president eisenhower's old home.er went on to indiana university finally became an international research and exchangeti board functions to ts day is a very n large educationl exchange organization have the privilege of being its president for nine years in the early 2000's. it's that effort that began in 1958 then it grew from scholarly exchanges and start involving student exchanges and teacher exchanges. pretty soon but the 1960s we had a real system by which people wanting to study the soviet union and thatnt was a deeply important national priority i may add this by the acts that designate the study of washington as a national security priority gave grants for the study. i was welcome to be a recipient other programs i participated in. that was all but gone and the late 1950s in the eisenhower years. perhaps another element that may not get enough attention to something that eisenhower liked it very much. they would to showcase how americans live it. the corporate i would say an ambitious program called america

i am the supervisory archivist for the dwight d eisenhower presidential library. and welcome to. welcome. before we start, i want to take a moment to mention that as we gather for this program, it is also the 55th anniversary of the death of president eisenhower so i just thought before we get started to take a moment and just take a moment of remembrance for president eisenhower and his work on behalf of our country. thank you. i want to welcome you all to the eisenhower presidential library's luncheon program from march 28, 2024. this year our programming team has been waging peace, looking at ways president eisenhower sought global peace. this month we are looking at radio free europe and radio liberty. president eisenhower believed to, quote, radio free europe and the crusade for freedom are vital to success in the battle for men's minds. with that in mind, today we are pleased to welcome doctor mark pomar who is currently a senior fellow at the center for national security at the university of texas. he has taught international media at the university of texas and internatio

as many of you know, general eisenhower, president eisenhower was a critical figure in many aspects inms of peace, including, obviously, his military powers. but i would like to focus on the theme today on radio. but broadly speaking, information reaching audiences in unfriendly countries, enemy countries in some cases, and president eisenhower knew better than really anyone else that if you were going to wage a cold war and make sure that it is a peaceful cold war, not a hot cold war, but a cold, cold war. it's very important to balance your nato alliance, which he believed in very strongly. your military, defense and containment, which you felt was very strong with a program designed or programs, perhaps plural, designed to reach populations in the case of the cold war in primary early in the ussr, primarily in the soviet union and eastern europe, but also in what we then called the third world africa, asia, latin america. and he was an early proponent, as dr. guenther pointed out, of radio free europe radio liberty and in a sense he understood that. and let me just briefly describe

and eisenhower's got to solve that problem, too. so eisenhower's temperament, his ability to bring all of these disparate parts together and make it work, that's key. one more. one more. if there is one more right there. run, run, run. so i did a research project a couple of years ago about where journalist martha gellhorn, who stowed away one of the hospital ships. yeah. and laid it on. easy read. and so i'm curious to know more about the hospital ships mentioned. if i recall correctly, they felt very exposed because of their markings. and so i'm curious to know what what were the policies for hospital ships and it maintained this gentleman's question in the middle over here some christian are more about that. yeah. no that's a great because what it what the broader it imposes is how did the violence of war change what we thought as the humane protocols war things that you did by 1944 that you would not have considered in. 40 and hospital ships are one of those in the atlantic and more particularly in the pacific hospital ships wer

eisenhower here about her grandfather, president eisenhower has two very important elections as well. one in 1952, one in 1956, and the one in 52, harry truman is outgoing as the president, but of course, he did not run. and so he was not defeated by by ike in that election. but he nevertheless sort of made made pretty short work of the democratic opponent at that time. so tell us a little bit about how your grandfather went about his important campaigns in 52 and 56. yes. and i'm going to bypass you just for a second. i need to say something about carter. i was i was working on capitol hill during the time that he was running. and when he won washington got a terrible, terrible problem. the restaurants were all panicking because they did not have grits. true story. they were all scrambling to get grits in town. but anyway, back to granddad's story. he of course, he was ten years passed. world war two, which was his. probably what touched his heart more than anything was the service that he provided during world war two. and he a unique situation on on both elections in that he had th

eisenhower failed it.e hope president obama will demonstrate his compassion and decency and pass that test now. peter: michael meeropol, what were we watching? michael: rob had come up with the idea, probably about four years earlier, that based on the information we had, there were grounds for a declaration of exoneration of our parents and i agree with him. we went on a campaign, which ultimately collected 60,000 signatures. we modeled it on what the governor of massachusetts did in the sacco and venzetti case, issued a proclamation of innocence, not a pardon. we asked obama to look at the record, which we presented to him in voluminous detail, which showed that my mother was convicted on perjurous testimony. unfortunately, we never got an answer from him. we don't even know if you read our materials, but he certainly should have, because we made a hell of a case. peter: robert, earlier in this program, you mentioned this was an exciting time for the ethel rosenberg case. why? robert: well, because -- ev

i mean, one was going to call eisenhower squishy, right? no one was going to call him weak on or weak on any of those things. and so he used that to his advantage in a way that was quite effective. he was also apparently an absolutely brilliant poker. in fact, most of his demerits from west point come from playing poker. and he had to be careful because he was so good that sometimes he would like create rifts among his fellow because he would win so much money off of. so he had to occasionally, strategically lose so that he wouldn't clear them out all the time. and those are very skills if you're trying to tell if you know, your fellow diplomats are bluffing. so you know, not that i'm suggesting, but if you're going to get into diplomacy it's not a bad skill to have. as i was pointing other images, videos for this session, i was struck by the prevalence of berlin in the in the role of the and foreign policy and being a on the world stage and how many it has showed up for different reasons in some of your resources i included clips to all th

the ability to do that is the greatest strength of eisenhower brought to this operation. now, today thanks in part to steven spielberg and tom hanks, when many americans think about d-day as i hope many of them will in this 80th anniversary year, they may conjure up that bit of footage that opens up saving private ryan where they are heading towards the beach and the sea spray is flying past and it drops and out they go. i'm personally grateful for his continuing interest in the second world war. he not only is a great actor but a great supporter of the museum in new orleans where he participates and also provides a lot of support for the events such as this. so, good for him. but on the other hand, the story of d-day with a landing on omaha beach or any beach encourages the students to overlook what happened in the weeks, months and even years prior to that moment including the assembling and training of the troops, the movement of the equipment and the men across a contested ocean from the western hemisphere to britain past the german u-boat's. the construction of train

imperialism quickly takes action, wanting to solve a problem, they create new ones, they take the eisenhoweraircraft carrier off the coast of yemen and send it to saul, well korea exists, korea is right next to the people who are fighting for sovereignty. independencia, esto es. soy eduardo artes. people's republic of korea, as its name suggests, is a popular republic that was born out of a long period of resistance and anti-imperialist struggles, first against the japanese imperialist occupation, in which various popular committees also formed a resistance army, the gorillas, and then years later, after the surrender of japan, it was crowned thanks to the same independent struggle of the koreans, the people's republic on september 9, 1948, remember that: the anti-japanese resistance was carried out by a militant since he led the koreans in the struggle, which is kim and that it was not only a resistance in the northern part of the peninsula, it was of the entire peninsula. with the arrival of the american troops in the southern part of the 38th parallel, they occupied the southern part of k

they take the eisenhower aircraft carrier off the coast of yemen and send it to sony.well, korea exists. korea is right. who is an international analyst and leader of the global anti-imperialist platform, welcome gasper to black and white, nice to meet you, professor edward artis, gasper, why don't you give us a brief historical account of korean history so that we can get feel for modern korea? i mean the history of the democratic people. also formed a resistance army, the gorillas and then years later, after the surrender of japan, it was crowned thanks to the same independent struggle of the koreans, the people's republic on september 9, 1948. remember that the anti-japanese resistance was carried out by a militant, since he led the koreans in the struggle, which is kim, and that it was not only a resistance in the northern part of the peninsula, it was of the entire peninsula. with the arrival of the american troops in the southern part of the 38th parallel, they occupied the southern part of korea and placed in power singman re, who was an american citizen living

instead of the execution being delayed for months, it was going to happen that month, and later eisenhowerd clemency. it was like i was watching the execution on tv. it was that stark and horrible. peter: do you remember how you felt watching that? >> i felt that the world was ending, and i did know that my mother had written a mercy letter to eisenhower, so that evening, i kept helping -- hoping the letter would work. i went inside the house and i talked to the adults and said what happened? they wouldn't say but said we listened to every radio station. they all said the same thing. and then i knew. peter: robert meeropol, you were six. what do i remember about that day? robert: i remember playing ball with my friend outside as it got dark, and the adults all being, you know, very upset, but i learned pretty early that if i pretended i didn't understand what was going on, people didn't fuss over me, and i did not like fuss, so i just kept my head down and said nothing. and then i went to sleep. and it was not until i was young enough as a six-year-old so that -- what was death? i didn't r

governor warren tells eisenhower, "i'll deliver the delegation for you on one condition.e next chief justice of the supreme court." ike, the great war hero, shakes hands, says, "you got a deal." he wins. one year later, earl warren is the chief justice of the united states supreme court. rod wanted a political appointment from obama, and for that, he was prepared to trade obama's old senate seat, which is actually legal. otherwise, eisenhower would have gone to jail, and americans would not have "liked ike." do you see yourself as somebody who was just trying to function in perhaps an inherently corrupt but legal system, and that theoretically almost any politician could be snagged the way you were? absolutely. of course i do, except i'm giving me higher marks. because i was using that money that--that-- and that power gave me to fight an established system that served itself on the backs of the people, and when you do that, you piss a lot of people off, and they wanna get rid of you. but do you think that you're earthier about it? like, more outspoken about it? well, i w

eisenhower failed it. but we hope president obama will demonstrate his compassion and decency and pass that test now. peter: michael meeropol, what were we watching? michael: rob had come up with the idea, probably about four years earlier, that based on the information we had, there were grounds for a declaration of exoneration of our parents and i agree with him. we went on a campaign, which ultimately collected 60,000 signatures. we modeled it on what the governor of massachusetts did in the sacco and venzetti case, issued a proclamation of innocence, not a pardon. we asked obama to look at the record, which we presented to him in voluminous detail, which showed that my mother was convicted on perjurous testimony. unfortunately, we never got an answer from him. we don't even know if you read our materials, but he certainly should have, because we made a hell of a case. peter: robert, earlier in this program, you mentioned this was an exciting time for the ethel rosenberg case. why? robert: well, because

it was the 65th anniversary of when president eisenhower signing the bill that created the interstatehway system. i talked about my vision to do something just as historic, to invest in infrastructure and clean energy and so much more in rural america, to invest in all america and all americans, to propel us into the future, creating millions, i need millions of good-paying jobs. and position america to win the economic competition of the 21st century. and i am back again today to begin a series of trips and events showing the progress we have made together by investing in the america agenda. an agenda that has come to fruition over the last decade, invest in america, invest in american workers. here, i am proud to announce that my investments, that through my investments, the most significant climate-change a lot over -- and by the way, it is a $369 billion bill, we should have named it what it was, any rate, the department of agriculture is able from the legislation, to announce $7.3 billion. [applause] in grants to 16 electrical cooperatives nationwide to help rural communities tra

more is also in body meant of what president eisenhower warranty gets. right? letting people who make their money from war into our government eisenhower said don't do that america. well, when it comes to that, it doesn't get any betters. and dick, jamie, he was president of halliburton, which makes almost billions off of wars. then he became the president of the united states, wink vice president of the united states, who then pushed through a completely disastrous and unnecessary war in iraq. and his company made billions of dollars off of it. it is easily one of the worst military blunders in us history . yet this weekend, he and his daughter, endorsed vice president, come along here is good for them to have a right to. it was celebrated by democrats and by the media. as of jesus, christ himself had come down to earth and endorse ms. harris. the the jenny will be voting for commer harris. that, that's liz cheney confirming that both trainees will be voting for kala harris and that on cnn. the talking heads. they come on to talk about this. they talk about th

a lot of dispute about whether this is accurate figure. or not um, but just uh yesterday uh the eisenhower want that, many generals at the pentagon do not want this, because they don't believe the us is capable of effectively prosecuting up an expanded war, so uh, you hear tons of rumors, there's lots of contradictory reporting going on, i am sure there are lots of back channel communications happening between iran, the us. china, russia. biden gave a speech last night, i think it was, that was extraordinarily aggressive and bellicose, and he scolded and threatened china, demanded a a us nato war with russia, warned iran, but these kind of speeches are increasingly hollow, they ring hollow because because there's a question of what the us can actually do right now. right, indeed. what about that? uh what john was saying, i mean we see lot of at least uh aggressive speech coming out of the united states, whether it's the current president or the presidential candidates, the main to um, we hear lots of uh uh war rhetoric, and i mean one would ask why is that the case, because as john was exp

more is also in body meant of what president eisenhower warranty gets. right? letting people who make their money from war into our government eisenhower said, don't do that america. well, when it comes to that, it doesn't get any betters. and dick cheney, even after, as an unnecessary war in iraq and his company made billions of dollars off of it. it is easily one of the worst military blunders in us history. yet this weekend, he and his daughter endorsed vice president, come along, hair is good for them. they have a right to. it was celebrated by democrats and by the media. as of jesus, christ himself had come down to earth and endorse ms. harris. jenny will be voting for com on harris that, that's liz cheney confirming that both trainees will be voting for comma la harris . and that on cnn. the talking heads. they come on to talk about this. they talk about this guy like he's one of the greatest men in the history of my dog. listen, i'm not surprised list training. someone who will put her career on the line to do it was right. she has been a vocal critic of

march, 1945, under the direction of general eisenhower, 1100 members of the special groups using sound engineering, fake radio transmissions and even phony airfields made to the forces think there was a group of 30 times their size planning an attack 10 miles to the south along the river. at the illusion successfully diverted the germans and allowed of the 79th divisions of the army to cross the river. from there, americans and the british charged into the interior of germany and within two months, the third reich had surrendered. today we have the privilege of honoring three of those men in the 23rd who helped in that critical historic mission. private bernie bluestein, john chrisman, and private seymour newson bomb are here with us in person. [applause] i brought along a little visual aid i want to show you here. in my hand i hold the army is now declassified report detailing the contributions of the ghost army. this is a recommended reading if you can get your hands on it. it's normally housed at fort leavenworth. it was published 30 years after the end of world war ii. and here's a

to spend, dispatched its chief of staff to washington, the process chief of staff with president eisenhower. and i know radford general, apparently here for conferences on the indo china war to which the rest allocated 1w2cw dollars last year, chief topic of conversation. indo china is critical battle at the end. beautiful. a general elite called for the deployment of american bombers from the pacific fleet to safety in the end to the president dwight eisenhower and congress didn't agree to the request. the operation was never carried out the in the lowlands, the wounded li, dying, and couldn't be evacuated. soldier, lucy and the project for called, living in the dead mingle in the mount. the s thinks nothing to eat. 20 hours of nightmares. my friend was cutting half by shell. it took 2 hours for him to dial. the hottest deals hospital. doctors had to select the men they could say. dr. kalonde reported the complaints the screams, the cool was the groans, the ringing of the telephone mixed with a den outside filled my ears and the police rates. my thoughts from that movements on i wasn't sur

deployment of american bombers from the pacific fleet to safety in the end to the president dwight eisenhower and congress didn't agree to the request. the operation was never carried out the in the lowlands, the wounded lead, dying and couldn't be evacuated. soldier, lucy and the project for called, living in the dead, mingling the mount vs. things. not in suite. 20 hours of 9, as my friend was cutting half by shell, it took 2 hours for him to dial. the field hospital. doctors had to select the men they could say. dr. kalonde reported the complaints the screams, the cool was the groans, the ringing of the telephone. all mixed with a den outside filled my ears and the police rates. my thoughts from that movements on i wasn't sure whether it was night today, whether i was hungry or thirsty whether i was a live or a character from a nightmare. the odd as you thought she was great. excitement in geneva, miss redo idea should be doing was received by a friend the crown, the further delays, the home for the late enough to be on that old headquarters of the league of nations with the meats when he

but dwight eisenhower did the largest deportation ever in this country.was very big on people not coming into our country. people breaking our sealed borders. the hardest thing is exactly what you said. we have to get some very bad people out of this country. as soon as we grab perhaps -- we take a woman with two children, three children, she shouldn't be here but she's a nice woman, the children are beautiful. all of a sudden it ends up being a front page story in the liberal newspapers. you are right, it's a hard thing to do. harder than a long time ago with dwight eisenhower, nobody complained in those days we had a country that was much difference. we have no choice, we have to get the criminals out to. these are murderers, drug dealers. these are people that will take women and put them in the trunk of a car and sell them to the highest bidder, they will come across the border, human traffickers. you think of that as an ancient thing, it's almost as big as the drug trade now. you wouldn't even believe this and the reason is because of the internet's.

under the direction of general eisenhower, 1100 members of the 23rd special troops, using sound engineering, fake radio transmissions, and even phony airfields made the nazi forces -- along the rhine river. there are allusions successfully diverted the germans and allowed the 30th and 79th divisions of the ninth army to cross the rhine river. from there, americans and british changed -- charge into the interior of germany and within two months, the third reich had surrendered. today, we have the privilege of honoring three of those men who helped with that critical historic mission. private bernard bluestein , private john christman, and private seymour nussenbaum are here with us in person. i brought along a little visual aid. in my hand, i hold the now declassified report detailing the contributions of the ghost army. this will be recommended reading you can get your hands on it but it's normally housed at fort leavenworth. it was published 30 years after the end of world war ii and here is an operative line on page 51 that sort of summarizes what this was all about. rarely, if ever, has