Transcripts For CSPAN2 Susan Eisenhower How Ike Led 20240712

This happy occasion preserves unbroken a convention which began with president to get our roosevelt. The great and the near great have addressed this audience, but tonight we welcome the man whom history will record as behemoth among moral leaders in the hour of greatest need. [applause] i have in mind the rapid succession of communist aggression as millions of people were behind the fire reaching iron curtain. I have been buying the stalemate of the stalemate in korea, the inflation in our homeland which was eating up the savings and traveling the motors of our Free Enterprise economy. Here there is a man trained in lower who would be acclaimed by future generations as the man who laid the foundations of peace. [applause] and more, he is our president whom we love with a deep and abiding affection. [applause] welcome to the Commonwealth Club of california, i am george hammond. Along with the staff at the Commonwealth Club, the staff has helped to put you always online programs. We didnt dozens and dozens of them since the crisis began. Its been my great pleasure to introduce Susan Eisenhower who is here with us today. Shes a granddaughter of president eisenhower and shes written a great book, how ike led. Its like u2 spy plane overview of his hole, the principles led his presidency but with the young girls point of view on the man himself and is quite a combination and its a nice, nation because it also is a combination you live your life that, susan, because you are a political analyst if you lived your life but indication you know him personally for many, many years. He didnt pass the weight until you are already in college around that age, right . Yeah. Welcome everybody and we are going to get started to talk about president eisenhower, for those of you for nothing but with the dates he was president from 1953 until 1961. Jfk was a present right afterwards and he was the supreme allied commander during world war ii. Susan, first of all thank you for joining us from afar on our online world we have recognized can happen very much easily than we thought. But tell us a little bit about what inspired you to write the book. You have been working in this field for a long time as a political consultant, et cetera and advisor, and you decide to write about your own grandfathers worked the it lessening interesting to try to be objective and subjective at the same time. He do it successfully but it couldnt have been easy. George kent first of all let me thank you so much for the opportunity back at the Commonwealth Club. I had the wonderful opportunity of presenting to the convoy of the books of the club in years past so great to be back and to talk about this if yes, i think the question is a very interesting one. Maybe as part of the disclaimer for our discussion this evening i should say that as the kid i was really raised to compartmentalize what i knew about his politics, about the three in which he governed, about the issues that he dealt with. On the other side my relationship with them as a grandparent. This book is really is a of those things as you sit and it was quite an experience for me to put it together in one place because i was struck by how we were doing certain things as a family as he was dealing with some of these crises. So that was interesting. The impetus like to do it now revolved around three events i guess. One is the 75th anniversary of the end of world war ii, just, well, certainly vj day is about to occur, but we had of course the 75th the 75th anniversary of the end of the war in europe back in may of this year. Secondly, the eisenhower memorial in washington, d. C. Will be dedicated on September September 17 and a much more scaledback version of its original self but it will nevertheless, open to the public after that date. Finally were going to an election year, and theres always a lot of thinking about the presidency and the most important for your election occurs. Four year. I thought i had something to say to us today and i guess thats the reason i put it together. He really did and i found that, you took it from the ankle but theres so many different elements that were so interesting today. One as applicable. What of a thought, this is a small side, tangent, that there were people who sit in 1956 that were against him being reelected and saying you are going to be electing Richard Nixon. You would not be electing eisenhower because eisenhower sick. He just had his heart attack since olympic recent Richard Nixon will be the president. Same thing going on today the Democratic Party people think biden will never be present for more than a month or two so you really electing kamala harris. I found it interesting that keeps getting thrown out at people. Of course im not going to speculate on whether theres a difference in approach but eisenhower was very conscious of what it would be to be a diminished president. We have to remember that president wilson was really almost a scandal that people in the country did know how pale the president was. Ike was determined not to find itself in the situation for the good of the country, and after he had three illnesses during his presidency and after each one of them he would give himself a very arduous test, like around the world trip or a trip to europe the required loss the meetings and lots of stress, and he would always tell his advisers if i dont perform at top level, you have to tell me because then i will resign. In any case that never happened. He became actually rather adroit at managing his time, managing his stress and generally positioning himself to get through his second term. It was interesting also a small tangent but, the doctors lie to them about the heaving thing so we didnt think it was as serious, and he kind of thought he might have made a different decision in 56 if they had warned him about it. I thought i was interesting. One of the biggest decisions about running for a second term as you point out is he at heart attack in 1955. He had a doctor named Howard Snyder, and although there were devoted friends and it been together in one form or another since the war, Howard Snyder actually drove up the wall. First of all, he hovered. He came up with all sorts of things eisenhower wasnt allowed to do, including watching the Army Navy Football game because Howard Snyder decided it was going to raise the presidency blood pressure, you know. Ike really did care about the outcome of that game. And so it was, Howard Snyder was part of the team that kind of come wasnt actually very direct with the president about his phone united situation. And again back to your earlier question, ike was not going to be a diminished president. He might well have decided differently. But i think he really come at the end of the day my grandmother intervene for the first time i think since the early part of their marriage and encouraged him to run again because she thought he would probably die of another heart attack watching everything from the sidelines, you know . Watch out for that high blood pressure. I find it interesting the way your grandmothers decision was much more easy to understand. The doctors decision was this is a guy whos making all these decisions about the war in korea and about this come all these Big Decisions, and youre worried about if watching a football game. Even if he takes it too seriously, that seems a little bit ludicrous. Well, i told that story in the book in the context of how an extraordinary amount of power, how that often works in relationships you have with other people. It doesnt mean that it makes them will terrible, but it does change things. The doctors for some reason, i love this expression, actually try to handle this band which would only make him more wound up im sure because he was a guy just making Big Decisions and was perfectly capable of facing a difficult news. As a matter fact in his last year of his life, i saw this so often how great he was and how right he was to take whatever was coming. As a matteroffact he even volunteered for some rather exotic treatments for his condition because he thought might help people after he was gone. But this wasnt anybody he was straightforward with, i just want to save for the record. That the good transition because before we get to the big issues that he face, i think its good to talk about his personal relationships that he had. The friendships had come people are kept in and is a relationship with him. You have some pictures to show which include some pictures of yourself with them when you were younger. We will get this up on the screen. Theres the picture we have been showing. This is him right around the end of world war ii, right . Yes. This picture was taken in 1945. And i like this picture because i think he looks approachable. Though i would say tired and thats got to be a fairly accurate assessment since its impossible to know how you could be working 100 hours a week or 130 hours a week sometimes, all right, up in the middle of the night and not come out of a stint like that deeply tired. And at 45, how old was he . He was born in 1890. He was 59 years old. If you look at pictures when he was president of Columbia University he looks younger than he does in thatpicture even though it was another five years later. Well, he gave a lot of energy. The next picture is a picture of you. And this is as a teenagerwith the horse. Is there a horse in the picture . I cant see it from here. Perfect. I became an amateur photographer and we have in our family collections also the only things. What i like about that picture is somebody else took a picture of ike taking a picture of me and every time i take a picture it makes me smile because of the bald head of his. As my grandmother always said, she loved to roll over at night in bed and patches little bald head. But if theres a horse in the picture , its from the standpoint i cant quite see it but i was the family horseback rider. So this is a bond we had because the loved horses. The only animals on his farm at the indo in any way shape or form. He was with cattle and he certainly didnt like barnyard cats but he loved his horses. So i think its a great picture. You have a short story in your book about when you are 11 and the horses got away and he had just put in a putting green. His special putting green. You might tell that story because it shows your relationship nicely. I think the story shows a lot about ikes compassion because he put in a putting green and he put the putting green in because he wanted to have some privacy while he practiced his putting. Otherwise he had to have gone to a Gettysburg Country club which he enjoyed doing and seeing people but there wasnt actually anyprivacy in those events. People came out to watch him all so one evening i was padlocking a gate. And five of the horses on the farm pushed against the gate, so sort of almost knocked me over and went running all around the lawn in front of my parents, grandparents sitting there where they always sat in the evening and all five of these forces are running around like crazy and certainly here and going there. Then made a huge sweep across his golf green. And i was more than in a state of panic. Everybody came out field hands, secret service and everybody and we were trying to wrap around these animals. We finally did and then i had to go and safely use it and not only have a role and my grandfather stalking but obviously for dinner. This was one of those moments in childhood that you dont forget. So i walked in. He always in the swivel chair and swiveled around and he looked at me and he said you know what i said your grandmother lesson mark i havent seen horses run like that since i was a kid in kansas. And of course i apologize after that but i never heard it again and it was avery smart move on his part. Because the guilt would be lingering. I never make a mistake like that again but he was very nice not to bring it up or to hold it against me or hold it over my head because i think he knew i was devastated. And wouldnt doit again. Is one of those plastic experiences is in a disney parking for children child make that mistake responsibility and then in the ones where the parents are good, they do what ike did and when theyre bad and look like a witch. I had one more thing. I had the great sense apologize profusely and to take full responsibility and i think that went down very well. I fear i would have had a significant ongoing lecture about personal accountability and i not done so areas. I learned that one already. Here is, hes taking a picture i assume youre in thepicture. You can see from the postpartum painting. Its my mother and three of my four siblings. My youngest sister was born in 1955 after that portrait was painted but it was taken at camp david and i guess one of the helpers at camp david came in and took a picture of him but he took up painting actually after the war. He sort of followedwinston churchills example. He was intrigued by how much painting the Prime Minister did while he was trying to get his head together and then also, his own portrait painter gave him some oil paints as a present and i took it up then and then became really very attached because he found it centered him. And while he was concentrating on the painting he would go out and his mind and workthrough some difficult problems. You have a short story in the book about how he had an exhibit at an art museum and he told somebody theres only one reason theyre beingshown that because i was president. They never get a guy like me an exhibit for a painting look like this. Exactly, he was very modest. Unlike churchill who took his paintings so seriously that he wanted to be regarded almost as aprofessional. I did it to give away as gifts and he gave his cabinet members thinking of them. He painted all hiswartime colleagues. He actually even painted Prince Charles and rinses and for the queen of england and always was all apologies about theirexecution but he had some talent i think. We have a picture here of churchills, the picture of churchill. At the next picture. Looks quite talented. If not amateur. It looks not bad and the other charming thing about this painting is that he actually was able to present it to Prime Minister churchill when churchill, he just stepped down but hewas visiting. In the United States and theres a wonderful picture of churchill sort of looking it over. Like churchill behavior would area actually, ike also painted field marshall renard montgomery who was one of his , one of the personalities. He worked with during world war ii andits a lovely , lovely painting that hangs today in the British Embassy in washington dc. So you said is one of his interesting, sort of a friendly as you call it now. Some thing like that. Got along so they were enemies to read one picture is one gate to you, theres a story with this one class theres a story about this one. I often behind him when he was at the easel. He had inaddition to his retirement years , he always insisted on having a studio somewhere nearby so in the white house was on the second floor overlooking lafayette park. And it was around that time that i was standing behind, admiring his work. This was a landscape, i dont know what the scene is but as i said before he painted usually from postcards. And they were, these landscapes he did were always serene. Its been noted that theres something ironic about it because probably every brushstroke is full of some kind of turbulence hes trying to make sense of. This painting at the bottom is dated 1957. And in 1957, many things happen i was intrigued when i looked at the back of it and it says to susan, 1958. That means its likely a painting that was done first of all during the little rock crisis when eisenhower sent 101st Airborne Division to desegregate Little Rock High School and to escort nine africanamericans to start school in september. And then right after that of course was, the soviet union launched its first artificial satellite or i should say the world for artificial satellite into space. So i look at this painting and i think those strokes must have provided some relief during those times of great controversy and crisis. Going to go back to that, people talk about october surprises and in 1956, your grandfather certainly got to really. But lets finish the pictures and then go ahead and by the way, for the audience, if you have any questions just send them in the chat room. And will ask them and we got your theory and will get to the korean conflict alittle bit later area so next picture is. And thats you, right . Thats me. I look like im terribly thoughtful andhe looks very kind. I like that picture because i want, ive always wanted people to know that he had some very very tough decisions and some very dark times. During our history. When you think about what he saw and when he had ordered during the war, but you know he neverbecame art or cynical. And i think as both a Family Member and as an analyst, i think its remarkable area it says a lot about his character. It seems to me one of the hardest things to do to make those decisions. The later to know that the best so many people will die and that the worst, you dont even succeed at what youre trying to accomplish and even more people will die area and the people made those decisions for us i think its why they get admired for decades and even centuries to come because its so crucial. Your grandfather was certainly one of those. Thenext picture , theres a couple of pictures of him. Theres a picture of him as a young man on a baseball team, just so that you can see him for his ball. Thats right, i was looking and its always fun to see ike with a full head of hair. So hes, george, maybe you coulddescribe which one he is. I think this is in. Thats exactly right. He was, this is the Abilene High School and he was on the baseball team. He was a very good baseball player but i think his real passion was football. And he lost his wife for a little while when he broke his knee and was unable to continue playing football at west point because he had played against jim thorpe as a matter of fact. In the army versus carlisle game and he was regarded as a very fast, effective football player. And that was very discouraging for him. And he had to learn how to snap out of that down her area after taking a cigarette of course. Theres one tangent i didnt plan on going there but it was interesting you mention that all leaders are people who just have to base their whole time but he was not a bad boy but he certainly got himself in trouble when he was at west point and he didnt even go there to become a soldier. He just went there for the free education. Anothervery interesting tangent. He shared that with Ulysses Grant a lot of great leaders turned out to be civilians who had never met or imagine themselves as soldiers. I think one thing worth mentioning, especially in the context of west point is he grew up in a very religious household. And eisenhower were pacifists. They were godfearing pacifists. There wasnt a eisenhower who fought in the civil war so they made ice uncle, Abraham Lincoln eisenhower because they wanted toexpress their views. They were Conscientious Objectors but you can imagine the family feelings when ike goes off to west point because cant wait any longer for his younger brother toput him through college. Fascinating and if youwant more details they are in the book. The next picture is meeting with chris jeff which, your grandfather had a very interesting idea and you mentioned we were talking about earlier. I dont think very many people know about this but he was when he was talking about the distinctions that we what was going on during the cold war it wasnt a matter of capitalism versussocialism or communism. He says actually in the speech to the Commonwealth Club its really about, its really about openness, a democracy versus authoritarianism. Then he goes on to say its about a free and open society as opposed to a closed and secretive society. And i just thought that was rather intriguing. A lot of times in order to fight the enemy you become like the enemy in closing off and becoming present yourself sometimes. Two things, if i could add something here about this picture area this is in 1959 and even though theirsmiling , the United States at this point has been thrown into what is called the berlin ultimatum. T to show up is currently threatening the United States with punitive action. Over berlin and if it had turned into war there would be no way to defend berlin with conventional weapons so it might have turned nuclear. Today we have those kinds of standoffs eisenhower actually invited chris jeff to come to the United States and chris jeff was here for 10 days. 10 days area and during that time, the soviet premier was subjected to eisenhowers grandchildren. As a way to solve the conflict. And all i can say is the future of the world hung in the balance as to whetheror not we were going to be wellbehaved afternoon. He apparently managed to save the world for the first and last time. But no, i shouldnt make jokes about this. It was a very serious time but after the trip the soviets did lift ultimatum with some agreement to continue to talk about it at a summit in paris. Will talk about u2 and as long as we got khrushchev we were going to do it later but let me do it right now. Theres two incidents that famous but also whats fascinating is how much information president eisenhower had about what the russians actually had done and what they had and he knew everybody was lying about the missile gap and this other stuff was driving the cold war. It was perfectly clear that they did not have a force we need to worry about at that time when i was going on they had new information so maybe say a little bit about what happened. Its all intriguing and sputnik is tied up in this area you know, we just had the dawn of this spaceage during his administration there were no rules for outer space at all. Was undecided legally whether or not sovereign airspace wouldextend all the way out into outer space. And so through an agreement with the soviet union, the United States and soviet union agreed to launch our artificial satellites in 1957 Eisenhower Administration, there was no surprise about. The point of free access to space which is what eisenhower strongly endorsed and had to make it possible for the use of the free use of satellites in orbit. And the reason is satellites were so important eisenhowersbecause it would help avert a surprise attack. And before the satellite could be watched, into free access of space, you want it, he proposed overflights for the United States and soviet union supply their aircraft over each country territory to ensure thatthere would not be a Surprise Nuclear attack. Now, i just have to say about the sputnik thing, the administration knew they were going to launch their satellites didnt even feel very badly. As a matter of fact encouraged the soviets to go first behind the scenes without telling them anything but they were sort of hoping that the soviet union would go for so that the soviet union would ask identically. Establish the precedent or for use of our space. So not long after that, the satellites we have been working on, the corona project launched and we could tell from space and from the u2 exactly what the, not i should say quite precisely. What the soviet military buildup look like. Including the number of rockets had. Nevertheless open the way for opposition to Eisenhower Administration and preparation for the 1960 president ial Campaign Area it turned into a scandal which is known as missile gap and the democrats were accusing the Eisenhower Administration of failing to keep up with the huge lead the soviet union allegedly had in rockets and Nuclear Weapons and that kindof thing. It turned out to be a fiction. We were way ahead of the soviet union. And the only way we can eventually tell that were the programs thateisenhower initiated. U2 and also the satellite program. For reconnaissance purposes. Your version of the story made me think they must have some pretty good lawyers on his team advising if you do it thisway , and let the soviets go first and this is going to set the precedent that allow us to get what we want which is this free and open space thing and if we go for where trying to dominate it and it wont work area. We had to because we had proposed the open skies treaty at the Geneva Summit in 55 and the soviet union absolutely rejected. They would have had overflights on the United States but they didnt want this mutual overflight business because they felt were going to use it for targeting purposes. Youcan imagine if we had gone into space first , they would well have accused us of knowing into space or doing what the u2 was meant to do. Its sort of a collocated story but its what i call laying the long game. It took a big big political but when sputnik went up before any of our successful satellites which were im sorry, our successful artificial satellites. Butin the end , it was began to establish a framework for space which are out, allowed all the tremendous amount of vitamins to takeplace about conflict. It was the right man in the right place as he had a long game in his mind a lot and he had plenty of experience with rid other thing that was interesting also tangential about your book was because he had so much dealing with therussians during world war ii and so on , he was in a good position to have a realistic idea about what they were up to and what they would do and what they would do read and he did not consider them open and that they would destroy themselves, that they were somewhat irrational players. My father had a tremendous sense of humor i must say. I asked him what he felt was one of the biggest intelligence conclusions of the 1950s and my father said that the soviets were not earlychristian martyrs. In other words, the assessment was at the soviet leadership was to stay in power. So at a very big difference between wanting to launch a preemptive strike. Thats a big analytical difference. You just mentioned your father. Great story about the conversation he had with president eisenhowers father. About courier, he wanted to go to korea and he wanted to go back with his troops to korea. This is pretty serious, you can find out about that when you are young. Did you find out when your father was still alive . Georges story to summarize is when general eisenhower becomes president eisenhower, now hes got just a fivestar general. As a matter of fact he gave up his Army Commission to run for president because we dont have general as president of the United States area so he suddenly is the commanderinchief and is my father who is a graduate of west point two. And an army officer was stationed in korea. Comes back or his fathers inauguration and then they had a very serious thought and i said you have to decide whether youre going to go back to your unit in korea or ill command you to stay inside the United States but heres the deal, if you go back to korea you need to carry a handgun with you at all times and you have to promise me and this is in order, promise me you will never be taken asa hostage. Or be in a situation where youcould put the president of the United States in any jeopardy. So what that really adds up tois my father agreed to commit suicide. As if you were in a situation where he was going to be taken hostage area and into town, it sounds like by that time my father and mother alreadyhad three kids. I was the third of that group. As i say my sister mary came along in 1955. This is several yearsbefore. Its kind of stunning today. We think actually our leaders ought to be sending their kids oversees the potential for blackmail and put the president of the United States in opposition that would undermine the security of the United Statesis unacceptable for those two officers and my father agreed. Thankfully, he lived to the age of 91 and he came home from korea without having to take such a drastic and tragic step. Its such a telling detail about the difference in time and place and what they had already gone through with the war this father and son and make this deal and both understood that all, thats the only thing you could do. Also, theyre both military men. Its called doing your duty. Because the Mission Always supersedes any individual desires or however you like to put. I think it is moving. I sort of think that story is important because you understand Dwight Eisenhower is to understand he was trained as a military mind. He was a strategic leader. He was somebody who was highly self discipline. He didnt like histrionics. He didnt like over emotionalism. He believed in selfdiscipline and process and process for him was extremely important because he didnt want to subordinate freelancing and he certainly didnt want to make any impetuous uninformed decisions. And that is all training that comes out of our lifelong experience inthe military, especially at the highest levels. Rick stories about how he deals with the whole weaponry issue and everything. Making three different commissions. The kind of did in this very elaborate way lets move on to the next question or the next pictureso here is talking to the soldiers. Several great stories. Not only at the time during world war ii but after, 10 years after i think the 82nd Airborne Unit with them. He had met with them i think this is the group that hes meeting with now on their way off the fly. And i think its interesting because i dont think people realize how personal he made this and how difficult that must have been to do that. This is, this picture is taking taken on june 5, just as the paratroopers are about to take off to the normandy coast. Two unknown states. And part of the reason i think this particular picture is so wonderful is at his face and how hes filing. I think its particularly noteworthy because the airborne drop, his decision about the airborne drop was probably one of those topics of that whole normandy enterprise and the reason for it is rather simple. His technical experts, air marshal lee mallory, a british air marshal was responsible for the 24,000. Troopers drop, warren about general eisenhower about a week before that the day assault was to take place and he thought that the paratroopers should be canceled because the germans and reinforced a position and he thought was dangerous and that to 50 and 70 percent of paratroopers and glider troops would be lost in this exercise. So i went into a room for two hours and decided against recommendation cause the paratroopers were central or opening a number of pathways off utah and omaha beach. And i think whats moving about this picture is that having made that decision a week earlier and having written a note for his pockets that says the landing has failed. The responsibility is mine andmine alone. He goes out and he looks at the paratroopers in theeye. Thinking in his mind his technical experts said between 50 and 70 percent of these boys are not coming home. There was another thing i think that you detail is the fact that the original dj plans when he got his handson them , he changed them and increases to double the size of the invasion and this plan about the paratroopers landing. And recently the advisor wasnt right was four percent diet and 10 percent wounded or Something Like that still a high amount but not all what he was and they succeeded and everyone is without that , the overall it could have been an overall disaster area. The paratroopers for the linchpin of the operation area i can tell you pretty much eisenhower is a point and its because we know its. His the 101st airborne. We know it because a number of them came back and told us what was being talkedabout. And he was asking them about home. He wasnt getting them up at talk about getting on a plane and dropping behind lines in normandy. He was telling them about home and i once asked my father why would he do that . And my father, a military officer said they knew what they were about to go do and they wereprobably scared half to death. Imagine that smile and a man who came out and had the courage to look them in the eye before they took off. Dont worry general, were going to win. You know, a Great Exchange really. Very moving, a lot of moving tales in the story of yourgrandfather. I think next picture is, thats him at a dday remembrance years later. You know about how old is . He would have been about 75. It was the day across 20 years that picture was taken. He gave an interview to Walter Cronkite and they drove all throughthe normandy coast line. And of course, this is American Cemetery before it had been completelyfinished. It was a long process to the cemetery together this is the first time ike had come back. During the presidency the 10th anniversary of the day occurred in 1955 when he was president and he did not want to politicize the the, whats really hollow ground so he said sent a gift to the people of normandy and spent the day in seclusion but here he comes back and hes talking to Walter Cronkite and he said look at the pain in his face. All of those kids who didnt make it. And he was responsible for the decisions that may have caused some ofthose people their lives. So then Walter Cronkite said what do you think when yousit here . I am very moved by this, he said they gave us another chance. And he says the questionis what are we going to do with that chance . And i in no way think that we are at a crossroads today where we have to ask ourselves what are we going to do with the chance we have by the time we move beyond this crisis . Are we going to be a more United Country or are we going to allow our divisions to separate us as a people . Thats really a greatsegue. We have audio of president eisenhower. He spoke at the Commonwealth Club here six years ago and as you know, i have a little clip maybe about three minutes long where everybody can hear his voice. Its not as commonly heard as president kennedys voice for example with the clips but the way he says what he says is almost as important as what he says and i think its relevant for today as you were saying. As soon as that clip gets started we will listen to it. I find it fascinating as we were saying a little bit earlier. This generation of men, my father was in the war. He dropped off in north africa, went up through italy and sicily. Just go ahead and run it. Im glad to be here this evening to sustain your perfect score as having as a speaker every president of the United States since this club was founded at the beginning of thecentury. [applause] sorry we dont have live audio right now. Moved by wisdom developed out of experience, the organizer of this club if i for their new creation a noble and necessary purpose. Southern government in their state. This energizing spot was the belief that and i think take these words from this time, california suffers greatly because the best elements of the population failed to cooperate on the common good as effectively as the elements cooperate for evil purposes. The dedication of that group and the unwitting efforts of its membership to pursue a course of sound governments. For the almost 6 decades of the clubs existence. The word commonwealth signifies a group united by common interest. But equally a significant is the fact that in the political realm, a Commonwealth Avenue Mister Webster defined has come to me generally association based upon free choice. Tonight i shall try to apply to some aspects of the world of International Affairs the things principle of this organization. That this state suffered because of a failure of some elements to cooperate as effectively for good asothers did for evil. No group, no matter how wellintentioned can cooperate fully unless there is for a firm basis of common understanding. With the founders of your club recognize. By noting that one of the great difficulties was that different groups in california did not know each other. They were separated by wide areas and they also distrusted each other. Just as a california of 1903, theodore club was founded was a far cry from the commonwealth of california today. So the world as we turned into the 20th century is carefully recognizable as the one we know in 1960. And the same issues are here. And as he said, can people cooperate . One of the issues you talked about in the book in several places is that your grandfather was really not either a democrat or republican. He was amoderate. And he works together quite often and in fact in his he had democrats as is to be done. And it seems to me, he was worried about the extremists. Both ends those extremists at the time on the right was the john birch society. It was the mccarthy anticommunist. Unless there were the communists and people who were trying to help the soviet union to succeed. And other groups were extreme. And he tried to run through the middle. And he was a horse criticize or not moving fast enough to buy one group and criticized for going toofast like other group. He definitely went right up the middle and i have often thought today, its interesting because its almost like the democrats and republicans not knowing shot themselves in their own feet by gerrymandering all of the congressional districts. They did not cause what happened back in the 80s but they did in order to ensure that all got reelected but it wasnt made the primary election the actual election because their group was always going to win as a result of which was the extreme because the primaries. We can undo that process. And both parties it seems to me to be interested in but if they dont getinterested in , we could do that what other president eisenhower that said about getting the democrats that are moderates and the republicans are moderate to Work Together and do that instead. Because people and i think about 60 percent of the voters it seems only are right in that situation. So its very interesting and i think thats a nice framework all the different issues he covered. One of, we have a couple questions here so theres plenty ofthings were going to cover. So many issues that he did but lets ask the questions were asked like gary landman asks what was mikes strategy toprevent a flareup of the corinth monthly. It was a helmet going. On. And he came in as a general a lot of people will win the war for us but not how you went aboutdoing. Because he was very realistic about that and about iron curtain, maybe you cantalk a little bit about how he with. Of course, its a long story. They always are but i think if youre to look at his well, let me start by saying after he was electedpresident , he went to korea as he promised during the campaign. And he actually took a helicopter ride over the terrain. Pretty close to the front as a matter of fact he was on the front i would have thought was rather dangerous for newly elected president but he wanted to see the terrain. He wanted to see the lay of the land firsthand. I think the terrain already worried him a lot. Especially given the positions of both sides and he thoughtthat this was just not a winnable war. Unless you know, it becomes a bit more and weapons are used. He just didnt think it was going to succeed and he was very much against wars without end. Would believe not just human lives lead the economy and it would believe energy and attention. The said about working out negotiations that led to the armistice, this later became a great point of contention as you know we those who were in favor of making the world safe for america to engage in small wars versus eisenhowers view that small wars start small but can get big. They can get big fast if your adversary is losing. And then in this particular case of course later, the adversary was the soviet union and had weapons to match our own including the Hydrogen Bomb that hadntbeen developed before i came to the presidency. So yes, it turned out that there was, it wasnt just the unitedstates. There was some flexibility that seemed to be present among our enemies in that fight. So armistice was achieved and its still in place and i guess thats the last chapter of the current situation. What are we going to do and are we going to stay in korea or are we ever going to be able to negotiate some kind of proper end to that war. One of the things, another big issue that you dealt with after the war was how to deal with germany and we wont go into a lot of detail about that because theres so many things to cover but he did Say Something interesting which you recording your book. Ill consider a policy towards germany accessible if 50 years laterits a thriving democracy. And in 1995 which was years after he said that at the end of the war was only a couple of years after germany and reunited as all one country certainly is a thriving democracy area so whatever is longrange strategies were that willwork. Once right on point and its amazing. The chinese were told, the chinese lookahead years and were told the russians look ahead would be senselesswe have had president s have done. And they cant keep the policies in place if somebody takes them away but they set the policies in a way that they make enough sense that people continue to read and i think a lot ofthose were done. I just want to say i think of course he was a strategic leader during the war and as president and i think he was always looking or sustainable strategies. And you know, i like the idea of a sustainable strategy because its a good strategy. If it stays in place to meet the needs of ourlonger period of time. Some of the things we call strategies today at like a one term halflife and then we have to or can go on for longer than that of course been big course corrections be made. And i think actually i accomplishments hold up pretty well over the decades. He was playing the long game anyway. When he liberated concentration camp. It was horrified, horrified by what he saw so shocked he said he still cant find words for how he and he was very articulate writer. You know, his first reaction is what are people going to say in 50 years. Are they going to say the holocaust never happened unless we chronicle it now. So he sent everyone including my father into those camps to photographic. Punishment came from the United States and that was all on his orders. The other elements that we were talking about trust. It seems to me you have a problem in our and are trying to come to an agreement with each other today. Everybody has their own point of view which is has always been true. Getting is a democracy, that iseverybody gets to have their point of view. People are very mad at the educated elite for trying to run things on principles and so on and so forth. Its against the way they would want to do. So you need to have a persuasive argument about an in addition to that you take all the groups and you say what is it we have in common . One of the things weve learned over the years is that its all right if we educate women. Theyre not going to be the end of society and in fact our society is now better area its moreproductive. Its not bad if we educate all kinds of people, everybody should be educated. Anybody who doesnt want to be educated , another argument. They dont want to, thats fine but you have a certain elements of what it is that we can have in common and say that our goal, and we all agree, not all 70 percent agree on those goals, and we can trust each other if we just stick to thosegoals. This is what will work on together the rest of it is, but people in politics the promise what theyre going to accomplish. And nobodys going to promise what theyre going to accomplish cause theres a whole bunch of people who you have to get to agree with you. Thats true. Eisenhower once said i think it was the beginning of his administration and he was describing crowd, he said he described as a fear in the hearts of men. I think he understood that what underlies a lot of this lack of trust is here. Your point, and so its the role of a responsible leader to put into perspective the fears we may have. Versus how dire things are and we got to the point in this country now where everythingseparate. Im really sorry but not all threats are equal. And some are more important than others. And i think this is one thing our reader might get from this book is the way a true strategist thinks about these things is to understand what the fundamental questions are. Cause nobodys as effective if they take on every issue what are the ones that are going to keep, what is the long pole in the tent is going to keep the tent from collapsing. People who mistakedont realize the main temple is coming down. And the idea about the year is right. One of the reasons we were successful after world war ii was the level in america. Yes, there were big scary things going on. The Nuclear Weapons were abig scary things from our childhood as you remember. Several other things but there was still the confidence that we can meet our problems and overcome them. Because we overcame bigger problems already in world war ii so why can we do these . I think the amount of fear generated since 9 11 about this and then the next thing the next thing. Even though there were plenty of terrorists in the 70s and 80s in europe and america it didnt scare people as much. Theres a certain amount ofpolitical exploitation around fear. People in washington say if you want to get anything done on capitol hill or a the white house you have to say its a National Security threat and i have one cynical friend who calls it threat marketing. Whatever the case is you see the early beginningsof that with the missile gap in the story ive written. And its certainly, we should be vigilant and alert at all times but we have to also understand that the state of our economy , the moral authority way half as a country domestically and internationally, all these things are critical to our own National Security military capability sure that wasnt the only thing that was part of our National Security. Because i dont think human nature will change too much except that politicians will use this threat marketing in order to get ahead but what i would hope for is they would be like johnkennedy did. Once he won he said its not as bad as wesaid. And to bring it back down again. I understand its just like a game. Its like trash talking in a basketball game. Upset the other person so theyre not at the top of the game so youwin the day. In a way that shows a lack of confidence that you can with the game without doing it but we will talk about that because thats the way all games are mostly played it would be nice if the politicians would say i was just getting or not i was getting but now that im here and ive found that all the information is not as bad as i said so we can all go back to feeling a little bit more comfortable. Because level of fear is really the thingthat dissolves society. Its , you just. Theres another fear thereto which is probably intruding as part of the result of social media and just a whole bunch of cultural factors. But people are very afraid of being seen as weak. Or as a winner or a loser. And these are, i dont think my grandfather would understand that at all. You really believe in Second Chances if you believe in Second Chances and you dont believe in the whole winter loser accusations that are hurled that people these are attacks on peoples motives and their personalities and i dont think it helps all. It doesnt help because people might make illinformed decisions just so that there they seem to be doing something when in fact spending more time studying the issue, looking at the background thinking about the longterm consequences would be more productive. Grandfather certainly embodied one of my neck since in my writing is everyone is a loser, winners and losers with more patience. Thats good, i like that. We had one last question. And in time for it. From evidence. How did he find a different the leader in the military versus the world of politics and government. Sort of which one was more difficult for him. You address that in your book and i thought it was interesting. Im so happy for that question because theres no question that Dwight Eisenhower had a learning curve when got into fullblown retail politics. First of all, one of the big differences is when your fivestar general, everybody , you outrank everybody. And the military is organized in a way to follow orders and i would say that and i think its pretty evident in the book that its as a fivestar general, you he was remarkably flexible and he was not like his formerboss. General Douglas Macarthur who was tough on troops and was addicted to the attention he received. I wanted to be on macarthur i think. In any case, but in any case i think he described during the chief of staff years where he said that the biggest job in the military as commander, is to through how you really views things and what his strategies going tobe then to bring others along. To lead people. And he says but ive noticed from being in washington making up your own mind on something only just the beginning ofthe problem. And then he outlines all the various problems there are. You dont know who is connected to and who has a grudge against two area this is in actually a very funny and i think its probably particularly funny because you wrote in his diary which he never felt would get published for all of us to read andenjoy. But you know, you saw some early hiccups in the campaign and later, like well, mostly in the campaign but he picked up the algorithm of it pretty quickly. And i can just say that if we dont understand some of those pickups like his staff releasing his speech during mccarthy encounter, and minnesota then were missing the adjustments he had tomake. I think probably anytime any leaks or any staff did not do what they were told to do, this was a big problem with him. The cause it isnt what you do in the military. So he ran a tight ship atthe white house. And believe it or not, his associates were tremendously respectful of it. I knew many of his associates they like the fact that they were given a lot of leeway. He was a very good person delegating. They understood that they had to be personally responsible for the decisions they were making to area i should add that of course that ive now had a pretty good sense of who needed the short range and who he could give more latitude to area but its a fascinating question, thank you for asking because we can study eisenhower the president or study eisenhower the general we dont really the two of them together as much as we should cause this adjustment was a real one starting with his role as chief of staff ofthe army. And going on from there. The people skills of dealing with so many different kinds of general including the big egotists he had to deal with and patton and douglasmacarthur who used to be his boss. At one thing with politicians he had to learn a whole new set of buttons to push or whatever you understand these people. What drives them . Certainly not truth, certainly not trying to win the war area anyway, i thought you did a wonderful job of showing both sides of the is a great book for those of you, much more detail , get it and enjoy it and im sorry youre all at home and have time to read it but there it is. Its a great idea for anybody that wants to go back to that training time though thank you susan for explaining your book and the great pictures of your grandfather and of yourself from your childhood and so ends another advantage the Commonwealth Club and its 118th year ofenlightened discussion. Watching tv on cspan2 every weekend with the latest nonfiction books and authors. Cspan2, created by Cable Television companies as a Public Service brought to you today by your television provider. American history tv on cspan3 exploring the people and events tell the american story every weekend area coming up tonight at 8 pm eastern august march the 75th anniversary of the bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki. 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