by Jim Newton
72 Robert Taft “blew up”: Dulles and Hagerty, conversation, April 30, 1953, White House Telephone Conversations, Jan. to April 1953, box 10, Telephone Calls Series, Dulles Papers.
73 “one of the worst days”: DDE, entry for May 1, 1953, in Diaries, p. 235.
74 Julius fell in love: Roberts, Brother, p. 40.
75 electrical engineering in early 1939: Ibid., p. 45.
76 Greenglass slept in: Ibid., p. 136.
77 “She called our bluff”: New York Times, Sept. 11, 2008 (the quotation originally appears in Sam Roberts’s mesmerizing 2001 book, The Brother. The New York Times article also was by Roberts).
78 “I consider your crime”: Kaufman’s statement appears at the conclusion of the trial record. Copies of the transcript are widely available, including at http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects
/ftrials/rosenb/ROS_TRIA.HTM.
79 freed in 1969: New York Times, Jan. 15, 1969.
80 “if anyone … believes”: Cabinet Meeting, Feb. 12, 1953, box 1, Cabinet Series, White House Office, Office of the Staff Secretary Records, 1952–61, DDEPL (handwritten notes; typed minutes contained in box 1, Cabinet Series, Whitman File).
81 pardon, commutation, or execution: Reaction was strongly in favor of commuting the Rosenbergs’ sentences and highly critical of Eisenhower for refusing to do so. One batch of telegrams tallied on Feb. 12 showed 436 opposed to Eisenhower’s action compared with 57 in favor of it. See OF 101-R, Amnesty-Pardons (1), Julius and Ethel Rosenberg folder, box 354, Official File, White House Central Files, 1953–61, DDEPL.
82 if the executions were carried out: Bedell Smith, Memorandum for the President, Rosenberg Case Statement, May 20, 1953, box 32, Administration Series, Whitman File.
83 jeopardized lives and national security: The historian Stephen Ambrose maintains that there was dissent within his cabinet over the Rosenberg case and that Ike was deeply conflicted at the prospect of allowing Ethel to be put to death. At page 182 of Ike’s Spies, for instance, Ambrose writes: “Some of Ike’s most trusted advisers told him he would have to grant a stay of execution because the nation simply could not put to death the mother of small children. Many in the Cabinet recommended clemency.” As the scholar Lori Clune has revealed, Ambrose’s statement is unsupported by cabinet records or any other documents—indeed, those documents all point in the opposite direction—and was contradicted by Brownell in a later oral history interview. Ambrose’s analysis may charitably be regarded as a mistake. At worst, it represents a fabrication.
84 “It is the woman who is [the] strong”: DDE to John Eisenhower, June 16, 1953, DDE Diary, Dec. 1952–July 1953 (2), box 3, DDE Diary Series, Whitman File.
85 “As Commander-in-Chief of the European theatre”: Ethel Rosenberg to DDE, June 16, 1953, OF 101-R, Amnesty-Pardons (1), Rosenberg folder (1), box 354, Official File, White House Central Files, 1953–61, DDEPL.
86 “hell of a mess”: June 17, 1953, call with Allen Dulles, Telephone Memoranda (excepting to or from the White House) May–June 1953 (1), box 1, Telephone Calls Series, Dulles Papers.
87 “No, I have no names”: Roberts, Brother, p. 19.
88 had begun at 8:13 p.m.: Ibid., pp. 18–20.
89 quiet, private dinner: June 19, 1953, call, Telephone Memoranda (excepting to or from the White House) May–June 1953 (1), box 1, Telephone Calls Series, Dulles Papers.
90 about their guilt: Brownell, Advising Ike, p. 245.
91 “strong possibility”: Clark to Joint Chiefs, telegram, Feb. 9, 1953, Matthews Files, Lot 33, D 413, in FRUS Korea, 1952–54, vol. 15, p. 758.
92 should nuclear weapons be deployed?: 131st NSC meeting, Feb. 11, 1953, box 4, NSC Series, Whitman File.
93 “in a special category”: Ibid. 99
94 drive out the Communist forces: Ibid.
95 effectiveness against military targets: Cutler to Wilson, memo, March 21, 1953, in FRUS 1952–54, vol. 15, p. 815, C. D. Jackson Papers.
96 in the Korean terrain: Memorandum of Substance of Discussion at a Department of State–Joint Chiefs of Staff Meeting, March 27, 1953, State-JCS Meeting, Lot 61, D 413, in FRUS Korea, 1952–54, vol. 15, p. 817.
97 to the West’s strategic advantage: Special Meeting of NSC, March 31, 1953, box 4, NSC Series, Whitman File.
98 willing to fight on: Rhee to DDE, April 9, 1953, in FRUS 1952–54, vol. 15, pp. 902–3, Whitman File.
99 “we have to ask”: Ibid.
100 “deeply disturbed” by Rhee’s threat: DDE to Rhee, April 23, 1953, in FRUS Korea, 1952–54, vol. 15, p. 929, Whitman File.
101 “Unless you are prepared”: DDE, Mandate for Change, p. 186.
102 “I guess Syngman Rhee”: Ibid., p. 186n.
103 “Danger of an atomic war”: Sherman Adams, unpublished MS, p. 286, Adams Papers. See also June 5, 1953, Cabinet Meeting notes, Cabinet Series, DDEPL; and DDE, interview with Relman “Pat” Morin, Jan. 3, 1967, pp. 23–24, box 53, 1967 Principal File, Post-presidential Papers, DDEPL.
104 full-scale offensive along the Bukhan River: Ridgway, Korean War, p. 223.
105 “We have won”: DDE, Address to the American People, April 26, 1953, APP.
106 “It was almost joy enough”: Ridgway, Korean War, p. 225.
107 since World War II: Adams, unpublished MS, p. 300.
CHAPTER 6: CONSEQUENCES
1 he so fulsomely enumerated: Henderson, oral history interview, p. 6.
2 “suddenly looking old and pathetic”: Acheson, Present at the Creation, p. 504.
3 only to faint dead away: Homa Katouzian, “Mosaddeq’s Government in Iranian History,” in Gasiorowski and Byrne, Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran, p. 4. See also Ambassador to State Department, Feb. 28, 1953, in FRUS Iran, 1952–54, vol. 10, p. 688.
4 Mossadegh was elected prime minister: Acheson, Present at the Creation, p. 503.
5 its facility in Abadan: Kinzer, All the Shah’s Men, p. 108.
6 its oil production revenue: Mary Ann Heiss, “International Boycott of Iranian Oil,” in Gasiorowski and Byrne, Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran, p. 185.
7 “where they will start trouble”: Truman’s conversations with Elsey, June 26, 1950, George M. Elsey Papers, HSTL.
8 “Back came a reply”: Acheson, Present at the Creation, p. 680.
9 only be solved by deposing him: Fakhreddin Azimi, “Unseating Mosaddeq,” in Gasiorowski and Byrne, Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran, p. 81.
10 “Not wishing to be accused”: Woodhouse, Something Ventured, p. 117.
11 “rapidly … approaching deadlock”: Ambassador to Secretary of State, Jan. 28, 1953, in FRUS Iran, 1952–54, vol. 10, p. 654.
12 “If I had $500 million”: 135th NSC Meeting, March 4, 1953, box 4, NSC Series, Whitman File.
13 “that it was not in American interests”: CIA Report, “Overthrow of Premier Mossadeq of Iran,” p. 13.
14 “the United States government had done everything”: DDE, Mandate for Change, p. 164.
15 bribe members of the Iranian Majlis: CIA Report, “Overthrow of Premier Mossadeq of Iran,” p. 28.
16 “It was cleared directly”: July 24, 1953, calls, Telephone Conversations File, Dulles Papers; also in FRUS Iran, 1952–54, vol. 10, p. 737.
17 one of the participants, Kermit Roosevelt: The deceptions of Roosevelt’s book begin with its title, Countercoup, intended to demonstrate that American actions were only taken in retaliation against a coup by Mossadegh. That is flatly false.
18 he needed a vacation: Ambassador to State Department, Feb. 25, 1953, in FRUS Iran, 1952–54, vol. 10, p. 682.
19 a vacation out of his country: Ambassador to State Department, May 30, 1953, in ibid., p. 731.
20 but it sufficed: CIA Report, “Overthrow of Premier Mossadeq of Iran,” p. 36.
21 threats to bomb homes: Ibid., p. 37.
22 “After you, Your Majesty”: Weiner, Legacy of Ashes, p. 90. See also Iraq Ambassador to State Department, Aug. 17, 1953, in FRUS Iran,
1952–54, vol. 10, pp. 746–47.
23 “The move failed”: Smith to DDE, Aug. 18, 1953, in FRUS Iran, 1952–54, vol. 10, p. 748.
24 “It was a day that”: CIA Report, “Overthrow of Premier Mossadeq of Iran,” pp. 55–58. See also Ambassador to State Department, Aug. 20, 1953, in FRUS Iran, 1952–54, vol. 10, pp. 752–55.
25 departed for Denver on the presidential plane: April 19, 1953, Presidential Appointment Books, DDEPL.
26 “I offer you my sincere felicitations”: DDE to Shah, Aug. 24, 1953, in FRUS Iran, 1952–54, vol. 10, p. 766.
27 “The things we did were ‘covert’ ”: DDE, Oct. 8, 1953, diary entry. Released to the author. Portions of this diary were released in 1981; the entire entry, including the account of Mossadegh’s overthrow, was declassified in 2009 and formally released on May 10, 2010.
28 “When we realize that in the first hours”: Ibid.
29 died before the ambulance could arrive: James St. Clair and Linda Gugin, Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson of Kentucky (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2002), p. 336.
30 graduate school cases: Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, 332 U.S. 631 (1948); Sweatt v. Painter, 329 U.S. 629 (1950); McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, 339 U.S. 637 (1950).
31 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling: Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896).
32 “We cannot conclude that the education”: Sweatt, 329 U.S. 629.
33 “impair and inhibit his ability”: McLaurin, 339 U.S. 637.
34 The Court avoided them: Sweatt, 329 U.S. 629.
35 “We have deemed it more costly”: Dennis v. United States, 341 U.S. 494 (1951).
36 in the pursuit of social change: Jeffrey D. Hockett, New Deal Justice (Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1996), p. 143.
37 first solid evidence of the existence of God: See, among other citations, Joseph L. Rauh, New Republic, Aug. 9, 1982, p. 31.
38 “The very purpose of a Bill of Rights”: West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943).
39 both sides went away bruised: Roger Newman, Hugo Black, pp. 336–37.
40 until Frankfurter finished expounding on a case: Newton, Justice for All, p. 267.
41 “efficiency, dignity and integrity”: St. Clair and Gugin, Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson of Kentucky, p. 336.
42 “advice was on the mark”: Brownell, Advising Ike, p. 164.
43 in a coded cable from Europe: Ibid., p. 165.
44 more interested in continuing in his “present post”: DDE, Mandate for Change, p. 227.
45 never mentioned that offer to his attorney general: Brownell, Advising Ike, p. 166.
46 “It was kind of a hideout”: “Conversations with Earl Warren on California Government,” oral history with Warren, p. 285.
47 “First vacancy”: Earl Warren Jr., interview with author, Nov. 25, 2003.
48 boasted to a friend that the job was his: Brownell, Advising Ike, p. 167; and Warren, interview with Bartley Cavanaugh, p. 34, Earl Warren Oral History Project.
49 “From the very beginning”: Sept. 30, 1953, news conference, APP.
50 as Warren was administered the oath: Oct. 5, 1953, entry, President’s Daily Appointments, DDEPL.
51 “To my mind, he is a statesman”: DDE to Edgar, Oct. 1, 1953, DDE Diary October 1953 (4), box 3, DDE Diary Series, Whitman File.
52 “one of the finest public servants”: New York Times, Feb. 21, 1954.
53 miss a Court reception for Justice Burton: May 5, 1954, entry, Phone Calls Jan.–May 1954 (1), box 5, DDE Diary Series. Also Nov. 3, 1953, entry, DDE Diary July–Dec. 1953, Whitman File.
54 “No greater honor”: Warren to DDE, note (handwritten and typed), March 19, 1954, DDE Diary March 1954 (2), box 6, DDE Diary Series, Whitman File.
55 “my great friend”: DDE, entry for July 24, 1953, in Diaries, p. 246.
56 “Improvement in race relations”: Ibid.
57 “I believe that federal law”: Ibid., pp. 246–47.
58 he hoped they could put it off until the next administration: DDE and Brownell, conversation, Jan. 25, 1954, Phone Calls Jan.–May 1954 (3), box 5, DDE Diary Series, Whitman File.
59 “Anything that affects”: DDE to Bradford Chynoweth, July 13, 1954, Brigadier General Chynoweth folder, box 5, Name Series, Whitman File.
60 a meeting of a president’s cabinet: Max Rabb to DDE, note, Aug. 16, 1954, box 3, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
61 “My dad was not a social reformer”: John Eisenhower, interview with author, Oct. 7, 2010.
62 “Iran was quiet—and still free”: DDE, Mandate for Change, pp. 164 and 166.
CHAPTER 7: SECURITY
1 “If I could have foreseen”: DDE, Mandate for Change, p. 318.
2 and headed home: Lattimore, Ordeal by Slander, pp. 2–27.
3 “placed too much stress”: Ibid., p. 68.
4 “To break the grip of fear”: Ibid., p. 253.
5 it supplied grist for McCarthy: Owen Lattimore, Sept. 8, 1949, FBI File 100–1630 (FOIA).
6 vote of confidence in “our crusade”: DDE to McCarthy, Nov. 12, 1952, Joseph McCarthy folder, box 22, Name Series, Whitman File.
7 “wanted all the help”: Dulles and McCarthy, conversation, Jan. 28, 1953, Telephone Memoranda (excluding to or from the White House), Jan.–April 1953 (4), box 1, Telephone Calls Series, Dulles Papers.
8 during Dulles’s brief Senate tenure: Sokolsky to Dulles, Sept. 14, 1949, John Foster Dulles folder, box 45, Sokolsky Papers. See also Sokolsky’s testimony to the Special Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations, April 23, 1954.
9 refused to employ them: Dulles to Norman Thomas, Sept. 8, 1953, White House Correspondence (2), box 1, White House Memoranda Series, Dulles Papers.
10 “it would be a serious blow”: Adams, Firsthand Report, p. 94.
11 the would-be ambassador: Dulles and Adams, conversation, March 13, 1953, White House Telephone Conversations, Jan.–April 1953, box 10, Telephone Calls Series, Dulles Papers.
12 “not the slightest intention of withdrawing”: Dulles and DDE, conversation and accompanying memo, March 16, 1953, White House Telephone Conversations, Jan.–April 1953, box 10, Telephone Calls Series, Dulles Papers.
13 “part of the Acheson betrayal team”: McCarthy speech to Senate, March 25, 1953, Security Matters—McLeod, Scott (Security Admin.)—Bohlen (2) folder, box 8, White House Memoranda Series, Dulles Papers.
14 “Senator McCarthy is … so anxious”: DDE, Diaries, pp. 233–34.
15 “a pimple on the path of progress”: DDE and Leonard Hall, phone conversation, March 8, 1954, referred to in fn. 2, doc. 762, HP.
16 “I despise them”: DDE to Paul Helms, March 9, 1954, DDE Diary March 1954 (4), box 6, Diary Series, Whitman File.
17 “embarrassment for the administration”: DDE to Virgil Pinkley, March 11, 1954, doc. 772, HP.
18 American libraries abroad: Wicker, Shooting Star, p. 130.
19 “I think you are wrong about that”: Memorandum for the Archives, June 15, 1953, Richard Morin Papers, Rauner Library, Dartmouth College.
20 “if you have anything to say”: Proskauer to John Dickey, Oct. 30, 1967, Morin Papers. Proskauer’s precise quotation is rendered slightly differently in various accounts. The language here comes from his letter to Dickey.
21 “Don’t join the book burners”: Dartmouth College transcript, Rauner Library.
22 “You have double thanks”: Memorandum for the Archives, June 15, 1953, Morin Papers.
23 “since he entered public life”: Reprinted in the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, July 1953.
24 “but to the general proposition”: Memorandum of Conversation with the President, June 15, 1953, White House Correspondence (3), box 1, White House Memoranda Series, Dulles Papers.
25 “buy or handle books”: Ibid.
26 discuss a public statement: DDE, Mandate for Change, pp. 143–44; see also 135th NSC Meeting, March 4, 1953, box 4, NSC Series
, Whitman File.
27 directly to the Soviet people: 135th NSC Meeting.
28 “It was certainly a gamble”: Ibid.
29 “They [the Russian people] are the children”: Statement by the President Concerning the Illness of Joseph Stalin, March 4, 1953, APP.
30 “Ever since 1946”: Hughes, Ordeal of Power, p. 101.
31 “We have no reliable inside intelligence”: Haines and Leggett, CIA’s Analysis of the Soviet Union, p. 35.
32 “as though the hour of decision”: 163rd NSC Meeting, Sept. 24, 1953, box 4, NSC Series, Whitman File.
33 “Global war as a defense”: Handwritten note, July 16, 1953, DDE Diary Dec. 1952–July 1953 (1), box 3, DDE Diary Series, Whitman File.
34 “to determine our own course”: 163rd NSC Meeting.
35 “not only in saving our money”: Ibid.
36 National War College: Dockrill, Eisenhower’s New-Look National Security Policy, p. 33.
37 “The only way to end the cold war is to win it”: Undated memo (Task Force C report begins at p. 24), Project Solarium (2) folder, box 39, Disaster File, White House Office, NSC Staff Papers, 1948–61, DDEPL.
38 “They would undoubtedly oppose”: Ibid.
39 “a true American Crusade”: Project Solarium, (2 folder), box 9, Subject Subseries, NSC Staff Papers, 1952–61, DDEPL.
40 “Here is what I would like to say”: Hughes, Ordeal, p. 103.
41 “I know how he feels”: These comments and the description of the speech’s drafting come from Hughes, Ordeal of Power, pp. 107–15.
42 “Those sitting close to him”: Childs, Captive Hero, p. 197.
43 “What is the Soviet Union ready to do?”: DDE, “The Chance for Peace,” April 16, 1953, APP.
44 “a remarkable effort of will”: Childs, Captive Hero, p. 197.
45 “cannot in the least contribute”: Dockrill, Eisenhower’s New-Look National Security Policy, p. 132.
46 “wider public discussion”: Medhurst, Ivie, Wander, and Scott, Cold War Rhetoric, p. 30.
47 “the rate and impact of atomic production”: Bird and Sherwin, American Prometheus, p. 451.
48 “slowly dying”: Chernus, Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace, p. 68.
49 he and Oppenheimer were at odds: Aug. 4, 1953, diary entry, box 68, C. D. Jackson Papers.
