The Presidents Club: Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity
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Missouri National Guard: This Day in Truman History: June 14, 1905, Harry S. Truman Library.
I’d rather have the medal: Steve Neal, Harry and Ike: The Partnership That Remade the Postwar World (New York: Scribner, 2001), 18.
“What he saw and heard, he liked”: Butcher, My Three Years with Eisenhower, 871.
“I’d turn it over to him now”: David McCullough, Truman (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992), 398, and Harry S. Truman, Dear Bess: The Letters from Harry to Bess Truman, 1910–1959, ed. Robert H. Ferrell (New York: Norton, 1983), 516.
“The same goes for politics”: “Home to Abilene,” Time.
Truman and Eisenhower’s brother: Stephen E. Ambrose, Eisenhower: Soldier and President (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990), 223.
While Truman’s popularity was high in 1945: McCullough, Truman, 572.
He was surrounded by “moochers”: William E. Leuchtenburg, In the Shadow of FDR: From Harry Truman to George W. Bush (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001), 21.
Far from feeling like the seat: Ibid., 18.
“Mr. President, I don’t know”: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe, 444.
Eisenhower called Truman: Ibid.
“Presented to President Harry S Truman”: Neal, Harry and Ike, 46.
“And that’s all there was to it”: Merle Miller, Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman (New York: Berkley Publishing Corporation; distributed by Putnam, 1974), 338, and Harry S. Truman, Talking with Harry: Candid Conversations with President Harry S. Truman, ed. Ralph E. Weber (Wilmington, DE: SR Books, 2001), 131–32.
But Bradley confirmed Ike’s account: According to International News Service Correspondent Robert Nixon, who was covering the trip, Truman revealed to him that “I told Ike that if he wanted to be President, I’d help him be.” Robert G. Nixon, interview by Jerry N. Hess, October 16, 1970, transcript, Oral History Interviews, Harry S. Truman Library.
“I told him I’d much rather retire”: Dwight D. Eisenhower, At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1967), 316.
Retooling a war machine: Neal, Harry and Ike, 63.
Eisenhower appreciated Truman’s commitment: Ibid., 67.
“Maybe you and I could think up”: Harry S. Truman to Dwight D. Eisenhower, October 30, 1946, Pre-Presidential Papers: Principal File: Box 112, “Truman, Harry S.,” Dwight D. Eisenhower Papers, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library.
“What a job he can do there”: Libby Quaid, “National Archives Unveils Newly Found 1947 Truman Diary,” Associated Press, July 11, 2003.
The conversation ended: Harry S. Truman, diary entry of July 25, 1947, Harry S. Truman 1947 Diary, Harry S. Truman Library.
“Ike, no matter what you do”: David Eisenhower, Going Home to Glory: A Memoir of Life with Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961–1969 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010), 19.
“All journalists know”: Dwight D. Eisenhower, At Ease, 333.
A majority of people: “Is He Is or Is He Ain’t?” Political Notes, Time, September 1, 1947.
Beginning that fall: “Everything to Gain,” National Affairs, Time, October 6, 1947; and “Snowball,” National Affairs, Time, January 26, 1948.
“Draft Eisenhower” groups: “Second Wind,” Political Notes, Time, January 19, 1948.
“The tossing about of my name”: Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Eisenhower Diaries, ed. Robert H. Ferrell (New York: Norton, 1981), 147.
But, one reporter remarked: “Snowball,” Time.
Among his reasons: “Back to Normal,” Republicans, Time, February 2, 1948.
“‘My decision to remove myself’”: Dwight D. Eisenhower, At Ease, 335.
In a warm letter to Truman: Dwight D. Eisenhower to Harry S. Truman, January 22, 1948, Pre-Presidential Papers: Principal File: Box 112, “Truman, Harry S.,” Dwight D. Eisenhower Papers, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library.
“Our dear President Truman”: “Wake & Awakening,” Democrats, Time, July 12, 1948.
“You have the choice of retiring voluntarily”: Robert J. Donovan, Conflict and Crisis: The Presidency of Harry S. Truman 1945–1948 (New York: Norton, 1977), 389.
He is “an incompetent”: McCullough, Truman, 844.
“No President in memory”: Ibid., 633.
“They weren’t interested in a liberal candidate”: Clark M. Clifford, interview by Jerry N. Hess, May 10, 1971, transcript, Oral History Interviews, Harry S. Truman Library.
“I will not at this time identify”: Time, July 12, 1948.
“When the President in the White House”: Harry S. Truman, Talking with Harry, 132.
Eisenhower reaffirmed his loyalty: Dwight D. Eisenhower to Harry S. Truman, November 18, 1948, Pre-Presidential Papers: Principal File: Box 112, “Truman, Harry S.,” Dwight D. Eisenhower Papers, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library.
After a long session with Truman: Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Eisenhower Diaries, 157.
“My father made it clear”: McCullough, Truman, 775.
A mere twelve Western divisions: Robert H. Ferrell, Harry S. Truman and the Cold War Revisionists (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2006), 49.
Eisenhower stood right by Truman’s side: William G. Weart, “Eisenhower Calls Korea Step a Duty,” New York Times, July 5, 1950.
“I’m not so sure we met full comprehension”: Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Eisenhower Diaries, 176.
“If his wisdom could only equal”: Ibid., 181.
Truman meanwhile shared: “Bradley’s Case,” National Affairs, Time, May 28, 1951.
“I rather look on this effort”: Ambrose, Eisenhower: Soldier and President, 250.
“‘If that’s what we need, that’s what we need’”: Henry Byroade, interview by Niel M. Johnson, September 19, 1988, transcript, Oral History Interviews, Harry S. Truman Library.
“I am forced to believe”: Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Eisenhower Diaries, 189.
“He would have to do it”: “Again, Ike,” NATO, Time, January 15, 1951.
He landed in Oslo: Dwight D. Eisenhower, At Ease, 366.
“We should all stand behind him”: Harry S. Truman, “Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union” (speech, chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives, January 8, 1951), transcript, Harry S. Truman Library.
“Few speeches”: Dwight D. Eisenhower, At Ease, 368.
“We can’t give this fellow pneumonia”: “The Man with the Answers,” The Nation, Time, February 12, 1951.
“American policy and purpose”: William Bragg Ewald, Eisenhower the President: Crucial Days, 1951–1960 (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1981), 37.
“Congress and the people”: “The Man with the Answers,” Time.
So with an eye toward killing: Dwight D. Eisenhower, At Ease, 371.
After Taft left: Ibid.
“I finally concluded”: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mandate for Change, 1953–1956: The White House Years, A Personal Account (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1963), 14.
The headline practically wrote itself: “The Oracle,” Political Notes, Time, August 20, 1951.
“I don’t think that would do him any good”: Press Conference, August 9, 1951, transcript, Public Papers of the Presidents: Harry S. Truman, 1945–1953, Harry S. Truman Library.
That summer of 1951: “That Old Feeling,” Republicans, Time, June 25, 1951.
He cabled George Marshall: Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. Alfred D. Chandler Jr. et al., vol. 12 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1989), 426.
“I’m accustomed to it”: Harry S. Truman to Dwight D. Eisenhower, July 20, 1951, Pre-Presidential Papers: Principal File: Box 112, “Truman, Harry S.,” Dwight D. Eisenhower Papers, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library.
“You are doing a grand job”: Harry S. Truman to Dwight D. Eisenhower, September 24, 1951, Pre-Presidential Papers: Principal File: Box 112, “Truman, Harry S.,” Dwight D. Eisenhower Papers, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library.
Collier’s magazine: Theodore Achilles, interview b
y Richard D. McKinzie, December 18, 1972, transcript, Oral History Interviews, Harry S. Truman Library.
“What reason have you”: Arthur Krock, “Truman’s Bid to Eisenhower Climax of Party Proposals,” New York Times, November 9, 1951.
“He believed in Democrats so much”: Neal, Harry and Ike, 227.
Both Eisenhower and Truman: Press Conference, November 15, 1951, transcript, Public Papers of the Presidents: Harry S. Truman, 1945–1953, Harry S. Truman Library.
“There is a lure in power”: Harry S. Truman, Off the Record: The Private Papers of Harry S. Truman, ed. Robert H. Ferrell (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1997), 177.
In mid-December he wrote: Ibid., 220.
“As I told you in 1948”: Ibid.
“I do not feel that I have any duty”: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mandate for Change, 19.
“I won’t stand in his way”: Press Conference, January 10, 1952, transcript, Public Papers of the Presidents: Harry S. Truman, 1945–1953, Harry S. Truman Library.
“As far as I am concerned”: Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. Alfred D. Chandler Jr. et al., vol. 13 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1989), 908.
“I deeply appreciate your determination”: Ibid., 907.
“You can rest assured”: Harry S. Truman to Dwight D. Eisenhower, January 31, 1952.
“I clearly miscalculated”: Eisenhower letter to Truman, April 2, 1952, quoted in Neal, Harry and Ike, 239.
“He’s as fine a man as ever walked”: Press Conference, May 1, 1952, transcript, Public Papers of the Presidents: Harry S. Truman, 1945–1953, Harry S. Truman Library.
“But I still like him”: Press Conference, June 19, 1952, transcript, Public Papers of the Presidents: Harry S. Truman, 1945–1953, Harry S. Truman Library.
Chapter 4: “The Man Is a Congenital Liar”
Already the incoming fire seemed fierce: Ambrose, Eisenhower: Soldier and President, 268.
“If that’s all it is, Ike”: Neal, Harry and Ike, 240.
“You’re going to need it”: Margaret Truman, Harry S. Truman (New York: William Morrow, 1973), 536.
“I shall conclude that I made a mistake”: Herbert S. Parmet, Eisenhower and the American Crusades (New York: Macmillan, 1972), 112.
“The whole atmosphere is so different”: Eisenhower, The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 13, 1277.
Party officials speculated: James Reston, “Stevenson and Truman Meet Today on Campaign Strategy,” New York Times, August 12, 1952.
Some Taft loyalists: Arthur Krock, “Top G.O.P. Rift Closed but Not the Democrats’,” New York Times, September 14, 1952.
“Ike is running like a dry creek”: “Eisenhower Urged to Start ‘Swinging,’” New York Times, August 26, 1952.
“I am amazed to find out”: Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 13, 1323–24.
In public: W.H. Lawrence, “Eisenhower Scores Briefing Session,” New York Times, August 13, 1952.
“I’ve made arrangements”: Harry S. Truman to Dwight D. Eisenhower, August 13, 1952, Presidential Papers: Box 33, “Ann Whitman File: Truman, Harry S.,” Dwight D. Eisenhower Papers, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library.
“Consequently I think it would be unwise”: Dwight D. Eisenhower to Harry S. Truman, August 14, 1952, Presidential Papers: Box 33, “Ann Whitman File: Truman, Harry S.,” Dwight D. Eisenhower Papers, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library.
The telegram was a little piece: Neal, Harry and Ike, 259.
Bradley said he would have: W.H. Lawrence, “Eisenhower Spurns Truman Invitation to Policy Briefing,” New York Times, August 15, 1952.
“Most of this information”: Press Conference, August 14, 1952, transcript, Public Papers of the Presidents: Harry S. Truman, 1945–1953, Harry S. Truman Library.
“Sincerely, HST”: Truman, Off the Record, 266.
Truman’s letter: Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 13, 1331.
Churchill referred to Marshall: Robert G. Nixon, interview, October 16, 1970.
“I never saw one”: W.H. Lawrence, “Eisenhower to Back M’Carthy If Named, But Assails Tactics,” New York Times, August 23, 1952.
If Republican primary voters: W.H. Lawrence, “Eisenhower Assails ‘Bareface Looters,’” New York Times, September 10, 1952.
“I felt dirty”: Parmet, Eisenhower and the American Crusades, 128.
“That was the end of the line”: Robert G. Nixon, interview by Jerry N. Hess, November 20, 1970, transcript, Oral History Interviews, Harry S. Truman Library.
Ike blamed a staff “blunder”: Eisenhower, Mandate for Change, 317.
Afterward McCarthy told reporters: W.H. Lawrence, “Eisenhower Wants Koreans to Bear Brunt of Fighting,” New York Times, October 3, 1952.
“I never heard the General”: Ewald, Eisenhower the President, 60.
At one point Eisenhower returned: Parmet, Eisenhower and the American Crusades, 131.
Eisenhower later told people: Fletcher Knebel, “The Inside Story of the Ike-Truman Feud,” The National Scene, Look Magazine, September 6, 1955.
“By thus arousing new public clamor”: Eisenhower, The White House Years, 318.
“The differences apply to method”: W.H. Lawrence, “Eisenhower Scores President on Reds,” New York Times, October 4, 1952.
“I have been privileged for 35 years”: Neal, Harry and Ike, 267.
Then the photographers finally: “Why Not Better?”, Time, October 13, 1952.
“Do I need to tell you”: McCullough, Truman, 911.
“It was a mistake”: Ewald, Eisenhower the President, 58.
Marshall himself: Neal, Harry and Ike, 269.
Truman had been restrained: Press Conference, September 11, 1952, transcript, Public Papers of the Presidents: Harry S. Truman, 1945–1953, Harry S. Truman Library.
But Truman later charged: Harry S. Truman, Where the Buck Stops: The Personal and Private Writings of Harry S. Truman, ed. Margaret Truman (New York: Warner Books, 1989), 69.
One of the last things: Miller, Plain Speaking, 339–40.
“I would feel far more comfortable”: Dwight D. Eisenhower to George Marshall, June 4, 1945, Pre-Presidential Papers: Principal File: Box 32, “Marshall, George,” Dwight D. Eisenhower Papers, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library.
He apologized to Marshall: Ambrose, Eisenhower: Soldier and President, 209–10.
Eisenhower’s very public failure: “Halfway; Campaign Gets Rough,” New York Times, October 5, 1952.
Any man who would bow: Anthony Leviero, “Truman Declares General Betrays Moral Principles,” New York Times, October 8, 1952.
“I skinned old Ike”: Edward T. Folliard, interview by Jerry N. Hess, August 20, 1970, transcript, Oral History Interviews, Harry S. Truman Library.
But now Ike: “The Other McCarthy,” The Campaign, Time, October 13, 1952.
Truman called Eisenhower a liar: Harry S. Truman, Rear Platform and Other Informal Remarks in New York, October 10, 1952, Public Papers of the Presidents: Harry S. Truman, 1945–1953, Harry S. Truman Library.
“I thought he stood for”: McCullough, Truman, 911.
Truman ran higher and hotter: Harry Truman, Rear Platform and Other Informal Remarks in New York.
Eisenhower wasn’t exactly wearing: “Ike in the West,” National Affairs, Time, October 20, 1952.
“Three times during the tour of Minneapolis”: Richard H. Rovere, The Eisenhower Years: Affairs of State (New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1956), 36.
“Many Believe He Is Harming”: “Many Believe He Is Harming Stevenson’s Chances,” New York Times, October 6, 1952.
“He had no idea of the difference”: David Eisenhower, Going Home to Glory: A Memoir of Life with Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961–1969 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010), 156.
Obediently, he went to the phone: Ambrose, Eisenhower: Soldier and President, 287.
“Underneath, the venom worked”: Ewald, Eisenhower the President, 240.<
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“Congratulations on your overwhelming victory”: “Orderly Transfer,” Time, November 17, 1952.
“Ike and his advisors”: Harry S. Truman, Off the Record, 273.
“I could have clotted things up”: “Inertia,” The Nation, Time, January 19, 1953.
“It has never been done”: Harry S. Truman, Off the Record, 273.
When Eisenhower came to the White House: Arthur Krock, “White House Meeting Recalls ’32 Precedent,” New York Times, November 16, 1952.
It was Eisenhower’s first time: Peter Braestrup, “Eisenhower Plans to Greet Kennedy,” New York Times, December 4, 1960.
“He accepted that”: Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Eisenhower Diaries, 274.
“It was a friendly gesture”: Neal, Harry and Ike, 282.
“If that is so”: Harry S. Truman, Memoirs, Volume 2: Years of Trial and Hope (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1956), 521.
Ike reported no such reaction: Eisenhower, Mandate for Change, 85, quoted in Stephen E. Ambrose, Eisenhower the President, vol. II (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984), 15.
“Sunk back in a chair”: Neal, Harry and Ike, 283, and Dean Acheson, Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department (New York: Norton, 1969), 706.
Before Ike left: “Setting the Course,” The President-Elect, Time, December 1, 1952.
“This fellow,” he told reporters: Rovere, The Eisenhower Years, 72.
“Why you’d have thought”: McCullough, Truman, 917.
“Mr. Truman has been every inch the President”: Ibid., 920.
Ike had warned an aide: Neal, Harry and Ike, 286.
“everybody goes over to a tailor”: Robert Nixon Oral History, Harry S. Truman Library.
“get into any hat controversy”: Neal, Harry and Ike, 285.
Eisenhower was aiming for: “Great Day,” National Affairs, Time, February 2, 1953.
“Well, I wouldn’t do it”: Truman, Where the Buck Stops, 62.
“We were disappointed”: Harry S. Truman, Mr. Citizen (New York: Geis Associates; distributed by Random House, 1960), 19.
“He showed his superiority”: McCullough, Truman, 921.
“It’s interesting that a single thing”: Harry S. Truman, Where the Buck Stops, 62.