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American Morning
Ike's Son Reflects on Dad in Book
Aired July 04, 2003 - 19:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, ANCHOR: Well, the world called him Ike, the supreme commander, general of the Army and the 34th U.S. president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we can have peace with honor, reasonable security with national sovereignty. I believe in the future of the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: And now comes new book entitled "General Ike: A Personal Reminiscence." It's a tribute to the man and the father, authored by his son.
Bill Hemmer talked with John S.D. Eisenhower and asked why the book focuses more on Ike's military career than on his presidency.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN S.D. EISENHOWER, SON OF IKE EISENHOWER: Well, his military life was, for one thing, more important to him. It's also the part that I enjoy most, know most about.
But, also, it was the place where he could show his creativity best. After all, we've had 43 presidents, as of now. We've had only one supreme commander in wartime in Europe, and he had to invent the job. The job had been done somewhat in the First World War by a fellow named Fauge Princegeau (ph), but this had to be built from scratch. His creativity really showed up in the military.
BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In 1941, when the U.S. first got involved in the Second World War he was -- I say only -- only a lieutenant colonel. By 1945, he was a five-star general. What accounts for that meteoric rise?
J. EISENHOWER: Well, a lot of it was just plain luck.
He had the reputation, he'd built a reputation with the 3rd Army in San Antonio, but that would not account for it. He was called to the war department by General Marshall, recapped at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese attack. And the reason way is that he had worked with General MacArthur out in the Philippines as his assistance in preparing the defense of the Philippines.
So he was the expert. He was the expert in the U.S. Army about the Philippine defense.
Marshall and he -- of course, Marshall being the boss, the chief of staff of the Army -- decided that they hit it off well, and Marshall saw that Ike could carry responsibility, and somehow or other their chemistry was just right. And he said, when it came time to select an American commander in Europe in '42, he jumped over many, many senior officers and put my dad in charge.
And then after that we fought wars. We fought battles one after another, and were successful.
HEMMER: If he were sitting here today what would he say was his greatest accomplishment?
J. EISENHOWER: The high point of his life, by all means, was the V.E. Day. The death of Hitler, the surrender of Nazi Germany to the Americans on the one day and the Soviets on the next. No matter whatever else happened to him in his life, triumph over Hitler was his greatest moment.
HEMMER: Do they make people like your father these days? Do they make them anymore here in this country?
J. EISENHOWER: Well, I think that there's no reason in the world, given the same set of circumstances, the same kind of leaders would arise. But the world has gotten complicated. It's very difficult to imagine that much power being put in the hands of one military man in today's environment.
HEMMER: Yes. We talk about his military career and his years in the White House. What was he like as a father?
J. EISENHOWER: He was a good father in a way but he was very busy. After all, he was slaving away all those years in the War Department. He was there for me, but we did not do a lot together. I think for an Army officer, he was a pretty good father.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That was John S. D. Eisenhower. He is the author of "General Ike: A Personal Reminiscence," and he spoke with Bill Hemmer a week or so ago.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 4, 2003 - 19:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, ANCHOR: Well, the world called him Ike, the supreme commander, general of the Army and the 34th U.S. president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we can have peace with honor, reasonable security with national sovereignty. I believe in the future of the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: And now comes new book entitled "General Ike: A Personal Reminiscence." It's a tribute to the man and the father, authored by his son.
Bill Hemmer talked with John S.D. Eisenhower and asked why the book focuses more on Ike's military career than on his presidency.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN S.D. EISENHOWER, SON OF IKE EISENHOWER: Well, his military life was, for one thing, more important to him. It's also the part that I enjoy most, know most about.
But, also, it was the place where he could show his creativity best. After all, we've had 43 presidents, as of now. We've had only one supreme commander in wartime in Europe, and he had to invent the job. The job had been done somewhat in the First World War by a fellow named Fauge Princegeau (ph), but this had to be built from scratch. His creativity really showed up in the military.
BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In 1941, when the U.S. first got involved in the Second World War he was -- I say only -- only a lieutenant colonel. By 1945, he was a five-star general. What accounts for that meteoric rise?
J. EISENHOWER: Well, a lot of it was just plain luck.
He had the reputation, he'd built a reputation with the 3rd Army in San Antonio, but that would not account for it. He was called to the war department by General Marshall, recapped at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese attack. And the reason way is that he had worked with General MacArthur out in the Philippines as his assistance in preparing the defense of the Philippines.
So he was the expert. He was the expert in the U.S. Army about the Philippine defense.
Marshall and he -- of course, Marshall being the boss, the chief of staff of the Army -- decided that they hit it off well, and Marshall saw that Ike could carry responsibility, and somehow or other their chemistry was just right. And he said, when it came time to select an American commander in Europe in '42, he jumped over many, many senior officers and put my dad in charge.
And then after that we fought wars. We fought battles one after another, and were successful.
HEMMER: If he were sitting here today what would he say was his greatest accomplishment?
J. EISENHOWER: The high point of his life, by all means, was the V.E. Day. The death of Hitler, the surrender of Nazi Germany to the Americans on the one day and the Soviets on the next. No matter whatever else happened to him in his life, triumph over Hitler was his greatest moment.
HEMMER: Do they make people like your father these days? Do they make them anymore here in this country?
J. EISENHOWER: Well, I think that there's no reason in the world, given the same set of circumstances, the same kind of leaders would arise. But the world has gotten complicated. It's very difficult to imagine that much power being put in the hands of one military man in today's environment.
HEMMER: Yes. We talk about his military career and his years in the White House. What was he like as a father?
J. EISENHOWER: He was a good father in a way but he was very busy. After all, he was slaving away all those years in the War Department. He was there for me, but we did not do a lot together. I think for an Army officer, he was a pretty good father.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That was John S. D. Eisenhower. He is the author of "General Ike: A Personal Reminiscence," and he spoke with Bill Hemmer a week or so ago.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
