Eisenhower: The White House Years
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61 “I suddenly discovered”: Time, Sept. 3, 1956.
62 “We Love the Sunshine of His Smile”: New York Times, Aug. 21, 1956.
63 the Gang stayed at the nearby Fairmont: Slater, The Ike I Knew, p. 133.
64 “are now addicted”: New York Times, Aug. 21, 1956.
65 “Whoever let him say that?”: Adams, Firsthand Report, p. 244.
66 released it himself: Ibid., p. 243.
67 “deeply appreciative”: New York Times, Aug. 23, 1956.
68 “the most widely beloved”: Ibid.
69 died before Election Day: Sept. 5, 1956, entry, Sept. 1956 folder, box 14, Chronological File, Dulles Papers.
70 “No one is more aware”: DDE, Address at the Cow Palace on Accepting the Nomination of the Republican National Convention, Aug. 23, 1956, APP.
71 “in firm faith”: Ibid.
72 best speech Ike had given as president: Aug. 23, 1956, entry, Diary for 1956, box 59, Weeks Papers.
73 long weekend of golf and bridge: Adams, Firsthand Report, p. 244.
74 gave Ike little time to react: Whitman, Sept. 7, 1956, entry, Sept. 1956 folder, box 8, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
75 preferably a Democrat and definitely a Catholic: Ibid.
76 party affiliation and working-class upbringing: Seth Stern and Stephen Wermeil, Justice Brennan, pp. 85–86.
CHAPTER 12: ON THE EDGE
1 Gamal Abdel Nasser: The Suez crisis is marvelously reconstructed in David Nichols’s Eisenhower 1956: The President’s Year of Crisis: Suez and the Brink of War.
2 oil flowing from the Middle East: Adams, Firsthand Report, p. 247.
3 offer was effectively withdrawn: DDE, Aug. 8, 1956, entry, in Diaries, p. 329. Also found at doc. 1946, HP.
4 help pay for the dam: DDE, Waging Peace, p. 33.
5 “I do not want to exaggerate”: DDE to Eden, July 31, 1956, doc. 1935, HP.
6 “sharply deteriorated”: Report from Ambassador Yuri Andropov on Deteriorating Conditions in Hungary, Aug. 29, 1956, in Bekes, Byrne, and Rainer, 1956 Hungarian Revolution, pp. 159–67.
7 “it would be necessary to expose him”: Ibid.
8 “I don’t think you’ll ever know”: Exchange of letters on Oct. 11 and Oct. 12, 1956, Don Newcombe folder, box 23, Name Series, Whitman File.
9 “freedom of opinion”: “The ‘Sixteen Points,’ Prepared by Hungarian Students, Oct. 22–23, 1956,” in Bekes, Byrne, and Rainer, 1956 Hungarian Revolution, pp. 188–89.
10 Three died: Bekes, Byrne, and Rainer, 1956 Hungarian Revolution, timeline at p. xxxvii.
11 Soviet troops to restore order: “Working Notes from the Session of the CPSU CC Presidium, Oct. 23, 1956,” in Bekes, Byrne, and Rainer, 1956 Hungarian Revolution, p. 217.
12 “the revolt has become widespread”: DDE, Waging Peace, p. 69.
13 “virtually snarling”: Dulles Papers (quoted in Oct. 30, 1956, doc. 2051, fn. 6, HP).
14 “peaceful processes”: DDE to Mollet and Eden, Oct. 30, 1956, doc. 2054, HP.
15 “If your government was not informed”: DDE, Waging Peace, p. 77.
16 remark pass in silence: Hughes, Ordeal of Power, p. 218.
17 “with no force of argument”: Ibid., p. 219.
18 “Boy, this is taking it”: Ibid., p. 221.
19 “our most serious concern”: DDE, Radio and Television Report to the American People, Oct. 31, 1956, APP.
20 “the principles of complete equality”: “Declaration by the Government of the USSR on the Principles of Development and Further Strengthening of Friendship and Cooperation Between the Soviet Union and Other Socialist States, Oct. 30, 1956,” in Bekes, Byrne, and Rainer, 1956 Hungarian Revolution, pp. 300–302.
21 “Today, it appears, a new Hungary”: DDE, Radio and Television Report to the American People, Oct. 31, 1956, APP.
22 “a miracle”: 302nd NSC Meeting, Nov. 1, 1956, box 8, NSC Series, Whitman File.
23 “I have noted with profound distress”: DDE to Bulganin, Nov. 4, 1956, doc. 2067, HP.
24 “Stevenson Holds President Lacks ‘Energy’ for Job”: New York Times, Nov. 4, 1956.
25 “The Chief Executive”: Ibid.
26 “moves of desperation”: Slater, The Ike I Knew, pp. 140–41.
27 “are the sorriest and weakest pair”: DDE to Gruenther, Nov. 2, 1956, doc. 2064, HP.
28 “gets more difficult by the minute”: Ibid.
29 remove part of his large intestine: New York Times, Nov. 4, 1956.
30 work for more than two months: Hoopes, Devil and John Foster Dulles, pp. 380–81.
31 “Here were … the ten most frustrating days”: Slater, The Ike I Knew, p. 143.
32 “It really was a tough one”: DDE, interview with Relman “Pat” Morin, Jan. 3, 1967, p. 16, box 53, 1967 Principal File, Post-presidential Papers, DDEPL.
33 “We are Bolsheviks”: Time, Nov. 26, 1956.
34 “I really could use a good bridge game”: DDE to Gruenther, Nov. 2, 1956, doc. 2064, HP.
CHAPTER 13: THE PRESS OF CHANGE, THE PRICE OF INACTION
1 “the most outstanding event”: Ann Whitman, Jan. 21, 1957, entry, Jan. 1957 (1) folder, box 8, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
2 “The divisive force”: Eisenhower’s 1957 Inaugural Address, APP.
3 “We live in a land of plenty”: Ibid.
4 before being sworn in: DDE to Edgar, Jan. 21, 1957, Edgar Eisenhower 1957–58 (2) folder, box 11, Name Series, Whitman File.
5 when he trundled back inside: Whitman, Jan. 21, 1957, entry, Jan. 1957 (1) folder, box 8, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
6 “but I am entirely unwilling”: DDE to C. D. Jackson, April 30, 1957, doc. 138, HP.
7 regarded as a personal rejection: Sherman Adams, unpublished MS, p. 1077, Adams Papers.
8 “completely indifferent”: DDE, Waging Peace, p. 145.
9 blamed it on flabby muscles: DDE to Edgar, May 6, 1957, doc. 144, HP.
10 gently conspired to help him: Slater, The Ike I Knew, p. 151.
11 “with both extremes”: DDE, Waging Peace, p. 139.
12 “national calamity”: July 31, 1957, news conference, APP.
13 “may as well close up shop”: Jencks v. United States, 363 U.S. 657 (1957).
14 due process that had been violated: Sweezy v. New Hampshire, 354 U.S. 234 (1957).
15 “There is no congressional power”: Watkins v. United States, 354 U.S. 178 (1957).
16 the Court was unanimous against him: Service v. Dulles et al., 354 U.S. 363 (1957).
17 Communists convicted under the Smith Act: Yates v. United States, 354 U.S. 298 (1957).
18 meetings into the late afternoon: June 18, 1956, Presidential Appointment Books, DDEPL.
19 “practically fed up”: Ruth Montgomery, International News Service, quoted in Katcher, Earl Warren, p. 364.
20 “I have no doubt that in private conversation”: DDE to Warren, June 21, 1957, doc. 211, HP.
21 “in no sense necessary”: Warren to DDE, July 15, 1957, Personal File, Presidents’ Correspondence, 1953–63, MD, LOC.
22 “merely petulant rather than definitive”: Warren, Memoirs, pp. 5–6.
23 already explosive issue: Brownell, Advising Ike, p. 219. See also Cabinet minutes, Dec. 2, 1955, and March 23, 1956, Whitman File.
24 faced by those confronting integration: Cabinet minutes, March 9, 1956, Whitman File.
25 smiled faintly, and walked free: New York Times, Sept. 24, 1955.
26 “czar” with unbounded powers: Brownell, Advising Ike, p. 202.
27 obscure the real debate: Cabinet minutes, Aug. 2, 1957, Whitman File.
28 circumvent the law: DDE to James Byrnes, July 23, 1957, footnote quotes Byrnes’s letter to DDE of July 17, doc. 253, HP.
29 justice in crimes against blacks: Ibid.
30 “cunningly designed”: Warren Olney to Gerald Morgan, memo, July 12, 1957, Justice Department Civil Rights folder, Adams Papers.
31 the quiet of Gettysburg: Wh
itman, July 3, 1957, entry, July 1957 (2) folder, box 9, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
32 “illegally from interfering”: July 3, 1957, news conference, APP.
33 “Well, I would not want to answer”: Ibid.
34 parted on friendly terms: Whitman, July 10, 1957, entry, July 1957 (2) folder, box 9, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File. For Brownell not being told, see Advising Ike, p. 224. Whitman herself was frustrated by the debate over the Civil Rights Bill. As she noted in the above diary entry: “It seems so ridiculous to me, when it has been in the Constitution for so many years and here at last we get around to believing it might be possible for some of our citizens really to have that right.”
35 “waited this long for bill”: Hagerty, press release, Aug. 19, 1957, Justice Department Civil Rights folder, box 8, Adams Papers.
36 “a highly practical decision”: Brownell, Advising Ike, p. 225.
37 “I can’t imagine”: July 17, 1957, news conference, APP.
38 “this does not mean”: Ibid. See also Time, Aug. 19, 1957.
39 “just plain miserable”: DDE to Adams, note, Sept. 3, 1957, doc. 320, HP.
40 as soon as the Court detailed the rules: Cooper v. Aaron, 358 U.S. 1 (1958).
41 “with all deliberate speed”: Ibid.
42 “the best for the interests of all pupils in the District”: Ibid.
43 southern political campaigns of that era: For a concise summary of Faubus’s rise to political power, see The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, at http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/
encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=102.
44 would never cave: Brownell, Advising Ike, p. 209.
45 “breathing room”: Ibid.
46 not to find the governor in contempt: Oct. 8, 1957, entry memorializing meeting of Sept. 14, 1957, Little Rock (2) folder, box 23, Administration Series, Whitman File.
47 “In any area where the federal government”: Ibid.
48 “Just because I said it”: Reed, Faubus, p. 219.
49 Faubus continued to resist: Statements by Eisenhower and Faubus, Sept. 14, 1957, Civil Rights (2) folder, box 6, Gerald Morgan Records, Whitman File.
50 subordinate who had failed him in battle: Brownell, Advising Ike, p. 210.
51 “a small-town politician”: Oral history with Brownell.
52 “not legally sufficient”: New York Times, Sept. 21, 1954. Some accounts of this episode suggest that Faubus attended the hearing. The Times and other contemporary descriptions make clear that he did not.
53 a governors’ conference at Sea Island, Georgia: Reed, Faubus, p. 222.
54 played three hours of bridge: Sept. 22, 1957, Presidential Appointment Books.
55 beat Allen and Robinson by thirty-six points: Slater, The Ike I Knew, p. 160.
56 “I hope they bring out”: Reed, Faubus, p. 225.
57 Song of the South: Sept. 23, 1957, Presidential Appointment Books.
58 withdrawn from the scene by Faubus: Calls of Sept. 24, 1957, Sept. 1957 Telephone Calls, box 27, DDE Diary Series, Whitman File.
59 he signed the order: New York Times, Sept. 25, 1957.
60 before appearing on national television: Calls of Sept. 25, 1957, Sept. 1957 Telephone Calls, box 27, DDE Diary Series, Whitman File. There is some confusion about the dates in the White House records, which suggest that Eisenhower traveled to Washington on Sept. 25; in fact, he returned on the twenty-fourth and spoke to the nation that evening.
61 he emended it to “instructed”: Undated draft of speech, copy courtesy of DDEPL, at http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/Research/Digital_Documents/LittleRock/New%20PDFs/Little_Rock_speech_draft.pdf.
62 “If resistance to the Federal Court order”: Transcript of the address courtesy of DDEPL, at http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/Research/Digital_Documents/LittleRock/New%20PDFs/Press_release_92457.pdf.
63 he called to check on Mamie: Calls of Sept. 25, 1957, Sept. 1957 Telephone Calls, box 27, DDE Diary Series, Whitman File.
64 Martin Luther King Jr.: Reed, Faubus, p. 235.
65 at the height of the confrontation: See, for instance, DDE to William M. Shepherd, telegram, Oct. 3, 1957, doc. 367, HP.
66 “I shall be forever thankful”: Resignation letter, Oct. 23, 1957, The President—Resignation Letter folder, box 55, Brownell Papers.
67 collaboration and mutual suspicion: The description of this reception is drawn largely from Launius, “Sputnik and the Origins of the Space Age.”
68 “I’ve just been informed”: Ibid., at http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/sputorig.html.
69 The Soviets beamed: New York Times, Oct. 5, 1957.
70 circle the earth every ninety-five minutes: Technical specifications come from Pravda, Oct. 5, 1957, reprinted at NASA History Division, NASA Headquarters.
71 over obligation to the federal government: New York Times, Oct. 5, 1957.
72 to respond to reports of the Soviet satellite: Oct. 4, 1956, Presidential Appointment Books.
73 remind critics of his arrogance: Hauge, oral history interview, p. 125.
74 “The peculiar nature”: Undated memo but written one week after Sputnik launch, Special Projects: Sputnik, Missiles, and Related Matters, box 35, White House Office of the Staff Research Group, DDEPL.
75 filthy, disease-ravaged tunnels: Neufeld, Von Braun, pp. 159–60.
76 speak directly with Eisenhower but was turned down: Ibid., p. 203.
77 “I am convinced”: Ibid., p. 310.
78 “If you go back to Washington”: Ibid., p. 311.
79 “Muttnik”: New York Times, Nov. 4, 1957.
80 “Flopnik”: Launius, “Sputnik and the Origins of the Space Race.”
81 “The enervating suspense was over”: Adams, unpublished MS, p. 1146.
82 “That’s wonderful”: New York Times, Feb. 1, 1958.
83 dedicated to putting a man in space: Dates from NASA timeline, at http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/
pao/History/Timeline/1958.html.
84 fought back tears: Adams, unpublished MS, p. 1173.
85 He stomped out: Ibid., p. 1176.
86 “the light of her life lay ill upstairs”: Susan Eisenhower, Mrs. Ike, pp. 296–97.
87 he struggled for a word: Whitman, Nov. 25–27, 1957, entries, Present Illness of the President, box 9, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
88 dispatch American troops: DDE, Message to Congress, Jan. 5, 1957, APP.
89 “Experience shows”: Ibid.
90 “American protectorate”: DDE, Waging Peace, p. 181.
CHAPTER 14: NUCLEAR INTERLUDE
1 “Total war”: Estimate of the Situation, p. 22, annex to NSC 5602/1—Basic National Security Policy, box 17, Policy Papers Subseries, NSC Series, White House Office, Office of the Special Assistant for National Security Affairs, DDEPL.
2 “Wait a minute, boys”: John Eisenhower, interview with author, Oct. 7, 2010.
3 “You might as well go out”: Ann Whitman, March 5, 1959, entry, March 1959 (2) folder, box 10, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
4 “In 1953, Soviet capability”: John Eisenhower, interview with author, Oct. 7, 2010.
5 “virtually cease to exist”: Slater, The Ike I Knew, p. 126.
6 “perhaps the richest”: Craig, Destroying the Village, p. 56.
7 “Inability to use these weapons”: 277th NSC Meeting, Feb. 27, 1956, box 7, NSC Series, Whitman File.
8 immediately constitute a general war: The preceding references to the discussion of the NSC are drawn from ibid.
9 Eisenhower’s language intact, was approved: 325th NSC Meeting, May 27, 1957, box 8, NSC Series, Whitman File.
10 “We want to be able to treat”: Cutler to DDE, memo, Aug. 7, 1957, Limited War folder, box 3, Subject Subseries, OCB Series, White House Office, Office of the Special Assistant for National Security Affairs.
11 “The evidence clearly indicates”: A copy of the full r
eport is available at: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv
/NSAEBB/NSAEBB139/nitze02.pdf.
12 “remake a way of life in our own country”: Ibid.
13 “when and how nuclear weapons”: Ibid.
14 “It looked to the President”: Sherman Adams, unpublished MS, p. 1162, Adams Papers.
15 “Maximum massive retaliation”: Memorandum of Conference with the President, Nov. 4, 1957, in FRUS, vol. 19, p. 621.
16 “Was the Panel proposing”: 343rd NSC Meeting, Nov. 7, 1957, in ibid., p. 632.
17 willing to court its own destruction: Memorandum of Conversation between the President and the Secretary of State, Nov. 7, 1957, in ibid., p. 638.
18 “would be smashed”: Whitman, Nov. 9, 1957, entry, Nov. 1957 folder, box 9, ACW Diary Series, Whitman File.
19 almost certainly Nitze: Asked years later by a collaborator on his memoir how the report ended up in the hands of the Washington Post, Nitze at first declined to answer, then added that he assumed the reporter must have gotten it “from several sources.” See Thompson, The Hawk and the Dove, p. 166.
20 “I’m the only Army general”: Nov. 16, 1959, entry, Transcript of Diary, 1959–60, Nov. 1959 folder, Kistiakowsky Papers.
21 “we will finish it”: 394th NSC Meeting, Jan. 22, 1959, box 11, NSC Series, Whitman File.
22 “was all the policy the President said he had”: Ibid.
23 Ike was a terrific poker player: John Eisenhower, exchange with author, Sept. 2010.
CHAPTER 15: MANY WAYS TO FIGHT
1 “an enlightened and dedicated statesman”: Nixon, Six Crises, p. 185.
2 nevertheless reluctantly agreed: Ibid., p. 184.
3 the ceremony started four minutes early: New York Times, May 2, 1958.
4 “I felt an almost uncontrollable urge”: Nixon, Six Crises, p. 204.
5 “courage, patience and calmness”: DDE, Message to the Vice President After the Demonstration in Peru, May 9, 1958, APP.
6 “For an instant”: Nixon, Six Crises, p. 219.
7 “He had the biggest smile”: Julie Nixon, responding to a question at DDEPL, Oct. 14, 2010.
8 viewed Nasser’s designs with unease: DDE, Waging Peace, p. 263.
9 “carry serious implications”: DDE to Saud ibn Abd Al-Aziz, Feb. 1, 1958, doc. 561, HP.