Christopher Nichols
Appearances
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
You're thinking your East Germanys, your Czechoslovakias, your Yugoslavias. A place where the next war could be fought. And also looks to Asia in the same way. And one problem for the Truman folks is that the Truman Democrats had a pretty good consensus foreign policy from 46 through 51 on Europe, but not on Asia.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Both Eisenhower and Taft and many Republicans are saying, look, Truman lost China in 1949 when Mao's forces routed Chiang Kai-Shek and they fled to Taiwan. In 1949, that's when the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb. This year, 1949, is a really pivotal moment and you see this divide. For Eisenhower, it's a worldwide possible security threat from Russia and communism.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Für die Taft-Wing ist es primär Asien und lässt die Europäer auf ihrem eigenen Stand stehen, so gut sie können. Sie sind nicht dafür, sie auszuhalten, aber sie sind nicht dafür, viele Truppen zu stationieren, viel Geld zu sparen und definitiv nicht der Art von Blut-Tresor-Modell, den ich vorhin gesagt habe.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Also, wenn er die Präsidentin Kolumbiens nimmt, was unerwartet war, sagt er, ich habe ein Hauptziel, das ich machen werde. Und wenn du mich nicht machen lässt, werde ich nicht den Job nehmen. Ich will die American Assembly starten. Ich will einen Denktank auf Internationalismus starten, der zu prämulieren und sorten für neue Formen von Internationalismus, US-Weltleitung, Ja. Ja.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
He is for this version of world leadership. And it's the sort of thing that the US is debating today and has, you know, really since the end of the Cold War, you know, how to balance domestic and foreign commitments and what actually advantages the nation in the world. And for him, it's so clear that alliances, partners,
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
US-Leadership, you know, the expenses will more than generate adequate benefits. And by pulling back, it simply creates a vacuum whereby you have, you know, what he was just involved in. He sees Nazi Germany, you know, fascist Italy and the Japanese Empire as the products of US removal from world leadership. And it's very clear that's his historical lesson.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
So he brings in John Foster Dulles, a Secretary of State, and the two of them outline one of the most important kind of nuclear strategies of the Cold War, mutually assured destruction. Mad. Everybody knows about it, right? All the listeners will. The idea is...
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
that through mutually assured destruction you can actually move towards eventually some disarmament programs, which you see in the Eisenhower years in his negotiations and several summits with Khrushchev after Stalin dies. Stalin dies immediately when he comes into office in 1953, which is important.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
And also important is that immediately at that point, Eisenhower has a very famous and important speech about the chance for peace. And it hinges for him on this sort of economic security dimension and also trying to prevent the nuclear cataclysm. So the mutually assured destruction doctrine requires more long-range bombers, more B-52s in the air, a robust plan to build more weapons.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
So by the time he leaves office, there's 20,000 nuclear weapons in the combined Russian and US nuclear arsenals. Yeah, submarine strategy, the whole thing. Submarine strategy, so it's what becomes the so-called trident of air, sea and undersea for the nuclear umbrella. You see the gaming out of a lot of different possibilities, including first strikes. This is in the policy planning.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
These are highly classified documents. One of the most famous ones of these was a National Security Council 162-163, which is under him, which is about building up the nuclear posture, but also emphasizing the kind of fiscal conservatism of that, because you don't need as much in the way of armed forces or that portion of the allocation of defense budgets if you're relying more on nuclear weapons.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
What he often would say, he would use euphemisms very frequently. I think what you're referring to here is the not taking them off the table kind of language. Yeah, yeah. It's pretty clear when you look at his personal papers, diaries, he found absolutely repugnant use of nuclear weapons and his particularly first use.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Aber er hat für strategische Gründe, und eigentlich spricht Evan Thomas' Buch, Ike's Bluff, über das in Bezug auf den Kartenspieler, den Experten-Kartenspieler in ihm. Für strategische Gründe hat er regelmäßig Euphemismen für den Nutzung von atomischen nuklearen Waffen benutzt.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
In dem Sinne, dass er hoffte, dass diese Bewertung deshalb mehr Kapazität für die USA geben würde, um andere Aspekte des Wohlwollens zu negotieren, Sicherheitsentwürfe oder Demobilisierung, diese Art von Dingen. So the short answer is yes. And the long answer is highly, highly unlikely that Ike would have authorized the use of nuclear weapons.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Ja, es passierte auf seiner Warte, könnte man sagen. Ich denke, die technologischen Entwicklungen seiner Zeit, die Hydrogenbombe, die dann in Bezug auf beide die Sowjetunion und die USA mit rund 800-mal der zerstörten Macht der Waffen, die Hiroshima und Nagasaki gedroht haben, haben nur bedeutet, dass es ihm offensichtlich war,
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
dass eine große Anwendung von nuklearen Waffen den Planeten virtually unvergesslich machen würde. Und niemand könnte die Sieg beurteilen.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Wenn man sich einige dieser Politikplanungs-Memos anschaut, die zeigen, wie die erste Strecke aussehen würde, weißt du, dass die 10% der Bevölkerung nicht wirklich die Sieg fühlen würde, besonders jemand wie Ike, der die größte amphibische Invasion in der Weltgeschichte gestartet hat. Und er wollte nicht, dass er Kasualitätskonten sieht. Er hätte es nie mit 90% Kasualitätskonten erlaubt.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Das ist ein großer Teil davon. Es gibt auch diesen Element, der in diesem Moment arbeitet. Du hast seine Religiosität erwähnt. John Foster Dulles war ein Ekumenist, ein sehr tiefer Glaubwürdiger. Es gibt einen Moment, in dem der Koldauer in den USA als eine Art judeo-christliche Art von Sensibilität gewählt wird.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Und es gibt eine echte Debatte über die Moral der Droppung der Bombe am Ende der Zweiten Weltkriege. Und das entfaltet viele der öffentlichen Gespräche in diesem Zeitpunkt. Ich praise with Billy Graham, who was in favor of possible US first use because the US was a more morally righteous country.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
But nevertheless, there's the kind of moral and ethical set of concerns inflects a lot of how this administration, the Eisenhower administration, thought about nuclear strategy, thought about military strategy, and therefore made them somewhat more circumspect than a kind of secular, strategic, hyper-rational logic might have, you think.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Yep, yeah, so the Taiwan Strait, there's two moments of Taiwan Strait significant tension under Eisenhower. in den frühen 50ern, nicht lange nachdem er im Büro war, 54, 55 und dann 58. An beiden Zeiten betet er ein Sicherheitsvermögen. Er sieht es, wie wir es viel darüber gesprochen haben, du verletzt nicht deine Alliierten. Diese waren die Alliierten der USA in der Krieg.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Diese sind die Alliierten der USA, die aus der Krieg rauskommen. Und diese Betrugung sollte halten. Eisenhower ist der letzte Präsident, der im 19. Jahrhundert geboren wurde. Er ist der höchste Kommandant General, seit Ulysses S. Grant, um die Präsidentschaft zu halten.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
And he has this kind of moral commitment, upright 19th century kind of Victorian sensibility about you don't go back on your word sort of thing. Right. So he's you know, if you think about some of the arguments later in the Cold War, even about a kind of more transactional sense of supporting dictators and that sort of thing.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
For him, it's it's it's as simple as the US gave its word to support the territorial integrity of Taiwan as they fled mainland China. And that's it. That's the story, including nuclear security. Right.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Absolut. You know, I think many presidencies cast in sharp belief the domestic-foreign divide. And this is a particularly good one, the Eisenhower years, because of actually the opposite, the connection between foreign and domestic. The Cold War really helps to generate the conditions for... Ja. Ja.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Er hat ein paar Vorteile für den Zivilrechts-Movement und für Ike, aber in Bezug auf seine Posterität, macht er ihn nicht wirklich gut aus. Es macht ihn nicht wirklich schlecht aus, aber diese Verbindung zwischen dem Domestik und dem Ausland ist wirklich wichtig. Man kann über Infrastruktur denken, man kann über das Straßensystem denken. Es gibt viele Erfolge auf seinem Wagen.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Er hält den höchsten Tax-Bracket, 91%. Ich denke, er ist der letzte Republikaner, der ein balanced Budget in 1956 hatte. There's a lot to say about his domestic politics. And he does all that in just the first few years, because then Congress shifts and he doesn't have the same ability to manipulate things through Republicans, but he works bipartisanly.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
So he actually in some ways has an easier time with Democrats on foreign policy than he does on Republicans, because the Taft-Wing, while they're slowly, literally dying out – Taft died in 1953 – Mm-hmm.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
How are they related? So they are intimately and integrally related. And I think it's really important for people to consider this. So the Brown decision in 1954 actually has a State Department amicus brief filed as part of it. This is rare. Don't take my word for it. Go read some con law.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
It's rare and it's highly significant because the State Department and the wings of US government more broadly are trying to wage the Cold War abroad. And the Soviet communism, Soviet propaganda is beating back the US in the third world, the developing world, because they can say definitively with terrible photos and brief captions and stories. You don't even need to know the languages. Ja, genau.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
If you go slightly beyond Brown, if you think about Little Rock, one of the reasons that Eisenhower doesn't want to succumb to Orville Faubus and those in Arkansas stopping people from going into the school is because of the optics, that it looks so bad to have these so-called obstructionists, as he put it in his speech bringing in the 101st Airborne, that this moment of domestic and foreign
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Das ist wirklich essentiell. Und die Koldwars auch. Also es ist der Staatsdepartement Amicus Brief, die Brown-Decision, die Optik, die schrecklichen Bilder. Alles, was wir von dem Zivilrechtsmovement kennen. Denk an Feuerhosen und Hunde, richtig? Das ist in Frankreich, das ist in Algerien, das ist in Brasilien, das ist in Argentinien, das ist in Nord- und Südkorea.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Es sieht nicht gut aus für die USA. Und der andere Teil der Geschichte ist, und es gibt unglaubliche Elemente davon. Foreign diplomats coming to the US come to segregated Washington DC and segregated Northern Virginia. And as they travel to New York, to the UN, they get stopped. They can't eat at the same restaurants. These are heads of state of other countries.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
You think about what recently happened with Zelensky coming to the White House and being berated. Now imagine hundreds and hundreds of times of that. Low-level diplomats and high-level heads of state. It's terrible on the world stage for diplomacy. So even those who are really lukewarm on civil rights in both parties are saying, you know, we at least need to sweep this under the rug.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
That's hardly altruistic and wonderful, but that is where they're landing more and more because of the Cold War.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Don, ich denke, du weißt die Antwort auf diese Frage. Nein. Also, an der Konvention im Sommer 1952, um die Delegate aus Kalifornien zu sichern, macht die Eich-Team zwei basic deals. A little known, but rising anti-communist by the name of Richard Nixon will become the Vice President.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
And then a famous governor and beloved son of the state of California, Earl Warren, will get the next Supreme Court opening. Did not know it would be the Chief Justice. And there are some very good little asides that you get in handwritten notes that Ike wasn't particularly happy that it went that direction, but didn't know could not possibly know what decisions would come under the Warren Court.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
But of the really fascinating counterfactuals of this moment, if Ike hadn't won, you wouldn't have Nixon in the same way. You wouldn't have the Warren Court in the same way. You might have had a Taft presidency and a MacArthur vice presidency and Taft died in 53.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
I mean, it's just really this inflection point of 1952 and the way that the Cold War is waged domestically and internationally under Eisenhower It's fascinating and critically important to understand this moment because it shapes really the next several generations.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Er ist wirklich schlecht in der Politik verpflichtet, ehrlich gesagt. Wenn man sich seine Anwälte und Anwälte in der Kampagne 52 anschaut, die versuchen, mehr Informationen zu bekommen. Er hat sich nicht auf Politik und Politik konzentriert. Internationale Sicherheitsfragen, ökonomische Hilfe im Ausland, das ist sein Bailiwick. So civil rights questions weren't really on his horizon.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
And he had a kind of naive sense that the American people would do the right thing, that in the end that it would sort itself out. And so ignominiously, one of the things he says after the Brown decision in 54 to desegregate the schools is that it might have set back, quote, race relations up to 15 years. That's his quick take on what's going on.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
And then he slowly sees what's called massive resistance in the South. Lots of Southern states, Southern leaders come together and they reject the Supreme Court's edict. So in 1955, you get so-called Brown Decision 2, which says that segregation in the public schools must be ended and desegregation and integration happen with, quote, all deliberate speed.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
So it's 55, then also you see Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycotts, Martin Luther King Jr. Some of these folks are now coming to the White House. Ike is open to having major black leaders in the civil rights movement come to the White House. And then it's 57 that you see this really stark blast of states' rights absolutism in the face of the Supreme Court.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Und für Eisenhower, er bewegt sich langsam, hofft, dass die Figuren in der Stadt von Arkansas, also grundsätzlich die Zentralhochschule dort, gesagt hat, dass es desegregieren muss. Orval Faubus, der Gouverneur, bringt in den Nationalguards oder seine eigenen Nationalguards-Truppen und forciert die Kinder aus, die die Schule desegregieren sollen, indem sie sich in die Schule integrieren.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Obstructionist-Mobben, viele von euch, die das hören, haben wahrscheinlich Fotos davon gesehen, die auf die Studenten schreien, sie weinen in ihren Füßen, es ist ziemlich schrecklich, was du siehst. Eisenhower wird immer mehr entsetzt und langsam, aber sicherlich, er ist eigentlich auf Verabschiedung in Newport, Rhode Island. Vielen Dank. Untertitelung des ZDF, 2020 Untertitelung des ZDF, 2020
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
� cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle cle Athlet cle cle Athlet cle cle Athlet cle cle Athlet cle cle Athlet cle cle Athlet cle cle Athlet cle cle此ext cleketext cleketext cleketext cleketext cleketext cleketext cleketext cleketext cleketext cleketext cleketext cleketext cleketext cleketext cleketext cle Athlet cleaireketaire familiaireketaireaireaire Athletacacacacketaire familiketaire familiketaire familiketaire familiketaire familiketaire familiketaire familiketaire familiketaire familiketaire familiketaire familiketaire familiketaire familiketaire familiketaireacacacketaireaireaireketaire famili�aireketaireacacket
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Untertitelung des ZDF, 2020 Untertitelung des ZDF, 2020
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Untertitelung. BR 2018 Untertitelung des ZDF, 2020 Untertitelung des ZDF, 2020 Untertitelung des ZDF, 2020 Untertitelung des ZDF, 2020
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Untertitelung des ZDF, 2020 Untertitelung des ZDF, 2020 Untertitelung des ZDF, 2020 Untertitelung des ZDF, 2020
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
You know, on the one hand, it's absolutely fair.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
If you think about the economy, standard of living, coming out of a cataclysmic world war, higher education boom, more people being educated, more jobs, job growth, manufacturing in the US, the white picket fence, suburbia, you could own your own home, the automobile, you could have your oddly colored high expense every month automobile, new appliances in the home, right?
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Untertitelung des ZDF, 2020 Vielen Dank.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
The parts of the cold war were waged over the so-called kitchen debates. Khrushchev und Nixon. Also ja, auf der einen Seite. Und auf der anderen Seite denke ich, dass die frühere Koldauer, die Nachfolge der Zweiten Weltkriege, einige der echten Fehler in der amerikanischen Demokratie in starker Relief verursacht hat.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Und in der Versuchung, diesen Konflikt im Ausland durch Propaganda zu kämpfen, beobachtete, wie wirklich just die amerikanische Gesellschaft war und wie viel von ihren demokratischen Idealen sie lebte. In dieser Weise kam dann die Koldauer zurück. Es gab einen Rebound-Effekt. Vielen Dank.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Das ist eine tolle Frage. Danke, dass du in diese Richtung gehst. Also, du weißt, das Kontrafaktuelle, das wir oft haben, oder die Art und Weise, wie wir über die Eisenhower-Präsidentin denken, ist, dass es eine vorgegangene Schlussfolgerung war. Wenn du zurückgehst zu diesem nostalgischen Moment, natürlich Ike. Wir alle lieben Ike. Ike bringt Demokraten und Republikaner zusammen.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Er macht den Straßenweg-System. Er ist Teil des Zivilrechts-Movements, was auch immer du denkst oder das verstehst. Das könnte nicht weiter von der Wahrheit in 1948 oder 1952 gehen. Der mögliche Frontrunner für die Republikanische Partei war der Herr Republikaner Robert Taft, Sohn des ehemaligen Präsidenten, Ohio-Senator.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Er hat 1950 eine erstaunliche Sieg in Ohio gewonnen für seine Kampagne im Senat, die ansehnte, dass er alle Donner und andere Dinge aufgeräumt hatte, um einen wirklich seriösen Rund für die Präsidentschaft zu machen. Und in Wahrheit ist Taft der Feuille, weshalb Eisenhower es in erster Linie darstellt. Taft und so genannte Taft-Republikaner sind gegen NATO, gegen die UN.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Sie mögen nicht, dass die USA in Europa permanent Basen haben. Sie sind für eine politische Hockerung in Asien. Sie sind so genannte Asien-Förster, die aus der 2. Weltkriege gekommen sind. Und die Eich-Folgen, Eisenhower trifft mit Taft im Jahr 1951. Und dann, nachdem er endlich die Nominierung im Jahr 1952 bekommt,
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
The Ike folks were focused on a kind of internationalism and international leadership that we tend to associate with the U.S. role in the Cold War. The U.S. taking a leadership role, being ready to put its blood and treasure on the line. And that was not popular with the base of the Republican Party. Had Ike not won, I think you can say pretty unequivocally, Taft would have won in 1952.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Democrats were so unpopular in that moment.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Er ist ein absoluter Fan des Marshall-Plans. Er ist für die Reconstruktion in Europa. Er hat eine Art Wirtschafts-Sicherheits-Vision, die manchmal von Konservativen als Stomach-Theorie genannt wurde, wie die Welt nach der Zweiten Weltkriege wieder aufgebaut werden sollte.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Und die Stomach-Theorie hat im Grunde genommen, und wir hören das bis zu seinem Aufruf, den ich hoffe, wir sprechen darüber am Ende hier, that the way to peace and prosperity in the world was to have people's stomachs full, to have them have employment and food and vibrant economies. And so Marshall Plan is a huge part of that, getting the West of Europe, but even all of Europe.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
He was for extending it to the Soviet Union until they rejected it, although he did not take very strong political stances. So, you know, if I say this sort of thing that sounds declarative, it's because we know it from his papers, his personal papers, what he says after the fact. The most important thing to know about Ike before 52, Ja, genau. He's for that.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
He's for committing significant numbers of divisions to Europe. There's some debate going back and forth. George Marshall indicates no more than four. He's willing to have more. The challenge in the late 40s into the early 50s, once the Korean War starts in the late 50s, is trying to figure out as well, what if that is a feint by the Russians?
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
And then they're headed towards a poorly equipped, poorly defended Europe. And the US has to backstop that, is the thinking of people like Eisenhower. Die Sache mit Leuten wie Taft ist, wenn sie sich nicht verteidigen können, muss die USA ihre Art von Fortress-Amerika haben. Es ist Gibraltar, Rock of Gibraltar-Amerika, wie Herbert Hoover es gesagt hat.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Und dann ist NATO eine andere Ausstattung davon. Und das ist ein wichtiger Punkt. Also wenn du dich über die Marshall Plan denkst, die ökonomische Veränderung. Die US-Divisionen dort sind theoretisch eine temporäre Teilnahme davon. Und dann die Nordatlantik-Treaty-Organisation, die 1949 gegründet wurde, ist die andere Teilnahme, richtig?
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Und es ist eine Bindungs-Sicherheits-Vorgabe, die absolut garantiert wird, dass die Gerechtigkeit der Mitglieder der Nationenstaaten und alle anderen Mitglieder der Nationenstaaten agree to support anyone who is attacked, right? So that's critical in collective security. And that, again, is the kind of thing that the farther right conservatives coming out of World War II don't want.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
They say this is precisely the sort of thing that would get us into a war against American interests. And the counterpoint from most Democrats and the moderate Republican wing is this is exactly how you prevent the next world war.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Yeah, so Truman famously later says he never said this, but we have good records to indicate that he said that he would help Ike get any office that he held, including the presidency, and that's before the election in 1948. It's pretty clear that both parties had their eyes on Eisenhower. Ja, genau. Henry Caballage Jr. from Massachusetts helps run this draft Ike campaign.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
And he's the one who famously says and really importantly says that Ike is a Republican and that Ike will accept the nomination. This is in January 52, if he gets it. But throughout this process, throughout this period, you can look through the Eisenhower letters. It's really fascinating. He keeps disavowing an interest in politics. He says that he has no interest in holding the highest office.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
And he actually seems to think that after turning down the possibility of running in 48, he's done. And that he thinks that because of the relative age of the folks who might have won. He thinks that if there had been a Dewey presidency in 48, for instance, Dewey would have run. He was a Republican, Thomas Dewey from New York, would have run twice.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
And after eight years, I couldn't possibly run again in, say, 56. But what happens is the unexpected. Truman wins again in 1948. And Ike sees the counterpoint of the Taft and more conservative Republicans. And this is where the rubber hits the road. This is the time for the conservative Republicans who have now said, you've had your chance, moderates. You've lost again and again.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
You've lost to FDR. Now you've lost to Truman. You've lost to Truman at a point where he was so unpopular. You know, people joke things like a cow could win against him, right? Farm animals could beat him, but Dewey couldn't, right? And so Taft says, look, I'm the real inheritor of authentic sort of Americanist Republicanism going back to the sort of the Taft, McKinley, Roosevelt era.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
And he's pushing that forward. And he's remarkably similar, in fact. to Eisenhower on his domestic policies. But so how is politics in this moment? Republican Party is riven. The Democratic Party is reeling. The writing on the wall in terms of surveys is that there's just no chance that Democrats are going to win the highest office in 52.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
And in fact, as you play this out further, it looks very likely that Republicans are going to get both houses of Congress, which they do.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
Yeah, so the point counterpoint that's interesting in this moment is the Taft and the sort of more thoughtful or the right Republicans think that the communist threat is primarily in Asia. And that Soviet communism is less likely to expand through Europe than the kind of proponents of big militarist US are articulating.
American History Hit
President Eisenhower: War on Soviets & Segregation
And the primary challenges for the US therefore would be fiscal conservatism and not spending outside of its means. The Eisenhower version is that there is a legitimate communist threat in Eastern Europe. And he looks to the satellites and the places where the governments changed after the Second World War and notes that that's a highly contested area.