The FReeper Foxhole Profiles President Dwight David Eisenhower - Oct 11th, 2003

Grolier.com ^ | Stephen E. Ambrose and George H. Mayer

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
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FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

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General of the Army
Dwight David Eisenhower
(1890-1969)

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Dwight David Eisenhower, American general and 34th PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES was the principal architect of the successful Allied invasion of Europe during World War II and of the subsequent defeat of Nazi Germany. As president, Eisenhower ended the Korean War, but his two terms (1953-1961) produced few legislative landmarks or dramatic initiatives in foreign policy. His presidency is remembered as a period of relative calm in the United States.

Newly weds, David Jacob and Ida Stover Eisenhower, September 23, 1885.

Eisenhower spent his first 50 years in almost total obscurity. A professional soldier, he was not even particularly well known within the U.S. Army. His rise to fame during World War II was meteoric: a lieutenant colonel in 1941, he was a five-star general in 1945. As supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, he commanded the most powerful force ever assembled under one man. He is one of the few generals ever to command major naval forces; he directed the world's greatest air force; he is the only man ever to command successfully an integrated, multinational alliance of ground, sea, and air forces. He led the assault on the French coast at Normandy, on June 6, 1944, and held together the Allied units through the European campaign that followed, concentrating everyone's attention on a single objective: the defeat of Nazi Germany, completed on May 8, 1945.

In 1950, President Harry TRUMAN appointed Eisenhower the supreme commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces, thus making Eisenhower the first man to command a large, peacetime multinational force. His genius lay in getting people of diverse background to work together toward a common objective, but he was equally skillful as a strategist and administrator.

He displayed the same talents as president, but they did not produce the same spectacular results. The discipline characteristic of military organizations was unknown to American politics, and rebellion against his leadership occurred frequently--the more so because his REPUBLICAN party controlled CONGRESS during only two of Eisenhower's eight years in office. His dislike of politics was also a handicap. He calmed fears about Communist infiltration of the national government. He provided partial relief from the divisiveness engendered by his predecessor's approach to issues, yet Eisenhower's achievements seem less impressive in retrospect because he minimized the importance of racial tensions and of socioeconomic antagonisms that erupted so explosively in the 1960's.


His first known photo, seven year old Arthur, baby Roy, four year old Edgar and three year old David Dwight.

Although only a little above average in height and weight, Eisenhower dominated any gathering of which he was a member. His bald pate, prominent forehead, and broad mouth made his head seem larger than it was. He had a wonderfully expressive face, and it was impossible for him to conceal his feelings.

He had a sharp, orderly mind. No one thought of him as an intellectual giant, and outside his professional field he was not well read. He was not likely to come up with brilliant insights. But he could look at a problem, analyze it, see what alternatives were available, and choose from among them. His beliefs were those of Main Street; his personality that of the outgoing, affable American writ large.

Almost everyone liked him. His easy manners, his obvious concern with the welfare of others, his ability to listen patiently--all contributed to his popularity. Most important was his trustworthy nature. His grin, his mannerisms, and his generosity and kindness all exuded sincerity.

Childhood

Eisenhower's parents, David and Ida Stover Eisenhower, both belonged to the River Brethren, a fundamentalist Christian sect. David and Ida met as students at Lane University, operated by the United Brethren Church in Lecompton, Kans. They married in 1885. David's father, a prosperous farmer, gave him $2,000 and a 160-acre farm as wedding gifts. However, David hated the drudgery of farming and sold out, investing in a general store in Hope, Kans. Within three years the business failed, and David was broke. He fled to Denison, Texas, leaving behind a son and a pregnant wife. He worked as a laborer on a railroad for $40 a month and in 1889 sent for his family to join him in Texas. There Dwight was born on Oct. 14, 1890. When Dwight was less than a year old, David took a job at the Belle Springs Creamery in Abilene, Kans., and the family moved into a small house in Abilene. There David and Ida raised six healthy boys--a seventh son died in infancy--on a salary that never exceeded $100 a month. Each of the six surviving sons achieved success.


Promising West Point football player, Dwight Eisenhower, kicks in 1912. An injury would cut short Ike's collegiate football career, but he found success in other areas.

Ida ran a tightly organized household. The Eisenhowers raised almost all their own food, selling the surplus for cash. The boys worked to earn their spending money. David led weekly Bible reading sessions. He and Ida moved steadily toward a more primitive Christianity, eventually joining the Jehovah's Witnesses. None of their sons became notably devout--Dwight never joined a church and rarely attended a church service in his adult life--but none staged a dramatic rebellion against religion either. At the core of his parents' religion was an ingrained respect for the individual as a creature of God who had free will. They insisted that their boys be fully exposed to Christianity, but beyond that they did not impose their beliefs. The Eisenhowers also encouraged their children to be independent and self-reliant.

Although Dwight attracted little attention in the classroom, he stood out in athletic competition through grade school and high school. After graduating from Abilene High School in 1909, Dwight went to work in the creamery, partly to support an older brother in college. He took a competitive examination for an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, both because a free education was too good to pass up and because of the opportunity to play football. He passed the examination, then found that he was too old to go to Annapolis and instead in 1911 went to the Military Academy at West Point.

Military Career

Sports were his all-consuming interest. At the academy he was average in everything else. During his second year Eisenhower played halfback on the Army team, and sportswriters began to predict All-American honors for him, but a twisted knee during the season ruined his football career. The blow to his emotions was worse. His roommate described Eisenhower as a man who had lost interest in life. Eisenhower graduated in 1915, 61st in a class of 164.


Mamie, David Dwight ("Icky"), and Dwight Eisenhower, ca.1919

Marriage

Two weeks after reporting for duty as a 2d lieutenant of Infantry at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, he met Mamie Geneva Doud. He immediately embarked on a courtship. Miss Doud came from a wealthy Denver family and was accustomed to a life of ease and luxury, which a young Army officer could hardly offer. She tried to discourage her suitor, but he persisted, and on July 1, 1916, they were married in Denver. The union was an eminently happy one. They had two sons. One died as a child. The other, John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower, graduated from the Military Academy on the day Dwight Eisenhower launched the invasion of Europe. He later served as ambassador to Belgium. Mamie Eisenhower died in Washington on Nov. 1, 1979.

Early Promotions

In 1917, shortly after the U.S. entered World War I, Eisenhower was promoted to captain. He wanted desperately to go to France to lead men in battle, but he was such an outstanding instructor and trainer of men that the Army kept him in the United States. In March 1918 he took command of Camp Colt, a tank training center at Gettysburg, Pa. There he spent the rest of the war, learning a great deal about armored warfare and about turning civilians into soldiers, earning a Distinguished Service Medal for his services, but getting no promotions or combat experience. He was promoted to major in 1920 and in the next year graduated from the Tank School at Camp Meade, Md. But outward signs of progress hid inner drift. He had little interest in his profession, spent most of his time coaching football teams on Army posts, and could not see much of a future for himself.


Dwight Eisenhower, far right, with three unidentified associates, in 1919 during the time the 29-year-old lieutenant colonel, four years out of West Point, participated in a transcontinental military convoy trek.

Then, in 1922, he was transferred to the Panama Canal Zone as executive officer for the 20th Infantry Brigade. There he met Gen. Fox Conner, who stimulated Eisenhower's interest in the profession of arms. Conner gave Eisenhower what amounted to a graduate course in military history. They spent hours talking about military and international problems. Conner told Eisenhower that a certain Col. George C. Marshall would lead the American forces in the next war--which he was certain would come--and urged Eisenhower to try for an assignment under Marshall. Conner also impressed on Eisenhower the idea that the next war would be worldwide and those who directed it would have to think in terms of world rather than single-front strategy. Even after he was a retired president, Eisenhower would say, "Fox Conner was the ablest man I ever knew."

Staff Assignments

In 1925, thanks to Conner's help, Eisenhower went to the Command and General Staff School in Leavenworth, Kans. He worked hard, graduating first in a class of 275. In 1927 he prepared a guidebook on European battlefields of World War I. In 1928 he graduated from the Army War College in Washington, D. C. By this time his reputation in the Army was that of an outstanding staff officer, uncommonly good at preparing reports.



From 1929 to 1933, Eisenhower served in the office of the assistant secretary of war. He produced a long report on industrial mobilization in the event of war. In 1933 he became assistant to the chief of staff, Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Although MacArthur was too flamboyant for Eisenhower's taste, MacArthur appreciated and depended on Eisenhower's administrative and writing abilities. When MacArthur went to the Philippines in 1935 as military adviser to the Commonwealth, he asked the War Department to detail Major Eisenhower to him as senior assistant. Eisenhower spent the next four years in the Philippines helping MacArthur build up the defenses of the islands. He made no secret of the fact that he disliked the duty and wanted command of troops.

In early 1940, Eisenhower, now a lieutenant colonel, became executive officer of the 15th Infantry Regiment at Fort Ord, Calif., but the Army quickly sent him back to staff work. In March 1940 he became chief of staff of the 3d Division at Fort Lewis, Wash., and in 1941 rose to colonel and chief of staff for Gen. Walter Krueger, commander of the 3d Army at Fort Sam Houston. In the summer of 1941 he made the plans for Krueger's 3d Army in the Louisiana maneuvers, the largest ever held in peacetime in the United States. Eisenhower did so well that for the first time he attracted some notice outside the Army. He was also promoted to brigadier general.

On Dec. 14, 1941, George Marshall, now Army chief of staff, called Eisenhower to Washington and put him in the War Plans Division with special responsibility for the Far East. Eisenhower was stuck behind a desk again, working 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. Marshall, who was trying to cut the deadwood out of the Army's general officer ranks and was looking for vigorous younger men to lead the war effort, was impressed. In March 1942, he made Eisenhower a major general and head of the Operations Division. In June he added another star and sent Eisenhower to London to take command of the U.S. forces in the European Theater of Operations.

[SAMWolf]

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

Nurture and nature played their respective roles in shaping Dwight Eisenhower. Physically, he inherited a strong, tough, big, athletic body and extremely good looks, with a quite fabulous grin, along with keen intelligence. He also inherited a strong competitive streak from his parents, plus a bad temper, along with unquestioning love, stern discipline, ambition, and religion. They made him study, read the Bible aloud, do chores. They instilled in him a series of controls over his emotions, his temper most of all. They gave him a solid Victorian outlook on the relations between the sexes and on proper conduct. All his life he would blush if he slipped and said a "hell" or a "damn" in front of a lady......

At West Point, and in his first twenty-five years in the Army, Eisenhower satisfied few of his ambitions-- he didn't get to war and he was still a lieutenant colonel-- but he learned his profession and demonstrated another characteristic trait, patience.

After Pearl Harbor his star rose, and soon he was in Washington, making war plans for Chief of Staff George C. Marshall, and then on to London, to take command of the American forces in England. This threw him into the middle of the great decision-making process of the Allies, at the highest level, dealing daily with Winston Churchill. He proved to be an outstanding diplomat and politician, not only with Churchill but with Free French leader Charles de Gaulle and other Frenchmen as well. He was successful because he was true to his character....

Indeed, whenever associates described Eisenhower, there was one word that almost all of them, superiors or subordinates, used. It was trust. People trusted him for the most obvious reason-- he was trustworthy. British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery didn't think much of Eisenhower as a soldier, but he appreciated other attributes. "His real strength lies in his human qualities," Montgomery said. "He has the power of drawing the hearts of men toward him as a magnet attracts the bit of metal. He merely has to smile at you, and you trust him at once." .......

By 1952, the year Eisenhower entered into politics at age sixty-two, his character, as formed by heredity and experience, was set in cement. It included qualities of love, honesty, faithfulness, responsibility, modesty, generosity, duty, and leadership, along with a hatred of war. These were bedrock.

Or were they? This paragon of virtue had lived in the shelter of the Army nearly all his life. Character-testing opportunities or temptations were almost unknown to him. It is easy to be virtuous when virtue is rewarded, as it was in the Army; not so easy when virtue is ignored and partisanship is rewarded, as in politics.....

On racial matters... Eisenhower seemed to come up short. He was a segregationist. He was an infant when Plessy v. Ferguson established the doctrine of separate but equal, making segregation the law of the land...

As President, segregation proved a...test of character. He appointed Governor Earl Warren of California to the post of Chief Justice, something he later regretted. His Attorney General, Herbert Brownell, and the Justice Department made the case for integration in 1954 in Brown v. Topeka before the Warren Court, something Eisenhower regretted but did not prevent. The Court ordered the integration of the public schools with all deliberate speed, which Eisenhower thought was a terrible mistake because the schools were the most sensitive place to proceed, by far. He preferred beginning with public parks, motels, cafes, and the like...

There is no doubt of Eisenhower's dislike for Brown. But there is also no doubt of his sense of duty and responsibility. Whatever one thought of Brown, he told (his childhood friend Swede) Hazlett, "I hold to the basic purpose. There must be respect for the Constitution-- which means the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution-- or we shall have chaos. We cannot possibly imagine a successful form of government in which every individual citizen would have the right to interpret the Constitution according to his own convictions, beliefs, and prejudices. Chaos would develop. This I believe with all my heart-- and shall always act accordingly."

On the other hand, he abhorred the thought of using force. He said in a press conference in the summer of 1957 that he could imagine no circumstances that would lead him to use the U.S. Army to enforce integration. So he wanted to uphold the Court, but not use force to do so.......

His willingness to listen, his known sympathy with white southerners, his failure to give his public support to Brown v. Topeka, and his general lack of leadership on the question of the day, gave one southern governor the notion that he could roll the President. Orval Faubus of Arkansas defied a court order to integrate Central High in Little Rock. He called out the Arkansas National Guard and placed it around the high school, with orders to prevent the entry into the school of about a dozen Negro pupils.

This was the great moral and character test of the Eisenhower presidency. He met it head-on. Despite his own feelings about the mistakes being made in implementing Brown, and his horror at the thought of using American troops in American cities, he called out the 101st Airborne and sent it to Little Rock. At Brownell's suggestion, he ordered the Arkansas National Guard into federal service, thus stealing Faubus's army out from under him and putting it to duty helping the 101st ensure an orderly and peaceful integration of Central High.

It was a brilliant stroke and the action of a man of principle. It settled forever the question of whether the federal government would use force to break down segregation.....

His special triumphs came in the field of foreign affairs and were directly related to his character. By making peace in Korea five months after taking office, and avoiding war thereafter, and by holding down the cost of the arms race, he achieved greatness. No one knows how much money he saved the United States, no one knows how many lives he saved, by ending the war in Korea and refusing to enter any others, despite a half-dozen and more virtually unanimous recommendations that he order a first strike.....

He was an inspiring and effective leader, indeed a model of leadership. The elements of his leadership were varied, deliberate, and learned. He exuded simplicity. He deliberately projected an image of the folksy farm boy from Kansas. But in fact he was capable of a detached, informed, and exhaustive examination of problems and personalities, based on wide and sophisticated knowledge and deep study. He projected a posture of being above politics, but he studied and understood and acted on political problems and considerations more rigorously than most lifelong politicians ever could.

His magnetic appeal to millions of his fellow citizens seemed to come about as a natural and effortless result of his sunny disposition. But he worked at his apparent artlessness. That big grin and bouncy step often masked depression, doubt and utter weariness, for he believed it was the critical duty of a leader to always exude optimism. He made it a habit to save all his doubts for his pillow.

Excerpted from an essay by Stephen Ambrose

[U S Army EOD]

My uncle had a cat named "Catfish" that use to sit up on the bank and watch you fish. When the cork went under, Catfish went in after the fish. Catfish lived a long life but had to make at least three trips to the vet to get hooks out of her.

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks SAM for the added info from Ambrose on Ike.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Evening everyone! Good thread, Sam, thanks.

Eisenhower brought to the presidency both the assets and limitations of a military background: a talent for administrative efficiency qualified by a deficient background in national problems outside the sphere of foreign relations. He established a chain of command, delegated broad responsibility to subordinates, and freed himself to grapple with the larger issues. He also attempted to learn about race relations, economic questions, and the intricacies of partisan politics. Although his knowledge grew steadily in all three areas, it seldom prompted him to vigorous action. He sought consensus above all else, and shunned bold, controversial programs. This tendency was reinforced by his belief that many problems would be better solved at the local level than through initiatives from Washington. Because he admired businessmen and relied heavily on them in staffing his administration, Eisenhower was exposed to little dissent from his advisers.

[snippy_about_it]

Good Evening Victoria, nice graphic.

[SAMWolf]

Evening Victoria. Thanks.

You keep finding good graphics for us, thank you.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Thanks Snippy. Hope you're having a nice weekend.

[snippy_about_it]

Hope you're having a nice weekend.

I am, thank you, hope you are too.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Hi Sam, you're welcome.

(Two can live as cheaply as one, for half as long.)

LOL, you got me laughing.

[PhilDragoo]

The Eisenhower family in 1902. Back row--Dwight, Edgar, Earl, Aurthur, and Roy; front row--David, Milton, and Ida

General Fox Conner, Ike's mentor (Panama Canal Zone)

I find this immensely inspiring and characteristic of the man.

The division of Germany was decided at Yalta; why Churchhill should badger Ike to drive for Berlin is unfathomable.

As absurd as Montgomery's insistence--with Churchhill's support--of all the resources for a dash for solo glory.

Article references the "demagogic McCarthy". McCarthy's charge of Communists in the government has been borne out by the Venona transcripts. This partial decryption of Soviet cables proves McCarthy was right.

We Need Adlai Badly--or not. Stevenson defended the Soviet spy Alger Hiss.

I just read the Hungarian Revolution was betrayed by KGB moles in Radio Free Europe who broadcast the go codes three days premature. Ike is the perennial whipping boy for having raised hopes he could not or would not support.

Col. L. Fletcher Prouty, for eight years the liason between the Joint Chiefs and special operations, said the Powers U-2 was sabotaged to torpedo the summit, that the CIA or its upstream distrusted Ike's attempts at detente, peaceful coexistence, can't we all just get along.

Powers later concurred, stating in a television interview that he suspected sabotage. Then his news helicopter "ran out of gas" and he became a victim of sabotage--a second and final time.

We collected as many different buttons as we could and stood out on the street on election day waving signs.

They, with Daley, stole the '60 election, but Nixon had too much class to contest the results--class not preventing Gore from contesting the Florida count and excluding military ballots.

Kennedy refused Cabell's plea for the final strike on Castro's three T-33's and the invasion was slaughtered.

Khruschev smelled blood in the water and moved missiles into Cuba and built the Berlin Wall.

Kennedy [thought he] got the missiles out of Cuba by promising not to invade Cuba and by removing Pershing missiles from Turkey.

Kennedy issued NSAM 263 October 11, 1963 beginning the withdrawal of the 16,000 U.S. advisors in South Vietnam.

Kennedy had made it clear that a) he would run for re-election; b) without Johnson; and, c) would then not waive Hoover's mandatory retirement; having d) fired Dulles, Bissell, Cabell et al.

The disgruntled (including Marcello whom RFK had twice deported and Hoffa whom RFK had persistently pursued) arranged for a public display of their displeasure at Dealey Plaza.

[Johnson signed NSAM 273 reversing JFK's 263 the first business day after JFK's funeral, Tuesday, November 26, 1963.]

Col. L. Fletcher Prouty ascribed it to the military-industrial complex (which Churchhill called the Cabal) having to sell helicopters and other wares.

Military-Industrial Complex Speech
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
January 17, 1961

My fellow Americans:

Three days from now, after half a century in the service of our country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony, the authority of the Presidency is vested in my successor.

This evening I come to you with a message of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a few final thoughts with you, my countrymen.

Like every other citizen, I wish the new President, and all who will labor with him, Godspeed. I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all.

Our people expect their President and the Congress to find essential agreement on issues of great moment, the wise resolution of which will better shape the future of the Nation.

My own relations with the Congress, which began on a remote and tenuous basis when, long ago, a member of the Senate appointed me to West Point, have since ranged to the intimate during the war and immediate post-war period, and, finally, to the mutually interdependent during these past eight years.

In this final relationship, the Congress and the Administration have, on most vital issues, cooperated well, to serve the national good rather than mere partisanship, and so have assured that the business of the Nation should go forward. So, my official relationship with the Congress ends in a feeling, on my part, of gratitude that we have been able to do so much together.

II.

We now stand ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations. Three of these involved our own country. Despite these holocausts America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America's leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.

III.

Throughout America's adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among people and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people. Any failure traceable to arrogance, or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us grievous hurt both at home and abroad.

Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology -- global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger is poses promises to be of indefinite duration.

To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle -- with liberty the stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment.

Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defense; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research -- these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.

But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs -- balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage -- balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.

The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well, in the face of stress and threat. But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise. I mention two only.

IV.

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience.

The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.

In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.

The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientifictechnological elite.

It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system -- ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.

V.

Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.

VI.

Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.

Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.

Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose. Because this need is so sharp and apparent I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this field with a definite sense of disappointment.

As one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war -- as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years -- I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight.

Happily, I can say that war has been avoided. Steady progress toward our ultimate goal has been made. But, so much remains to be done. As a private citizen, I shall never cease to do what little I can to help the world advance along that road.

VII.

So -- in this my last good night to you as your President -- I thank you for the many opportunities you have given me for public service in war and peace. I trust that in that service you find some things worthy; as for the rest of it, I know you will find ways to improve performance in the future.

You and I -- my fellow citizens -- need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nation's great goals.

To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and continuing aspiration: We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.

~~~

The Eisenhower Era gave us great domestic peace and productivity--which was earned by the great sacrifice of WWII and sustained by the great expenditure on national defense.

Kennedy began to squander all that, and Johnson finished: pandering with unprecedented expenditures on a so-called War on Poverty and the appalling Medicare, while callously discarding 58,000 lives for a defeat by freedom's worst foe.

Liberals don't like Ike because he didn't spend enough on worthless social programs and didn't get us involved in a quagmire.

[SAMWolf]

Evening PhilDragoo.

McCarthy is still vilified by the Left. He was right about Communist infiltration. Anyone who doesn't think there are not still Communists in high places in government, media and entertainment is deluding themselves. They just don;t call themselves Communists anymore.

On the eve of D-Day June 6, 1944: The night before the invasion of France, the Allied Supreme Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, wrote a note and tucked it into his pocket to release to the press the next day. He hoped that wouldn't be necessary.

Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold, and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack [at Normandy] at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and Navy did all that Bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone."

General Eisenhower never had to read his contingency statement, of course. The D-Day landing at Normandy, which launched Operation Overlord to liberate France and Europe from the clutches of Nazi Germany, was a success. The note did, however, eventually reach the public as one of more than 6,700 letters, diary entries, and other written communications collected and published so far by the Eisenhower Papers Project, now in its 31st year at Hopkins.

[snippy_about_it]

You two have put so much information on this thread I feel like I've been in school all day!!

Thanks. I need it.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!

[Samwise]

[U S Army EOD]

Wrong cat, never could teach her to hold the pole or even bait the hook. What a dumb cat.

[colorado tanker]

The disgruntled (including Marcello whom RFK had twice deported and Hoffa whom RFK had persistently pursued) arranged for a public display of their displeasure at Dealey Plaza.

Interesting, Phil. I've felt for quite some time that the circumstantial evidence points to a mob hit, dressed up to make it look like a pro-Cuban commie. The fact that Jack Ruby was sent to take out Oswald speaks volumes.

[colorado tanker]

Thanks for a nice thread, Snippy. "I Like Ike" too.

Interesting to speculate about what Nixon as Ike's protoge would have done about Vietnam. Most people don't realize that Ike was an Asia hand, having served on MacArthur's staff in the Phillipines and having been in charge of Far Eastern war plans. Ike had an aversion to the idea of US participation in an Asian land war because he understood the vast distances and huge populations involved. He also would have understood the essential strategic worthlessness of Vietnam. (The fact that the British left Vietnam for the French to colonize tells you all you need to know.)

IMHO, had the call been Ike's he would have said no US combat troops in Vietnam. Whether Nixon would have heeded the Old Man's advice is another question.

BTW, the Eisenhower Museum in Abilene is well worth a visit. It seemed to me much more space was devoted to his military career and WWII in particular than his Presidency. Definitely an interesting visit for military history buffs. There's also a really good restaurant in one of the old Victorian mansions nearby.

[snippy_about_it]

Your welcome, SAM did a great job and all the added information from our posters had me reading all day long. LOL.

Abilene, don't know when I'd ever get out that way. Maybe a cross country drive some day. ;)

[colorado tanker]

Abilene's on I-70 between Denver and K.C., so a cross-country drive is about the only occasion to stop in. Nice town - has a prosperous feel. Cattle and railroads must have been berry, berry goood to Abilene.

[SAMWolf]

He also would have understood the essential strategic worthlessness of Vietnam. (The fact that the British left Vietnam for the French to colonize tells you all you need to know.)

But... but... what about "the domino theory"??? LOL! Love the Brit line...