Ike and Dick, by Jeffrey Frank: on War & Peace
Dwight Eisenhower:
Tac nukes to defend Taiwan from China
The immediate issue was the fate of two islands held by the Nationalists, Quemoy and Matsu. The question of how one might defend the islands raised the central issue, and Secretary Dulles, on Eisenhower's orders, declared on March 15 that
in the event of war in the Far East, America would probably employ "tactical " atomic weapons: "We have been, as you know, active in producing various types of weapons that feature nuclear fission ever since World War Two.
Now, in any combat where these things can be used on strictly military purposes, I see no reason why they shouldn't be used just exactly as you would use a bullet or anything else."By saying that, Eisenhower did something that he did
rarely--he alarmed the nation. Whatever was meant by "tactical" nuclear weapons, the public was not likely to discern much difference between the bomb dropped on Hiroshima and a thermonuclear device capable of obliterating entire cities.
Source: Ike and Dick, by Jeffrey Frank, p.104-105
Nov 5, 2013
Dwight Eisenhower:
1966: Any action to win in Vietnam, even nukes
Pres. Johnson was eager for Eisenhower's support [on Vietnam]. Ike felt pulled in several directions: aversion to an Asian war, concern over the consequences of a victory by the Communist North, and what he felt was a duty to support his commander-in-
chief.Since leaving office, Ike was still beloved; and when it came to questions of war and peace, no one spoke with more authority. So it was something of a surprise when the former president in 1966 said, "I'd take any action to win" in Vietnam,
adding that he would not "automatically preclude anything," including automatic weapons. That was enough to set off multiple alarms.
A few days later he said, "This is silly. How could you use nuclear weapons in Vietnam?" But at the core of Ike's
"clarification" was something more interesting than a rejection of nuclear weaponry. What he did say was that the US needed to end the war quickly because otherwise "it will grow in costs, both in money & lives, and the nation's morale will be lowered."
Source: Ike and Dick, by Jeffrey Frank, p.274-275
Nov 5, 2013
Dwight Eisenhower:
LBJ should formulate a "more sensible" policy on Vietnam
As General Eisenhower approached his 77th birthday, he said the he'd like to visit Southeast Asia. Along with the former Illinois senator Paul Douglas, a Democrat, and his war-time comrade
General Omar Bradley, he announced that he was trying to "formulate a more sensible policy on Vietnam," although he didn't say that
Lyndon Johnson was pursing an unsensible policy. "Everybody is frustrated when things do not come out right," he said, adding, "All wars are nasty and this one is particularly bad.
This is about as different as the one I had a part in as day and night." The one I had a part in. There were times when Ike could say a lot without actually saying it.
Source: Ike and Dick, by Jeffrey Frank, p.282-283
Nov 5, 2013
Lyndon Johnson:
1966: Sought support for Vietnam War from Pres. Eisenhower
Lyndon Johnson never sounded particularly pleased with decisions that got the country more deeply involved in Vietnam, perhaps because he had solemnly promised not to make them. But having told untruths and having committed so many Americans to the war,
Johnson was eager for the support of General Eisenhower, who felt pulled in several directions: aversion to an Asian war, concern over the consequences of a victory by the Communist North, and what he felt was a duty to support his commander in chief.
Johnson became a regular caller.Ike was still beloved; and when it came to questions of war and peace, no one spoke with more authority. So it was something of a surprise when the former president at a press conference in October 1966 said, "I'd
take any action to win" in Vietnam [meaning that] the US needed to end the war quickly because otherwise "it will grow in costs, both in money and lives, and the nation's morale will be lowered."
Source: Ike and Dick, by Jeffrey Frank, p.274
Nov 5, 2013
Pat Buchanan:
Wrote Nixon's Vietnam speech that led to Kent State killings
Nixon withdrew Americans from combat and promised to reduce the U.S. role in Vietnam, but what was most remembered in the first term was the speech that he delivered on April 30, 1970, when he appeared to be expanding the war, when he said that
American forces were being sent to "clean out major enemy sanctuaries on the Cambodian-Vietnam border" and that if "the world's most powerful nation acts like a pitiful, helpless giant, the forces of totalitarianism and anarchy
will threaten free nations and free institutions throughout the world." The speech, written by Pat Buchanan, was considered a disaster even by Buchanan's White House colleagues; protests flared up on campuses all over the country and on
May 4, four student were killed and nine wounded by National Guardsmen who shot protesters at Kent State in Ohio.
Source: Ike and Dick, by Jeffrey Frank, p.342-3
Nov 5, 2013
Richard Nixon:
1954: Communists understand nothing but massive retaliation
Nixon said that a policy of weakness leads only to war: "The only language the Communists understand is a policy of strength & firmness. We adopted a new military program which provides that when overt aggression occurs, we will place our primary relianc
on our massive mobile retaliatory power to be used at our discretion against the major source of aggression where or whenever it occurs." Harry Truman's foreign policy was "characterized by weakness and surrender of principle at the conference table."
Source: Ike and Dick, by Jeffrey Frank, p. 95
Nov 5, 2013
Page last updated: Sep 20, 2014