T P A HE RESIDENT AND THE PPRENTICE This page intentionally left blank T HE P RESIDENT AND THE A PPRENTICE Eisenhower and Nixon, 1952–1961 Irwin F. Gellman New Haven & London Published with assistance from the Mary Cady Tew Memorial Fund. Copyright © 2015 by Irwin F. Gellman. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the  U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Yale University Press books may be purchased in quantity for educational, business, or promotional use. For information, please e- mail sales . press@yale . edu (U.S. offi ce) or sales@yaleup . co . uk (U.K. offi ce). Set in Electra type by Westchester Publishing Ser vices. Printed in the United States of Ame rica. Library of Congress Control Number: 2015935011 ISBN 978-0-300-18105-0 (cloth : alk. paper) A cata logue rec ord for this book is available from the British Library. This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To Ruth Ann Segerstrom Moriarty with gratitude and love This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Preface ix Ac know ledg ments xv Introduction: Changing the Story 1 Part One 1952–1957 1 The Nominees 15 2 The Fund Crisis 29 3 To Victory 55 4 The General as a Manager 69 5 The Worst Kind of Politician 91 6 The Collision 103 7 Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, and Civil Rights 125 8 Eisenhower and Civil Rights: The First Term 136 9 Ike, Nixon, and Dulles 157 10 Nixon in Asia 170 11 The Battles over Asia 193 12 Trou ble with Good Neighbors 206 13 The U.S. Response to Neutralism 222 14 Incumbent Politics 232 15 The Ill- Will Tour versus the Big Lie 240 16 The Incapacitated President 259 17 The Hutschnecker Fiction 273 viii Contents 18 Ike’s Decision to Run 285 19 Nixon’s Agony 302 20 Stassen’s Folly 314 21 The Land of Smear and Grab 331 22 The Hungarian Revolution and the Freedom Fighters 348 Part Two 1957–1961 23 Ike and Dick Return 363 24 Prelude to the Strug gle 372 25 The Civil Rights Act of 1957 379 26 Little Rock and Its Consequences 402 27 The Implosion 425 28 The Steel Solution 448 29 Nixon in Africa 462 30 Ike’s Cold War 483 31 A Near- Death Experience 494 32 Inside and Outside the Kitchen 514 33 Ike’s Hopes Collapse 536 34 Ike, Nixon, Kennedy, and Castro 543 Conclusion: Ike and Dick 563 Appendix: Eisenhower’s Notes on the “Checkers Speech” 571 List of Abbreviations 577 Notes 579 Bibliography 711 Index 777 Illustrations follow page 268. PREFACE When Herbert Brownell Jr. told Dwight D. Eisenhower that his advisers had selected Richard M. Nixon as his running mate in 1952, the general readily con- curred. Ike saw in Nixon a young, talented politician who, like himself, was a strong foe of communism and had distinguished himself as a congressman in 1948 by his pursuit of Alger Hiss, later shown to have spied for the Soviet Union. Eisenhower would also come to value Nixon’s po liti cal insight and his ability to connect with his Republican constituency. Not yet forty years old at the time he was nominated, Nixon saw his place on the 1952 ticket as a priceless oppor- tunity, and he never lost his determination to make the most of it. Yet he never completely understood Ike’s military character and would be left dumbfounded by some of Ike’s decisions. The two men w ere never partners. Theirs was not a “strange pol itic al mar- riage,” as Jeffrey Frank claims in Ike and Dick. Eisenhower, the supreme com- mander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in World War II, the former chief of staff of the Army, the fi rst supreme commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Or- ga ni za tion, did not have partners. He led a team of subordinates, who were ex- pected to go where Ike sent them, be his eyes and ears, provide intelligent and informed advice, deliver his messages, execute his decisions, and occasionally become casualties. Whether the battlefi eld was military or po liti cal, Ike often had his soldiers take the heat instead of himself. Having seen how unprepared Harry S Truman was to assume the presidency on Franklin D. Roos ev elt’s death, Eisenhower kept Vice President Nixon aware of most of the decisions made in the White House. Nixon attended Ike’s weekly meetings, presided in Ike’s absence, acted as a liaison with both houses of Con- gress, met with dozens of foreign heads of state, and tirelessly represented the administration on the campaign trail. He had more responsibility and more ix