i'm pleased to introduce jim newton, who spent so much time in abilene doing research for his biography of president eisenhower that he deserved to be an honorary citizen of kansas. jim has worked as a reporter, editor and bureau chief at "l.a. times" for more than 20 years. he is currently editor-at-large. jim now serves as a member of the times editorial board, advises on editorial matters and writes and edits for the editorial page and op-ed, including a weekly column examining policy and politics of southern california. jim has previously reported for the atlanta journal-constitution and the clerk of "the new york times" where he served as columnist james reston's a system. jim is a graduate of dartmouth college and the recipient of many local and national awards in journalism. he was part of the "l.a. times" coverage of the l.a. riots of 1992 and the earthquake in 1994, both of which one public surprises for the staff. jim is a senior fellow at ucla's school of public affairs. he is also the author of the highly acclaimed book, justice for all, earl warren and the nation he made. p

please welcome a good friend of this institution and back to kansas, jim newton. [applause] >> good evening, everyone. i just, before i start, i just want to say how pleased i am to be back here. as tim mentioned, i've spent much of the past five years here and ate about every restaurant in your town. people here have been gracious and warm to me on my many visits, and i'm most grateful. thank you very much. i want to thank the staff of this great library and museum, a number of whom are acknowledged in the book, but deserve special mention tonight. first is tim, deputy director here and a good friend, and armstrong, the ark vies of whom i was lucky to be assigned, and samantha kenner, responsible for the agrangements, and carl whob gracious to me in the long research. it is a special chooj as i learned to -- challenge as i terned to speak to people here about eisenhower. didn't he just play golf? so rather than review his presidency, i thought i'd focus in on a particular episode and relationship that stands at the interaction of my two books, his presidency, the