Eisenhower: The White House Years
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59 to grant him asylum: 414th NSC Meeting, July 23, 1959, box 11, NSC Series, Whitman File.
60 emergent Che Guevara: 432nd NSC Meeting, Jan. 14, 1960, box 12, NSC Series, Whitman File.
61 blockade Cuba: Ibid.
62 compare the Cuban leader to Hitler: 429th NSC Meeting, Dec. 16, 1959, box 12, NSC Series, Whitman File.
63 without America’s efforts being exposed: Ibid.
64 “knows absolutely nothing”: July 30, 1959, and Feb. 10, 1960, entries, Transcript of Diary, 1959–60, box 1, Kistiakowsky Papers.
65 misunderstood the basic responsibilities of his job: March 16, 1960, entry, Transcript of Diary, 1959–60, box 1, Kistiakowsky Papers.
66 as a “bum”: John Eisenhower, interview with author, Oct. 7, 2010.
67 “When you get that angry”: Ibid.
68 The United States did not need any practice: 436th NSC Meeting, March 10, 1960, box 12, NSC Series, Whitman File.
69 options before the NSC: March 10, 1960, entry, Transcript of Diary, 1959–60, box 1, Kistiakowsky Papers.
70 six of the seven best since World War II: DDE, Waging Peace, p. 455.
71 “these people must solve their own problems”: Aug. 25, 1959, news conference, APP.
72 steel in foreign markets: Memorandum on the Steel Strike, Aug. 6, 1959, Steel Strike 1959 folder, box 35, Administration Series, Whitman File.
73 “sick and tired”: Sept. 28, 1959, news conference, APP.
74 reporting back to the president: Executive Order 10843.
75 from further damage: Statement by the President, Oct. 19, 1959, APP.
76 “I cannot possibly describe”: DDE to Katherine Boyce Tupper Marshall, Oct. 16, 1959, doc. 1346, HP.
77 “until the cranberry industry”: Introduction to Cranberry Scare of 1959, by Barbara Constable, DDEPL.
78 “a deed as awful”: Life, Nov. 23, 1959.
79 “ill informed, ill advised and irresponsible”: Ibid.
80 drank a glass of cranberry juice: Kistiakowsky, Scientist at the White House, p. 209.
81 “For the first time in the history of the world”: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, p. 15.
82 “I urged him to do so”: Kistiakowsky, Scientist at the White House, p. 210.
83 at noon the next day: Dec. 3 and 4, 1959, Presidential Appointment Books.
84 they shared the same name: John Eisenhower, Strictly Personal, p. 269.
85 “What’s new?”: DDE, Waging Peace, p. 512.
86 “Now let’s see how the experts do it”: Slater, The Ike I Knew, p. 214.
87 “So far as I know”: March 16, 1960, news conference, APP.
88 only “eventually”: March 30, 1960, news conference, APP. The issue of blacks being denied service was brought embarrassingly to Ike’s attention a few months later when Michel Gallin-Douathe, newly appointed ambassador from the Central African Republic, left a meeting with the president and headed back for New York. He stopped at a restaurant near Baltimore and was refused service. Eisenhower wrote him a consoling letter and pledged that the government would continue its efforts to eradicate such discrimination. See DDE to Gallin-Douathe, Nov. 14, 1960, doc. 1705, HP.
89 subsidized by the federal government: Whitman, March 22, 1960, entry, March 1960 (1) folder, box 11, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
90 “it is in the interests”: DDE to Khrushchev, March 12, 1960, doc. 1454, HP.
91 “very significant and welcome development”: DDE to Khrushchev, April 1, 1960, doc. 1493, HP.
92 “very interesting, very positive”: Pedlow and Welzenbach, CIA and the U-2 Program, p. 101.
93 could endanger the Paris Summit: Ibid., p. 172.
94 he went silent: Ibid., p. 176.
95 infuriating Hagerty: Whitman, May 5, 1960, entry, May 1960 folder, box 11, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
96 “Go ahead”: DDE, interview with Relman “Pat” Morin, Jan. 3, 1967, p. 27, box 53, 1967 Principal File, Post-presidential Papers, DDEPL.
97 fell to earth: Pedlow and Welzenbach, CIA and the U-2 Program, p. 178.
98 regarded as “best case”: Ibid., p. 179.
99 “May Day turned out to be”: Ibid., p. 176.
100 His film was recovered: For many years, American officials harbored doubts about Powers’s actions. Some initially believed that he had defected and landed the plane intact (see, for instance, Kistiakowsky, Scientist at the White House, p. 324). So grave were the suspicions regarding his conduct that a special panel was convened after his eventual return to the United States to examine whether he was entitled to his back pay for his time in Soviet captivity. Powers was eventually vindicated and awarded his pay. He retired from the CIA and went to work for a Los Angeles radio station flying its traffic plane and later worked as a helicopter pilot for KNBC, also in Los Angeles. On Aug. 1, 1977, he crashed and died. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
101 “all the years of humiliation”: Taubman, Khrushchev, p. 446.
102 pressure on the Soviet state: Editorial note, in FRUS 1958–60, vol. 10, p. 510.
103 high-altitude weather research: NASA files, at http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery
/photo/U-2/HTML/E-5442.html.
104 “I must tell you a secret”: Taubman, Khrushchev, p. 457.
105 “What did he need all this for”: Ibid.
106 take responsibility and resign: Pedlow and Welzenbach, CIA and the U-2 Program, p. 180.
107 “I would like to resign”: Whitman, May 9, 1960, entry, May 1960 folder, box 11, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
108 authorized flights, the statement added: State Department’s May 9, 1960, press release, May 11, 1960, folder, box 67, Pre–Press Conference Material, Staff Files, Hagerty Papers.
109 “betrayal by General Eisenhower”: Taubman, Khrushchev, p. 458.
110 “a distasteful but vital necessity”: State Department’s May 9, 1960, press release.
111 unlikely to overreact to it: Memo from Ed McCabe to Whitman on senators’ breakfast, May 11, 1960, Staff Notes, May 1960 (2), box 50, DDE Diary Series, Whitman File.
112 “at an end”: Memorandum of Conference with the President, May 15, 1960, 4:30 p.m., Staff Notes, May 1960 (1), box 50, DDE Diary Series, Whitman File.
113 “If this matter”: Ibid.
114 heartwarming words: Ibid.
115 “wildly chaotic day”: New York Herald Tribune, European ed., May 18, 1960.
116 grilling steaks: John Eisenhower, exchange with author, Sept. 30, 2010.
117 anyone from his administration argue otherwise: Kistiakowsky, Scientist at the White House, pp. 335–36.
118 “I leave Paris with”: DDE to de Gaulle, May 18, 1960, doc. 1538, HP.
CHAPTER 18: REJECTION
1 “It is terrible”: Ann Whitman, June 11, 1959, entry, June 1959 (2) folder, box 10, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
2 why the antagonism ran so deep: Whitman, March 25, 1960, entry, March 1960 (1) folder, box 11, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
3 pursue the presidency against each other: Moos to DDE, memo, April 14, 1960, Staff Notes April 1960 (2) folder, box 49, DDE Diary Series, Whitman File.
4 “completely untrustworthy”: Whitman, Feb. 3, 1959, entry, Feb. 1959 (2) folder, box 10, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
5 compared to how Johnson described Ike: Ibid.
6 Kennedy’s candidacy as well: Memorandum of Conversation with the President, May 18, 1960, Staff Notes May 1960 (1) folder, box 50, DDE Diary Series, Whitman File.
7 third or fourth tally: Los Angeles Times, July 10, 1960.
8 his inaccurate predictions that week: Los Angeles Times, July 14, 1960.
9 as about the new Democratic pairing: Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1960.
10 “To your hands I pray”: DDE to Nixon, telegram, July 27, 1960, July 1960 folder, box 11, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
11 mirrored Ike’s own preferences: Ibid. Stephen Ambrose records that Eisenhower was disappointed with the selection of Lo
dge, having hoped “up to the end” that either Anderson or Gruenther would receive the nomination (Eisenhower, the President, p. 598). He supplies no citation for that claim, which is undermined by the telegram and other evidence in the Eisenhower Papers, as well as by Nixon’s memoir, Six Crises, in which he states that Ike favored Lodge (pp. 317–18).
12 apologized profusely: Whitman, July 31, 1960, entry, July 1960 folder, box 11, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
13 “If you give me a week”: This exchange comes from the president’s news conference of Aug. 24, 1960, APP.
14 it was too late: Hagerty, oral history interview, p. 521.
15 “The Vice President”: Whitman, Aug. 30, 1960, entry, Aug. 1960 (1) folder, box 11, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
16 “What for?”: Hughes, Ordeal of Power, p. 318.
17 “the situation remains so confused”: DDE, Aug. 16, 1960, entry, DDE Diary, Whitman File, in FRUS South and Southeast Asia, 1958–60, vol. 16, p. 802.
18 at a Laotian airport: Ibid., pp. 1003–4.
19 resupply the government: Memorandum for the Record of a Telephone Conversation Between the President and the President’s Staff Assistant, Dec. 14, 1960, DDE Diary, Whitman File, in ibid., pp. 1008–9.
20 fighting unilaterally in the region: Memorandum of a Conference with the President, Dec. 31, 1960, DDE Diary, Whitman File, in ibid., pp. 1024–29.
21 invited Belgian troops to protect whites there: 453rd NSC Meeting, July 25, 1960, box 12, NSC Series, Whitman File.
22 forgot even to bring money: UN Mission to State Department, memo, July 25, 1960, in FRUS 1958–60, vol. 14, Africa, p. 351. See also: 453rd NSC Meeting.
23 under Soviet protection: Bureau of Intelligence and Research to Secretary of State, memo, July 25, 1960, in ibid., p. 355.
24 proposed a three-week tour of the United States: 453rd NSC Meeting.
25 “are trying to take control of this”: Memorandum of Conference with the President, Aug. 1, 1960, in FRUS 1958–60, vol. 14, Africa, p. 377.
26 “we would all be in the fight”: 454th NSC Meeting, Aug. 1, 1960, box 12, NSC Series, Whitman File.
27 “Decisive period not far off”: Untitled CIA cable, Aug. 18, 1960, available through CIA Lumumba FOIA files.
28 “was in Soviet pay”: 456th NSC Meeting, Aug. 18, 1960, box 13, NSC Series, Whitman File.
29 “too ghastly to contemplate”: Ibid.
30 “came across to me”: “Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders,” An Interim Report of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, known generally as the Church Committee, p. 55.
31 “throw Lumumba out by peaceful means”: 456th NSC Meeting.
32 “fall into a river of crocodiles”: DDE, Sept. 19, 1960, entry, DDE Diary Series, Whitman File, in FRUS 1958–60, vol. 14, Africa, p. 495.
33 no methods as off-limits: Church Committee, p. 61.
34 running the government: Congo Embassy to State Department, telegram, Sept. 18, 1960, in FRUS 1958–60, vol. 14, Africa, p. 494.
35 U.S. military strength: CIA briefings of Kennedy and Johnson, July 23 and 28, 1960. Details in Allen Dulles memorandum of Aug. 3, contained in Dulles Papers and available online at http://www.thespacereview.com/archive/523.pdf.
36 contested by official estimates, if not outright false: For a particularly comprehensive study of Kennedy’s statements regarding the missile gap, see Christopher A. Preble, “Who Ever Believed in the ‘Missile Gap’?” Presidential Studies Quarterly 33, no. 4 (Dec. 2003).
37 “the spread of communist influence”: Kennedy speech in Houston, Sept. 2, 1960.
38 the Soviet premier was not done yet: Los Angeles Times, Oct. 2, 1960.
39 gave up and adjourned the session: Los Angeles Times, Oct. 13, 1960.
40 led in fourteen states with 123 votes: Associated Press survey, Oct. 2, 1960.
41 more thoughtful, less glib: Whitman, Oct. 14, 1960, entry, Oct. 1960 (1) folder, box 11, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
42 “Things I shall never understand”: Ibid.
43 have the senator intervene: Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters, p. 361.
44 dressed down Shriver and Wofford: Ibid., pp. 364–68.
45 “Imagine Martin Luther King”: Ibid., p. 370.
46 “the right kind of leadership”: Pre-election Address, Nov. 7, 1960, box 38, Speech Series, Whitman File.
47 “The first four ballots cast”: DDE to Nixon, cable, Nov. 8, 1960, doc. 1695, HP.
48 “I want to express to you both”: DDE to Nixon, Nov. 9, 1960, doc. 1699, HP.
49 worst of his life: Slater, The Ike I Knew, p. 230.
50 “down the drain”: Whitman, Nov. 10, 1960, entry, Nov. 1960 folder, box 11, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File. This file was inexplicably missing from the DDEPL archives in early 2011.
51 “like I had been hit”: DDE to Murphy, Nov. 20, 1960, doc. 1711, HP.
52 cost the Republican ticket: Slater, The Ike I Knew, p. 230.
53 “just do not give a damn”: Memorandum for the Record, Dec. 28, 1960, Staff Notes Dec. 1960 folder, box 55, DDE Diary Series, Whitman File.
54 “the hell with them”: Ibid.
55 do anything he was asked: Whitman, Dec. 29, 1960, entry, Dec. 1960 folder, box 11, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
56 machine guns, and possibly tanks: Briefings Dec. 1960, box 55, DDE Diary Series, Whitman File. Although the quoted document is undated, it was filed with briefing materials from Dec. 1960, so it appears to be an analysis presented late in the year. It is titled “Military Buildup in Cuba—CIA Rpt.”
57 “We shall seek and use”: DDE to Macmillan, Aug. 8, 1960, doc. 1606, HP.
58 presumably would support it: Herter to DDE, memo, Dec. 2, 1960, Christian Herter Dec. 1960 folder, box 13, Dulles-Herter Series, Whitman File.
59 “He recognized that some day”: Jan. 12, 1961, entry, Staff Notes Jan. 1961 folder, box 55, DDE Diary Series, Whitman File.
60 “perhaps the real point”: Ibid.
61 for at least several months: Ibid.
62 rather as a relic: Whitman, Aug. 19, 1960, entry, Aug. 1960 (1) folder, box 11, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
63 worried about becoming bored: Hagerty, oral history interview, pp. 548–49.
64 “The festivities”: Susan Eisenhower, Mrs. Ike, p. 301.
65 kept a light schedule: Dec. 23–26, 1960, Presidential Appointment Books, DDEPL.
66 “During my entire life”: DDE to Alfred Gruenther, Dec. 26, 1960, doc. 1743, HP. Because Eisenhower sent the letter to a number of friends, copies of it appear in various places; the citation here merely refers to one of the most easily accessed.
CHAPTER 19: FAREWELL
1 “message of leave-taking and farewell”: Eisenhower’s Farewell Address is widely available in transcript and audio and video formats. Unless otherwise noted, quotations in this chapter are taken from the reading copy on file with DDEPL, as checked against the videotaped version of the speech as delivered.
2 say something meaningful: Malcolm Moos, oral history interview, p. 33.
3 Congress and the American people: Moos memo for the record, May 20, 1959, Farewell Address (1) folder, box 16, Arthur Larson and Malcolm C. Moos Records, DDEPL.
4 the American leader whom Eisenhower’s career most resembled: H. P. Harding to Andy Goodpaster, April 6, 1960, Farewell Address (1) folder, box 16, Larson and Moos Records.
5 it no longer seems visionary: Ellis, His Excellency: George Washington, pp. 230–37.
6 “The great rule of conduct”: Text of Washington’s Farewell Address courtesy of the Avalon Project of Yale Law School, at http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp.
7 not sharp breaks or impulsive leaps: Memorandum for File, Ideas for 1961 State of the Union, Oct. 31, 1960, Chronological (1) folder, Williams Papers.
8 “best year we’ve had in the missile business”: Bernard A. Schriever, interview, U.S. News & World Report, Jan.
23, 1961.
9 “Billions of dollars”: Undated draft, styled at “Commencement,” Farewell Address (2) folder, box 16, Larson and Moos Records. See also Oct. 31, 1960, Chronological (1) folder, Williams Papers.
10 had been to swear him in: Moos, oral history interview, p. 9.
11 “did not think that Dr. Moos”: Ann Whitman, Sept. 30, 1958, entry, Sept. 1958 folder, box 10, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
12 wondered about Moos’s influence: Schlesinger, White House Ghosts, p. 96. As Moos himself noted of the influence of presidential aides: “I don’t think you push a President in the direction of the way he does not want to move” (oral history, p. 28).
13 “sometimes thought the varnish”: Moos, oral history interview, p. 18.
14 “You lose an audience after 10 minutes”: Ibid., p. 25. Moos recalled that Ike seemed especially concerned with keeping remarks short after his stroke.
15 “lock in like a target-acquisition radar”: Williams to Martin Teasley, Oct. 28, 1986, Letters 1985–88, Williams Papers.
16 which his brother did extensively: Undated drafts along with notes from Whitman to Moos, Farewell Address (9) folder, box 16, Larson and Moos Records.
17 notably more modest: These and other changes are recorded in the extensive files at DDEPL pertaining to the address. Those files were invaluably supplemented in 2010 by the discovery of a host of heretofore missing drafts and notes, recovered by Moos’s son and daughter from the family boathouse in Minnesota. I reported that discovery for the New Yorker in Dec. 2010.
18 “The idea of trying to get anyone”: Whitman to DDE and Moos, notes, Dec. 14, 1960, Farewell Address (1) folder, box 16, Larson and Moos Records.
19 “the most challenging message”: DDE, Waging Peace, p. 616.
20 scientific-technological elite: These passages are from audio and video tapes of the speech as delivered. They depart slightly from transcripts of the address, including the one used by Eisenhower in Waging Peace.
21 idea was dropped: Although not privy to the newly discovered materials, Schlesinger deftly described the process of writing and editing the speech in White House Ghosts, pp. 97–100.
22 “Dwight Eisenhower will retire”: New York Times, Jan. 20, 1961.
23 “Surely the people are proud”: Los Angeles Times, Jan. 19, 1961.