he ended up going to west point, which is fine with him. again, he wants that college education, and he wants to continue playing sports. he goes to west point in 1911 and indeed becomes a football star and in fact, started to gain a lot of national attention. plays in a game against the famous jim thorpe, carlisle school, he was on the verge of being a star when he suffers a really catastrophic knee injury in the game against tufts university, and that's basically the end of his athletic career, nothing he could fix at the time, and it was probably a torn acl or something along those lines that are fairly routine now, but it was enough to end his athletic career, and almost cost him his commission. and in fact, he could not join the cavalry because his knee could not take mounting and dismounting a horse, but he did make it through west point academically. he was kind of mid win, middle of the class, he had a high number of demerits, a lot of things, of course minor infractions but he accumulated an awful lot of him. his best scores were i

again, the idea that you are teaching recruits at west point is quite amazing. i mean, the wiki leagues uncovered so many cables that arguably support fees is in the later part of this book. because obviously wiki likes goes back a number of years decades and julian assigns is being tortured here in london, according to the united stations. you're safely walking around the streets of the united states. yeah, well i mean, what do you say about what west point and teaching it there, i think is important. i mean, i say in the prologue, to this book, i was on paper, highly regarded officer, right, fairly high regarded, i had good scores, i done went to west point out a good combat record. so i was a prime candidate to go back and teach, which is pretty selective thing. but what they can't measure is that i just come out of tours. i no longer believed that i spent all my time in those wars and after ending grad school studying the back story to this. and at the point when i got to west point to teach, i felt it would be literally obscene, grotesque not to tell the tr

ike's just out of west point. he goes to ft. sam houston in san antonio, texas, which is still there. and he meets mamie geneva dowd. mamie careful from a wealthy denver family. in fact her father had become a millionaire, still in his 40s, thanks to the meat packing business in iowa in the 19th century back when a millionaire really meant something, so really immense wealth for the time. lived in denver, as i said, but they would spend their winters in san antonio where it was a good deal warmer. the two met not long after ike's arrival in the fall of 1915. and by valentine's day, 1916, were engaged and then married on july 1, 1916. the war also affected their plans, as they did harry and bess, in that rather than waiting, the eisenhowers decide to speed up their plans, and so they got married fairly soon. but of course it was a very good and enduring marriage and very successful partnership. next picture, please. of course there is that war. and as sam said, harry truman is the only president to have served in combat in world

he did it make it through west point academically. he was kind of midland through the middle of the class. he had a very high number of the merits. a lot of things, minor infractions, but he accumulated enough a lot of them. his best scores were in english mathematics, and in fact he created some solutions to have problems that became the school solutions. the no, history did not like west point rote memorization approach to history, and lost this boyhood love that he had, which was later rekindled by an officer who was influential in his life. next slide, please? ike and me became such a famous pair. i got out of west point and he goes to fort same houston which is in san antonio texas. which is still there, he meets mamie geneva dowd. she came from a wealthy denver family. in fact her father had become a millionaire still in his forties thanks to the meatpacking business in iowa in the 19th century when a billionaire really meant something. really immense wealth at the time. lived in denver, as i said. they would spend their winters

very quickly west point on the travel story. with that| point on the travel story. rd in parliament. what did you make of that? a lot of people say this was a business decision. t that? a lot of people say this was a business decision.— business decision. i think it is cufious business decision. i think it is curious because _ business decision. i think it is curious because if _ business decision. i think it is curious because if you - business decision. i think it is curious because if you think l business decision. i think it is l curious because if you think too business decision. i think it is - curious because if you think too far back to how long it took the government to put india on the red west if you think back to really when the delta variant took off in this country and in pakistan was on a longer time than what india was put on and i think there was a compelling case when you look at those rates that india should have been put on much sooner so i think you can if it was the government prioritising things in terms of diplomatic relations and you can read

he is going to angle to be placed at west point. so west point, before it's a military academy, with as a fort. washington is sort of shocked by this because he knows arnold wants to fight in battle, why does he want an outpost? but he agrees. >> a little light cap. arnold is furious. his last protector, washington, betrayed him. america has offended his honor. he is lost to all. so he's going to plot to make a daring change to defect the british. he's going to angle to be placed at west point. before it's a military academy, it was a fort. and washington sort of shocked by this because he knows arnold wants to fight in battle. why does he want an outpost? but he agrees. and west point is crucial for this right here. and it's all on the hudson. and what that is is literally a chain. a big thick chain, about, like, this thick, that just stretches across the hudson river. what do you think it's meant to do? >> keep out ships. >> keep out ships. literally tear the hulls open. would it work? what do you think? >> i would say no. >> anyo

west point. they are all sort of interconnected to some degree. but i don't believe that he had any specific relations with them. >> okay. >> i know somebody is going to tell me i'm wrong on that, and i would like to learn. if i am wrong, i would like to learn. >> well, we definitely have some knowledgeable fact checkers. we have learned that doing this program as you can imagine. >> i am open and willing for information. >> terrific. what about his relationship with douglas macarthur? can you comment on that? >> doug macarthur. that was a -- so i think maybe what i'll do is talk about ike. ike was a humble man who was not particularly showy or ostentatious. so those two men were really just sort of opposite ends of the spectrum for humans. and so they, of course, had to work together through their military career, but just their personalities were vastly different. >> sure. we're almost -- we're almost out of time here. i did want to give you a chance to see if there was -- are there any other t

>> well, his high school yearbook, he graduated from west point in 1915. he was described as big as life and twice as natural. and i have to say that really just beautifully summarized his personality. what a big figure, i mean, in every conceivable way and what a smile. so i must say that in writing "how ike led" i knew about the decisions, of course. but then for the first time in my life i have put it together with what i know about him as a person and i think the thing that's just extraordinary is how he managed some of the most consequential decisions of the 20th century and kept his calm. we would have -- i discovered that occasions when we were getting together with our grandparents overlapped with major crises in the civil rights movement. so all of those things come together to make me realize that actually self-discipline was something that he exercised well, but he was always optimistic and given the dark things he saw during world war ii, i'm surprised in retrospect he could keep his optimistic center at all times. finally, let me say, he had a

will have military success on the battlefield and not going to west point doesn't mean you will be alure there's more than that but trouble starts after the battle of fredericksburg at that point it performed well but didn't get support from another general and david bernie and then sickles becomes part of the clinic and i am convinced the friction between meade and officers of the third core exist after the battle of fredericksburg so you have that dynamic and me being socially excluded from the parties and then at the battle chancellor's field will there was a dispute between hooker and generals when they start pulling all of the generals did you want to move forward? sickles supports his buddy hooker but meade says he did not favor a withdrawal but they put them in the camp of favoring one. that there was a debate going on in that with the army of the potomac almost after every major come those seeds are planned heard on —- planted in you see this june 29th and then but from needs perspective he has i guy commanding that he really doesn't like and probably doesn't trust in his rea

west point. he was injured. he continued to coach football at his different posts around the country. in this slide we can see eisenhower and his first duty station at fourth sam houston where he met his beloved mamie. eisenhower and mamie sparked as soon as they met each other. but mamie -- she already had dates scheduled. courting was different back then. she was on a date with a very smart fellow. he used to hang out with mamie's parents. next slide please. the little image, the little shield shaped box is what i believe to be our most unique artifact. that is the piece of their wedding cake. yes. their wedding cake. if we move further into the exhibit, for each gallery you enter there's an introductory panel much like this with a big image of eisenhower. there is also a quote on each introductory panel. we felt as though big mamie and ike really could tell their own story and we pulled out quotes and put them all throughout the galleries so that they can tell their own stories. we leaned on t

to meet with arnold to go over the fortifications at west point. arnold is absent. he's gone. washington is trying to figure out why isn't he here exploring the earthworks with me? something is amiss. it's already clear that arnold is going to escape on the aptly named "hms vulture." a great one for traitor and hamilton decide, the quick-thinking army that he must prepare the army for a possible counterattack. first he plans to capture armond himself. he jumps on horseback with the aforementioned james mchenry and goal crop down the east back down the hudson to verplank's ferry. obviously that's a hapless mission. they do not capture arnold, but right after that he writes of this attempt to george washington, his boss, and he tells him he's also planning on writing momentarily to general green and colonel megs. he write to general green enxampd in new york 30 miles south of west point and also to colonel return megs, healed of the light infantry area and if they respond in the area that will save west point and george washington and the rest of the

dan is a west point graduate who was a u.s. army infantry platoon leader in afghanistan in 2009.ticle he wrote, quote, the awful scenes we are now witnessing were inevitable. inevitable is the same word that the republican white house press secretary used in 1975 to describe the fall of saigon and the fran sick, chaotic final days of the american evacuation from vietnam, inevitable. the day after the final helicopter left vietnam when the white house press secretary was asked how many people were evacuated, he said, quote, there is no complete count of the number of people we were able to evacuate. no complete count. that was the official white house count. no complete count. press secretary said, quote, as many were evacuated as was realistically possible, and everyone knew that thousands of people were left behind. and everyone knew there was nothing we could do about that because the way we evacuate from a war that we lose is not up to us. it is up to the people who are shooting at us or choosing not to shoot at us as the taliban have chosen so far. in his washington post arti

certainly going to west point changed much of that. you saw a wonderful picture of him in high school. >> you mentioned they were a very religious family, pacifist. his mother ida was a midnight, right? >> she was. this was a sub group of men a night church, they were called river brethren. it was a large community that left from pennsylvania and went to abilene, kansas in the late 1800s. >> must have been quite the statement for ike. you've told me i can call him like, i don't want to be disrespectful, four ike to come from this background and go to a military academy. tell us about that trajectory how he rose to the ranks of the u.s. armed forces. >> the eisenhower family were farming people, and my great-grandfather, david jacob eisenhower, did not want to be a farmer and tried at and business which wasn't terribly successful, so he had a modest job at the abilene creamery. they couldn't afford to put kids through college. i could put his older brother through college but then went to west point because of the free education. i thin

the me the west point professional against sickles the untrained amateur. that's what you kind of hear and like is that some sort of excuse for the fiasco that they both go through on july 2nd 1863. well, you know being from west point doesn't guarantee that you're gonna have military success on the battlefield and frankly not going to west point doesn't guarantee that you're going to be a failure. there's more to the relationship than that at least for these two particular guys. it means case troubles starts after the battle of fredericksburg in december of 62 me at that time. it actually performed well, but didn't get support from another third chord general by the name of david bernie and david burney who will serve as a division commander under sickles becomes part of physicals click and i'm convinced that sort of the friction between mead and the officers of the third corps really exists after the battle of fredericksburg. so you have that dynamic going on you have needs sort of being socially excluded from the parties going on and then after the battl

to meet with hamilton, i mean arnold rather to go over the fortifications at west point. arnold is absent. he's gone. washington is trying to figure out why isn't he here? something's amiss. now it's very clear that arnold has already decided he's going to escape on the aptly named h.m.s. vulture. a great one for a traitor, and hamilton decides immediately the quick thinking officer that he is that he must prepare the army for a possible counterattack. first he attempts to capture arnold himself. he jumps on horseback with the aforementioned james mchenry and they gallop for 12 miles along the hudson. that is a hapless mission. they do not capture arnold. but right after that he writes of this attempt to george washington his boss and he plans on writing momentarily to general green and colonel megs. he writes to general green 30 miles south of west point and also to colonel return megs of the light infantry regiment. they both could quickly respond to the area that would save not only west point but george washington and the rest of headquarters. here is hamilton's lette

and during after he gets out of west point he goes into the army the early army days. he's bounced around from he starts out at fort sam houston and then world war i starts and he's bounced around for posting the posting it lot of training. and now he's exposed to not only men that were educated. as we're most of these most of the students at west point. he's entered to uneducated. he's an introduced to all all and social aspects. of the young men age group of the early manhood age group the guys that were volunteering and and being drafted for the war after the war he experiences. the same thing but what the convoy across the united states 1919 he experiences. finding a whole new regions of the us that he had been to and he's not talking to boys that are men that are in his same age group that had the same military background or anything like that. these are the common people that are coming out to meet this impressive convoy to the united states, and it's not that he just drives why in waves he does stop he does talk to them. a you know, so they can have the speed of

for the military academy at west point.t american has begun his march into history as a cadet on the plain at west point. eisenhower was graduated from the military academy in 1915 and commissioned to second lieutenant of infantry. a new phase of life was beginning. in the summer of 1916 as a newly promoted first lieutenant stationed at fort sam houston, texas, he married mamie geneva dowd of denver. events in europe were forging a new phase of life for the entire world. world war i gave many a future general his first experience with combat. when young eisenhower was not among them. world war i brought him instead command of a tank training center at gettysburg, pennsylvania, where he prepared troops at the new tank corps for overseas duty. his performance won for him the distinguished service medal, but before he was able to get to europe the war ended. in the late 1920s after graduation from the command and general staff school major dwight d. eisenhower was assigned to france to prepare a guidebook on american battlefie

west. the major points of contention still divided the u.s. and the soviet union, the geneva spirit did allow for a rise in diplomatic, cultural and economic exchanges which peaked with the 1959 soviet premier krushchev to the united states. eisenhower and krushchev were never close, but they did engage in many private conversations that were attended by only one translator. ike preferred this style of meeting. ike preferred to have as few people as possible when discussing relations with world leaders because he felt that it allowed the leaders to be more honest and open if there were less ears listening to them. the meetings that ike and khruschchev held at camp david and in washington, d.c. did further thaw u.s. relations with the soviet union. they brought them closer to an agreement on the disposition of west ber minute. and when khruschchev finally departed washington, d.c. for moscow, he implied to eisenhower that the personal relationship between the two would prove helpful in approaching their mutual disagreements. now, eisenhower als

and my father-in-law was a graduate of west point.and i give and then award at the graduation each year. and these are poignant these letters. he writes to washington from new york, november 28th. sir enclosed a copy of the letter which i've written to the secretary of war. on the subject of a but military academy. washington replied some december 12th, he dies two days later. he writes to hamilton, sir i have julie received your letter of the 28th, in closing a copy of what you had written to the secretary of war on the subject of a military academy. establishment of the institution of this kind, has never been considered by me as an object of primary importance to this country. but while i was in the chair of government, being president that is, but i recommended it in my public speeches to the attention of the legislature. but i never undertook to go into detail into the organization of such an academy. leaving this task to others whose pursuits in the tasks of science and such institutions have better qualified them for the execut

begun his march into history on the plane at west point.hower graduated from the military academy in 1915, second lieutenant at infantry. a new phase of life was beginning. and in the summer of 1916, as a newly-promoted first lieutenant, stationed at port sam houston in texas, he married mamie doud of denver. [noise] he advance in europe, forging a new life for the entire world. world war i gave the new general his first experience with combat. but young eisenhower was not among them. world war i brought him instead commands of a tank training center at gettysburg pennsylvania, where he prepared a new tank corps for overseas duty. his performance won him the distinguished service medal. but before he was able to get to europe, the war ended. and the late 19 twenties, after graduation from the command and general staff school, major dwight eisenhower was assigned to france to prepare a guidebook on american battlefields in europe. it was his first direct experience with that continent. with the thirties came other signs. service under genera

military academy at west point. now let's hear from robert watson. thank you for joining us today. >> hello everyone. i'm robert watson. talk about my latest book "george washington's final battle" the epic struggle to build a capital city and a nation. virtually any american school child knows that george washington was heroic and stoic. he was a great and courageous commander on the battlefield and of course one of our greatest presidents who through his every action and inaction everything he said or didn't say pretty much carved out the precedence for the presidency but what we don't always know is that george washington had another side to him. it he could be a visionary and a dreamer and he also could be a political player and political chess mask. americans love their capital city. a spacious grand boulevard the memorials and the monuments the majestic government buildings and the tree-lined mall. very few americans know the story of how the capitol city came to be an almost didn't come to be and that's why we are here today to talk about it.

not too far today from fdr's hyde park or west point, anybody's been there. so the main battle of the revolutionary war was about of yorktown which was september and october 1781. after yorktown that would be the last major battle of the war. after yorktown for about two years there was what we could call a cold war. the british hunker down in new york city. george washington and the americans went up the river to newburgh which you see writer in my slides, and for almost two years they just hunker down in this cold war. it would be longest headquarters but a new type of challenge emerged. that was the challenge of boredom. without fighting the army had not been paid. they were hungry, bitterly cold winter after another bitterly cold winter, and washington was worried that the army would fall apart just as we are ready to seize victory in the revolutionary war. so go ahead and go to the next slide. so what happened in his images of newburgh? in march of 1783, on march 10, and the war would end up following fall. on march 10 at 1783 there was there was an unsi

military academy at west point. now let's hear from robert watson.nk you for joining us today. >> hello everyone, i'm robert watson here to talk about my latest book, "george washington's final battle". the epic struggle to build a capital city in the nation, so virtually any american schoolchild knows that george washington was a relic and stoic. he was a great and courageous commander on the banner filled and of course one of our greatest presidents who through his every action and inaction everything he said and didn't say pretty much carved out the precedents for the presidency but what we don't always know that george washington had another side and this is missed in history. it could be a visionary and a dreamer and he could also be a political player not-- by the same token almost all americans have been to our capital city, americans love their capital city. its spacious boulevards with memorials and monuments, majestic government buildings to tree-lined mall, but very few americans of the story of how the capital city came to be and almost d

this from december of two thousand nine, then president barack obama speaking to me cadets at west point, announcing 30,000 additional troops into afghanistan at that time. this is what the president had to say. [video clip] >> afghanistan is not lost. for several years, it has moved backwards. there is no imminent threat of the government being overthrown but the taliban have gained momentum. al qaeda has not reemerged in afghanistan in the same numbers as before 9/11 but retain their safe havens along the border. our forces lack the support they need to effectively train and partner with afghan security forces and better secure the population. our new commander in afghanistan has reported the security situation is more serious than he anticipated. the status quo is not sustainable. as cadets, you volunteered for service during this time of danger. some of you fought in afghanistan. some of you will deploy their -- there. as your commander in chief, iou a mission that is clearly defined and worthy of your service. that is why after the afghan voting was completed i insisted on a thoroug

when my cousin johnny went to west point before being shipped off to vietnam and never coming back, west point didn't teach him how to lose a war and exit a country gracefully. west point still does not have a close on how to successfully and honorably exit a war that the american military loses. no one knows how to do that. it is not up to us how orderly the american exit from afghanistan is, that is entirely up to the taliban now. david's brilliant book "the best and the brightest" told the story how the best and brightest minds from the ivy league and american business and foreign policy establishment were infected with the delusion during the vietnam war they could manage everything. that delusion is alive tonight and many of the best and the brightest in the american press core who seem to believe that the american military knows how to do things that it has never successfully done in its history. if you are outraged with what you are seeing in afghanistan tonight, may it not be the end of the war that outrages you but war itself. if you oppose what you're seeing in afghanistan toni

deterrent truman presidential library and museum and the holocaust museum us military academy at west pointso now let's hear from mr. watson thank you for joining us today. >> but what you can see in my slide in for almost two years they just hunker down. it would be washington's longest headquarters but a new type of challenge emerged in it was the challenge of board. the army had not been paid they were hungry. and just as we were ready to seize victory on —- victory in the revolutionary war. march 1783 an unsigned letter circulated. but washington was alarmed to say the least. and that the new insurrection was coming from inside his own headquarters. but then the large building of the temple with that conspiracy in washington decided to respond and instead of washington being there early and it was punctual he comes one minute late and in from the back door and walks in from horatio gates and washington demands that they surrender the stage and then there is a two-part speech and when he explodes the patience and fortitude and the long sufferings of this army so washington is saying they

in the west point chapel is gothic and gray granite monstrosity doesn't look like it could survive a direct nuclear blast and look like it was built in 18 century and it looks like it represents the sky argued tradition, strength connection with the land and on and on the navy chapel in annapolis looks like it's out of italy grand glass and marble and a huge dome and and then the navy has this grandiose international vision they go all around the world. they are the most secure branch no one can touch them with these fast ships. that is the navy. that somebody has rubbed the grass on the church every way before services. that is the navy but the air force? that want to ruin it but i would encourage everybody to go on your phone and google air force academy chapel and you will see exactly what is talking about. >> is someone who did that want to second that motion was the photographs worked out. the visual display so why do you think those ideological differences show off their? >> because chapels in the traditional understanding the role it plays in the service academy where the valu

from the time he left west point. until closed of the war let me select one incident. which reveals to us as quickness of conception and readiness of execution. i refer to his famous ride in the valley of virginia. quickest thought by the glance of his eye by the power of his word by the strength of his will. he hurled back that living stream on the enemy. and snatches victory from the jaws of defeat and what you all to look at the image? that's on that screen. so this is an image that was published. in puck magazine after sheridan is the same image that's hanging on me hanging on the wall behind me. and this shows sheridan's. casket being escorted to its final resting place in arlington national cemetery and if you look closely the small little caption there at the bottom at your reads sheridan's ride. so everything even in death is coming back to this moment? october 19th 1864 at monument dedications at meetings of the grand army other the republic for decades to come. whenever people spoke of sheridan's ride. whenever they spoke of sheridan his ride always took cent

and he stated to a graduating class several years after the civil war ended at west point, he said, a general lack in the confidence of his men is in a precarious situation, it is the soldier who makes us all. as sheridan approached his army, whenever opportunities presented themselves he tried to offer some words of encouragement and some words of optimism to those soldiers. those who had been shell-shocked as a result of what had transpired that morning. if you look at the accounts of soldiers, and i'm not talking post war accounts written 25 years after the fact. i'm talking about letters and i'm talking about diaries and things that are written hours or essentially a few days after the battle. where soldiers don't have a lot of time. the soldiers are writing why the thousands. how inspirational and how much he galvanized them, how much he turned their attitudes and spirits around. corporal edwards of the 29th maine wrote simply after the battle, and i think what he writes here captures the essence of what so many union soldiers felt. and he wrote simply he wrote he rode right onto

on the floors of the mats at west point. a distinguished number of our military. just as distinguished, annmarie hordern joins us now. how is the pentagon doing this morning? annmarie: they are getting a lot of questions. i think the pentagon is trying to work through the process -- they said there will be 6000 troops on the ground. you heard from admiral kirby it is actually 5200, but they are getting people out. not at the maximum level of they are capable of. they are trying to reach up to that level. the other problem they are dealing with, and this is more of the state department, and the representative late into the administration on this, less so the military but diplomats that need to be on the ground to make sure they go through people's paperwork before they get on the flight. lisa: where are we in terms of paperwork? that was part of the issue, they cannot bring people over because of promising paperwork. annmarie: from what representative moulton said, they wanted to double it. they had 20 people on the ground. l