War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with John Eisenhower, 1986
Description:
John Eisenhower was the son of the president and served in staff positions in the White House and Army during his administration. Referring to his father as "the boss," he recounts several anecdotes about the late president and explains his views on certain subjects. The president is described as being fed up with the war in Korea and willing to do something "radical," but whether that would have included resorting to nuclear weapons is unclear. Eisenhower's experiences at the Geneva conference in 1955 are recalled, and he is said to have felt a certain warmth toward Soviet leader Khrushchev. John states that his father was an excellent poker player, a skill not often taken into account by his colleagues or adversaries. He says that as president his father felt a very heavy responsibility for the lives of millions, and made plain his views about the consequences of a nuclear war. John recounts the president's (and his own) opinions on several topics, including the effects of inter-service rivalries, the U2 and the Powers shoot-down, the missile gap, and the military-industrial complex. He asserts that President Eisenhower's famous remarks on the latter were not inconsistent with his earlier policies, which he says consisted of persistent attempts to keep the Pentagon in check. He says that his father's biggest accomplishment was guiding the U.S. through a very unstable period, and leaving the country at the end with a strategic advantage.
