AND AGAIN, IT WASN’T AMBIGUOUS.
HE HAD ONLY ONE THING HE COULD
DO.
HE FOLLOWED THE LAW, AND NOW
REPUBLICANS ARE GOING TO PUNISH
HIM FOR IT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH.
WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT.
TODAY MARKS 51 DAYS UNTIL
INAUGURATION DAY.
AS WE DRAW CLOSER TO THE 46th
PRESIDENCY, IT’S A FITTING TIME
TO FOCUS ON IF THELE LEADERSHIP.
EACH MORNING WE ARE GOING TO SIT
DOWN WITH HISTORIANS WHO HAVE
WRITTEN ON PRESIDENTS WITH THIS
CENTRAL QUESTION IN MIND.
WHAT CAN THEIR EXAMPLES TEACH
JOE BIDEN?
TODAY WE FOCUS ON DWIGHT D.
EISENHOWER.
>> 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.
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.
IN THE COUNCILS OF GOVERNMENT,
WE MUST GUARD AGAINST THE
ACQUISITION OF UNWARRANTED
INFLUENCE, WHETHER SOUGHT OR
UNSOUGHT, BY THE MILITARY
INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX.
THE POTENTIAL FOR THE DISASTROUS
RISE OF MISPLACED POWER EXISTS,
AND WILL PERSIST.
>> LET’S BRING IN HISTORIAN
WRITER AND JOURNAL EXIST EVAN
THOMAS.
HE IS AUTHOR OF ONE OF MY
FAVORITE IKE BOOKS, AND THAT’S
SAYING A LOT.
I LOVE READING ABOUT IKE.
AND IT WAS "IKE’S BLUFF,
PRESIDENT EISENHOWER’S SECRET
BATTLE TO SAVE THE WORLD."
WE HAVE STEVE INSKEEP ON BEFORE
TALKING ABOUT WHEN A PRESIDENT
LEAVES OFFICE, OFTEN THINGS
CHANGE VERY QUICKLY.
I WAS GIVING THE EXAMPLE OF DR.
BRZEZINSKI HAD HAD A RED PHONE
IN HIS HOUSE, SPECIALLY WIRED.
AT 12:00 NOON ON JANUARY 20th,
1981, THE SECRET SERVICE CAME
IN, UNCEREMONIOUSLY RIPPED THE
PHONE OUT.
WALL, LEFT A HUGE HOLE THERE.
THEY GOT IN THEIR SUVs, THAT HAD
BEEN OUTSIDE THE BRZEZINSKI
HOUSE FOR FOUR YEARS, AND DROVE
OFF, AND THAT WAS IT.
AND IT REMINDED ME OF A
HILARIOUS SCENE IN IKE’S BLUFF
WHEN IKE GOT HOME AND TRIED TO
DO SOMETHING HE HADN’T DONE THIS
20 YEARS.
TELL US ABOUT THAT.
>> HE TRIED TO MAKE A PHONE
CALL.
HE WAS SO UNMODERN AND SO USED
TO BEING CARED FOR.
WHEN HE GOT TO HIS NEW HOME IN
GETTYSBURG, THE SECRET SERVICE
JUST DROVE OFF AND HE TRIED TO
MAKE A PHONE CALL.
HE
THERE.
YOU CAN GET VERY DISCONNECTED TO
THE REAL WORLD IN THE HIGH
OFFICE.
AND EISENHOWER DID.
BUT IN A GREATER SENSE, HE NEVER
LOST HIS CONTACT WITH REALITY.
EVEN THOUGH HE WAS USED TO BEING
A FOUR-STAR GENERAL.
HE KNEW WHAT TRUTH WAS AND WHAT
POWER WAS.
>> WHAT CAN HARRY TRUMAN LEARN
FROM DWIGHT EISENHOWER -- NOT
HARRY TRUMAN.
I’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT HARRY
TRUMAN A LOT.
AND I WAS ACTUALLY THINKING
ABOUT THEIR TRANSITION BECAUSE I
HAD HEARD A RELATIVE OF HARRY
TRUMAN’S TALK ABOUT WHAT A GREAT
JOB TRUMAN DID BECAUSE
EISENHOWER HAD DONE SUCH A SORRY
JOB, KNOWING HE WAS DYING, NOT
TELLING TRUMAN ABOUT ANYTHING.
DESPITE THE FACT THE TWO MEN
LOATHED EACH OTHER AND THAT
MEETING BETWEEN TRUMAN AND
EISENHOWER TRANSITION MEETING
WAS COLD BUT HARRY TRUMAN BENT
OVER BACKWARDS TO MAKE SURE THAT
IKE WAS PREPARED.
>> WELL, YOU KNOW, BOTH THOSE
MEN WERE SO DEEPLY STEEPED IN
OUR SYSTEM THAT WHATEVER
PERSONAL ANIMOSITY THEY HAD,
THEY WERE GOING TO FIND A WAY TO
GET ALONG.
AND THEY ALSO HAD A DEEP
RECOGNITION OF THE PROBLEMS THE
UNITED STATES FACED.
THIS IS THE VERY BEGINNING OF
THE NUCLEAR AGE.
AND FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
HAS THE POWER TO END THE WORLD.
THAT’S AN AWESOME POWER AND BOTH
MEN UNDERSTOOD IT.
TRUMAN WAS THE FIRST TO USE A
NUCLEAR WEAPON AND EISENHOWER IS
THE GUY WHO WAS INHERITING THIS
WORLD AND SUDDEN GROWTH OF THE
H-BOMB.
THIS IS JUST AS IKE WAS BEING
INAUGURATED WE WERE TESTING OUR
FIRST H-BOMB.
SO THEY KNEW THE WORLD IN WHICH