mcgovern he extended the food stamps and school nutrition and special initiatives to millions of women, children and working families. his mcgovern-dole food for education initiative has brought food from america's heartland to communities across the world. that vital initiative is synonymous with america's compassion and leadership in the world. senator dole once said our challenge is not to question american ideals or replace them, but to act worthy of them. may you all take heed of those profound words. senator bob dole, for a life time spent defending, advancing and exemplifying our proudest american ideals, we thank you. this con

guest: the military-industrial complex that eisenhower summarized in that neat phrase is certainly alobbying power that supports pentagon expenditures, research and development, and weaponry advancement. to that extent, they help arm america and make it strong. and at the same time, that effort perhaps results in military clashes around the that may not be necessary or in the best interest of the country. the vietnam war is a good example. died,nds of americans millions of vietnamese died. for what we have in the is aary-industrial complex powerhouse that helps shape american foreign policy and military policy that is not always in the best interest of the american people. host: al is on the republican line from maryland. caller: thank you for the opportunity to talk on the subject. the pentagon papers, i remember them well. i had just returned from vietnam. i was a combat soldier. tension andhe atmosphere at that time. the pentagon papers came out. and all of a sudden, it was access to more information -- there was access to more information. , how did youhat feel about the indiffer

i understand that susan eisenhower, who is the granddaughter of president eisenhower, who in 1957 signed the u.s. commission into existence. thank you for that, for joining us. we have john fore, acting assistant -- gore acting assistant attorney for civil rights and the officer for civil rights and civil liberties at dhs and also probably a former virginia state advisory committee member for the u.s. commission on civil rights. we have several of the u.s. commission's regional staff who traveled to be with us from california, missouri, and illinois. thank you for coming from afar. and thank you to all of the commission staff, both regional and local for being with us today. you all are who do the hard work to make sure that we as a commission can be the commission and do the work we need to do for sure -- to ensure civil rights satisfaction. thank you to our staff director and our general counsel and their team and also, again, to the same person who is in addition the acting director of the office of civil rights evaluation and to the team in that office who write our civil rights repo

that was presented to dwight david eisenhower and was one of his favorite guns. there is a fun story to this me -- to this gun. our curator was standing near this exhibit and he watched a gentleman come up and stand in front of the case looking at it. the guy looked like a secret service agent out of central casting. he stood there for 5-10 minutes looking at the gun. finally, phil asked him if there was something he could tell him about the gun. he had been a secret service agent and his first day on the presidential detail, eisenhower was meeting with a foreign dignitary who he wanted to take out hunting. the agents went into eisenhower's gun room and asked everyone to grab a shotgun because they were going hunting. the agent grabbed this one here. he reached over for it. and someone said -- that is ike's gun. and then the president said -- the kid has a good eye, let him take that one. the last day on the job, amy eisenhower asked him to go up and get the gun and bring it out to the car. he had him drive it to nra headquarters and take the gun in an presented

guest: the military-industrial complex that eisenhower summarized in that neat phrase is certainly alobbying power that supports pentagon expenditures, research and development, and weaponry advancement. to that extent, they help arm america and make it strong. and at the same time, that effort perhaps results in military clashes around the that may not be necessary or in the best interest of the country. the vietnam war is a good example. died,nds of americans millions of vietnamese died. for what we have in the is aary-industrial complex powerhouse that helps shape american foreign policy and military policy that is not always in the best interest of the american people. host: al is on the republican line from maryland. caller: thank you for the opportunity to talk on the subject. the pentagon papers, i remember them well. i had just returned from vietnam. i was a combat soldier. tension andhe atmosphere at that time. the pentagon papers came out. and all of a sudden, it was access to more information -- there was access to more information. , how did youhat feel about the indiffer

[applause] pelosi: president dwight eisenhower, he chose to be memorialized here.amily told us hit of his wishes as a five-star general. present,people can be but hardly anybody can be a five-star general. -- a lot of people can be president, but hardly anybody can be a five-star general. [laughter] rep. pelosi: he said of people that values -- above its principles, lose both. bob dole embodies that have those -- that pathos. senator dole firmly believes in the value of justice and battled congress in the 19 60's to expand the civil rights of every american. he believes in fairness, fighting to create and push the americans with disabilities act over the finish line. as my colleague, steny hoyer mentioned, he worked with him on that. bob also believes in honoring human dignity. together with george mcgovern he expanded food stamps, nutrition initiative to millions of women, children, and working amylase. -- working families. it has brought food from peoplen heartland to across the world. senator dole once said our temper ofis not to american ideals or replace them,

he had criticized eisenhower for being asleep at the wheel.o he said invading cuba, that sounds like a bold plan that will demonstrate that i'm -- 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 significantly more restrained. he became much more wary of preexisting plans that hasn'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 advisers. and so he recorded himself 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 favoritesis a phone conversation that he had with former pres

wasident eisenhower absolutely dazzled by the audubon's in germany during the war. about the ability to travel place to place a limited access highway. when he became president in 1952, that was one of his first things that he was wanted to start doing, was developing a series of limited access highways that would get military bings from point a to point in a quicker fashion. and along that, it took regular car traffic as well. 1956, he was well on his way to building the interstate highway system. >> springfield has interstate run through here. >> just north of the interstate 44. through?id that come >> parts of it were shared between 66 and 44 until they decommissioned 66. it follows the same route as 66 from st. louis right down to springfield and onto the west. routetty much parallels 66 without going through the cities, going through the middle of the towns. most communities benefited from the highway coming through. springfield was a proactive piece of the naming, a proactive piece of the administration, of the association, much more heavily involved in the ea

let's mention eisenhower.resident since eisenhower who didn't visit california the latest democratic state. the largest democratic state. during his year in office. has the trump administration he's singling out california? >> i think it's clear. whether it's offshore drilling or he's given an exception to florida but not california. whether it's the home mortgage deduction. which he capped. whether it's state and local taxes which he also capped. he's focussed on our policies around immigration. healthcare, the environment. yes, i think it's clear. he's made it absolutely clear that he's going to do everything he can to punish california. and frankly it's not going to work. we'll take a page out of governor perry's book. we'll use the tenth amendment. the courts to stand up for california values. values that i used to think were american values. but he seems to think another way. >> let's talk about the reason one of the reasons you're run lg. governor brown is popular. you announce you'll run for governor on

eventually, with the eisenhower interstate system, you see an improvement in the road system overall. what suffers is railroad passenger travel. when it becomes more inefficient and slower to go by rail, railroads are being forced by interstate commerce system to maintain passenger service. they were losing money hand over fist. eventually, they would downsize passenger service, and then do away with it, until the 1970's, when they formed amtrak. the main way of making money has been freight. after 9/11, you see a resurgence in rail transportation. the northeast rail in particular is one of the most successful lines for amtrak. when i went to kansas city, i took the train. i don't mind making that trip. it's faster to go by plane, but for me, it's still something to go by rail. >> there you have the american rail. with justifiable pride, the american railroads face forward to the future with defining faith in the fundamentals of democracy. the railroads will continue to serve the american people along proven pathway to progress and ever greater prosperity. announcer: you can view this

this photograph from the indian treaty room which is in the eisenhower executive office building adjacent to the white house. the president signing hr 195 which keeps the government in operation through february 8. this from the chicago tribune. a team of washington post reporters published on the chicago website. let me read to part of what robert custer and his team are reporting. "from the outset, there was a battle of wills. democrats realized they had lost wednesday morning. just of the senate floor, a group of vulnerable democrats told their leader chuck schumer that their cost of the effort to protect the dreamers from deportation was rapidly escalating. it could imperil what was otherwise a promising outlook in november's midterm election and with it, the democrats hope of ending their exile from power. of the shutdown heading into the third day they were feeling the heat and finding it hard to control the messaging war. voters were getting republican robo calls saying democrats had prioritized in illegal immigrants over american citizens. the democrats decided to take a deal they

guest: i could have gone back to eisenhower in the book.ne of the things that shocks me nobody beat me to this book. it's really extraordinary when you think about it. nobody what looked at this history in quite this way before. you could go back to sherman adams who was the civilian version of dwight eisenhower's army chief of staff. he was famously known as the noman. it was a gruff, tough gatekeeper. i chose holderman. he took it to another level. he and nixon were obsessed with trying to get this right. holderman became nixon's famous words, the lord high executioner. he became the guy who was the gatekeeper. he was the broker of information. he was in charge of communications. he executed the president's agenda. the fascinating part thing about it is that holderman who wrote this template for the modern white house chief failed in the end spectacularly to speak truth to power during watergate. which was of course, richard nixon's downfall. host: we'll take calls now for chris whipple. before we go to calls. you said type of book hasn't

eisenhower. in fact, i see very significant parallels between eisenhower and mckinley, you know? fred greenstein wrote the book about how eisenhower managed from the shadows and who managed by indirection and people thought that he was sort of bumbling and when he didn't want to explain something, he would become inarticulate. and everyone said, you know, especially stevenson backers would say this guy can't even express himself, but it was all with a purpose. and i think that that was somewhat the way mckinley operated. is so i think that those two people are really quite similar. sir. >> two unrelated request questions. the first is you mentioned mckinley's relationship to imperial itch or empire. -- imperialism or empire. william james, a harvard professor, was strongly against imperialism. could you say something about mckinley and how he reacted to that criticism on imperialism, and the other question was about his assassination. could you say just a word about that? >> well, yes, indeed, there was a very strong anti-imperialist wave of sentiment that emerged in america. mar

the eisenhower plan was get every city in russia or i should say the ussr and china. the concept was a sino-soviet lock although as we were saying earlier 59, 60, 61 the intelligent people knew there was a growing split. anyway he was going to hit every city simultaneously. >> do you have the energy for some questions? >> sure. >> 86 years old. we will take questions. >> if you have a question come up along this site can speak into the microphone. thanks. >> he asked if you had any jokes. >> well, yes. [laughter] you mentioned the title here earlier. we were talking about how i came to the title. let me repeat it again because my editors here. my son revealed to me that looms very, very good the british part of it which is their main base published harry potter and that sounded very good. i said well that gives me my title harry potter and the doomsday machine. [laughter] by j.k. rowling. i don't even have to add my name on the cover and they informed me their legal department frowned on it. >> if all of you could get your friends to buy a copy we will help end the ma

that i would like to give you and that is eisenhower, this is a person i could eisenhower's son, hadthe privilege to know him. he laid out very carefully and very objectively the case that the failures after the fighting to come together internationally and at that moment in history after the carnage and suffering all over europe to put together something that would help for close -- thank you so much. for close and a similar strife like this and he said unfortunately it just wasn't done and i will come back to one or two aspects of that. as a consequence a mere 23 years since the armistice we were right back into world war ii. some of the reasons for that were the very serious and failing health of president wilson. i must say i'm a politician and i studied politics all my life. it was fascinating to go back to read a lot of the things that wilson had tried to do and the subject today are the 14 points. surrounding the 14 points was the league of nations. and the fact that we were going to enter a treaty and we have this opportunity. we had shown the world the somewhat inconsequenti

>> i would say eisenhower, in fact, i see -- very significant parallel between eisenhower and mckinley greene seen wrote the book called hidden hand presidency about how eisenhower managed from the shadows and who managed by indirection and people thought that he was bubbling and he didn't want to explain something he would become inarticulate and everyone said, especially stevenson backers would say this guy -- can't even express himself. but it was all -- with a purpose. and i think that that is somewhat the way mckinley operated so i think those two people are quite similar. >> sir. >> for the questions first is -- you mentioned mckinley -- real relationship to imperialism or empire in 1898 there was an anti-imperialist league william james harvard professor was strongly gifted imperialism many thinking you say something about mckinley and how he reacted to that criticism. on imperialism, and then the other question was about his assassination buzz he started to learn about that. >> well, yes indeed there was a very strong anti-imperialist way of sentiment merge in america mark twai

the communications might be out, this was true elsewhere or eisenhower was concerned that he had had a heart attack. he had a stroke at that point and in case of presidential incapacitation, you let them have their own authority. to this day, we've been hearing discussions over the last month, does the president have the authority, can anybody stop him, by the way. our current president for some reason this question has arisen. people are worried. can he do this? the answer is no, they can't stop him. nobody can with authority or constitutional or legal, it can't be stopped if he says to go, they may hesitate under the circumstances they may say not now or we don't think it's a good idea but if he insists , there's no question it will be done, it can be done. that is the case now but what people have asked is how many other people can launch? the president has said over over in the last few weeks has sole authority with the implication he has the sole ability to launch. as if for example there was a combination or locks that only the president had. now, there are lots on the weapons

in one hundred forty four water among persuaded eisenhower to delay the d.-day landings by showing how the tide was shifting on the normandy beaches. now it fell to monk and his men to. leeks to interpret bears we have the same interests there are no russians and there were no americans there was no cia and no g.r. you know we were we were together at that moment i will never forget that moment. the joint work between russians and americans especially in the arctic provided crucial data that required analysis to assess its meaning for climate change. in one hundred forty four walter among persuaded eisenhower to delay the d.-day landings by showing how the tide was shifting on the moment the beaches. now it felt a monk and his medina colleagues to interpret the data flowing from the american russian collaboration the arctic is changing more quickly than any of a region and of course greenland at this time is the principal contributor to global sea level rise. the estimate is steady for all of it in and three places would melt it would add nine meters of kroe

served under eisenhower and macarthur. he was in vietnam. he just passed away. we republished his interview. interesting story about general rouny we had a visiting proffer at west point who was working on a book on ataturk. i interviewed rouny and he said he met ataturk when he was a college student. he met him in turkey and wanted to interview him and he said ataturk spent an hour and a half asking him questions. so i got general rouny's phone number and passed it on to the proffer and the professor who was researching ataturk got to talk to general rouny about his personal experience meeting him. that was fabulous. we interviewed this woman, sun moon born as the korean war started. her parents were separated by war. her father was in a sell knar in south korea and her mother in northern korea. and the family was separated and there was a 4-year-old girl. and when sun moom turned four the mother decided to carry her two children south out of north korea and try to find her husband. middle of winter she had to cross a frozen river and try to find food and sold

in korea, served under both eisenhower and mcarthur. he was in vietnam and he just passed away. so we republished his interview. interesting story about general rowny, we had a visiting professor at west point who was working on a book and i had just interview rowny and i said general rowny met him when he was a college student. he was over in europe, he went to turkey, met at tirk, wanted to interview and, and said attirk spent an hour and a half answering him questions. i got his phone number, passed it off to the professor and the professor who was researching attirk got to talk to general rowny about his personal experiences meeting him. that was fabulous. we interviewed this one, sung yun was her name. she was born once the korean war started. her parents were separated. her father was down in southern korea. her mother was up in northern korea. the family was separated. there was a 4-year-old girl and when sun yun turned 4 years old, the mother decided to carry her two children south out of north korea and try to find her husband. middle of winter. she had to cross a froze

and a personal friend of president eisenhower. they were not afraid to stand up but then to say he wanted to reduce the size of the south vietnamese army. they thought this was the dumbest idea imaginable. there is no civilian capacity and those even our larger army. and lightning joe collins was that stereo typical four-star general. and not a man of small ego. >> and that ultimately takes over in korea. >> and a personal friend of eisenhower. to say im here is a personal representative that my decision is final and then he says i'm here's the personal representative of the american people they heard what you were saying they would disagree as you walked out of the room and he did not get fired amazingly make that is my point. he made it at two stars that is remarkable. that would not happen today. [laughter] so i made sure i had the president in my corner to be a subordinate but with that strategy for vietnam. >> with all these areas vacated with the counterinsurgency she for how the vietnamese army will go control those areas a

i think we have to go back to eisenhower to rid ourselves of the military-industrial complex because all that does is create niche and worship with the warmonger. isis and al qaeda i see them as monsters but we have done more to kiss off the middle east than anybody. the british started in modern times the russians tried it know we try it and still lack success. when will we learn by example to stay out? with a religious dictatorship. so who are we, as challenged as we are economically looking at the growing spread of the next class of rumors if you want to challenge that then maybe we will not be funding the black or brown kids to go to school and return the blue caller economy back to this country so people can start making money again. and they can to send their kids to college if that is what is paid out to the defense department. sideways into scholastic benefits with collegiate assistance to poor welfare assistance and college. we have the money. let's learn how to spend it b-1 b-17. [applause] how long do we keep going? as long as there are questions i will answer. >> it is a

highly strategic and will is acute project, it was a partnership with the governor of new york with eisenhowergaycratic ends to make marriage legal in new york which for golden state centers help and -- senator'sblican state help. >> what gives you pleasure outside of investing? >> i am a musician, a plate piano and keyboards. play piano and keyboards. i have been in a number of amateur bands. i play with musicians now. >> did you take lessons when you're young? when i was 10 years old and started becoming interested in playing rock and blues and honky-tonk piano when i was 11 years old. i have been in miggy bands and blues bands and rock bands. because a lot of fun most of my family are musicians and so we have a family banned so we had a guitar player, a saxophone player, a drummer. >> what would you like to see as the headline of what you have accomplished in your life? he tried to make a difference, he protected a lot of people's capital over a long. of time. he was steady, reliable. >> a lot of people are not really happy, you seem like a happy person, would you say you are happy with wha