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Eisenhower: A Life

Eisenhower: A Life

The redoubtable, nay prolific and left of wingnut historian Paul Johnson has now penned his version of the life of our 34th President – Dwight David Eisenhower. Though really a monograph and not a full biography at a mere 144 pages, Eisenhower: A Life is the sort of potted history one would read as a survey before partaking in the full historiographical meal needed to assess any figure of Eisenhower’s stature.

According to an official description of the book, “Johnson chronicles President Eisenhower’s modest childhood in Kansas, his college years at West Point, and his rapid ascent through the military ranks, culminating in his appointment as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II. Beginning when Eisenhower assumed the presidency from Harry Truman in 1952, Johnson paints a rich portrait of his two consecutive terms, exploring his volatile relationship with then-Vice President Richard Nixon, his abhorrence of isolationism, and his position on the Cold War, McCarthyism, and the Civil Rights Movement. Johnson notes that when Eisenhower left the White House at age 70, reluctantly passing the torch to President-elect John F. Kennedy, he feared for the country’s future and prophetically warned of the looming military-industrial complex.”

Such a taste of Eisenhower’s presidency will introduce the reader to some of the very same political issues we fight about today, and it will introduce the milieu that launched the national career of  Vice President, Richard Nixon, which of course is an entirely different story.

Photo: Amazon

Five Republicans Who Actually Protected The Environment

Five Republicans Who Actually Protected The Environment

AFP Photo/Mladen Antonov

AFP Photo/Mladen Antonov

Today, environmental protection is an almost entirely partisan issue. Republicans aren’t only reluctant to enact any environmental legislation — they’ve even attempted to get rid of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) altogether. That’s why Republican Kansas governor Sam Brownback’s recent accusations that his Democratic challenger Paul Davis doesn’t care enough about conservation sounded so odd. Today’s Republicans usually haven’t been on the right side of the environmental debate.

But it wasn’t always this way. Here are five Republicans who actively worked to save the environment.

President Abraham Lincoln

Photo via WikiCommons

Photo via WikiCommons

Through the Yosemite Grant Act, Lincoln is credited “with laying the groundwork for what we know now as the national park system.” Though he didn’t create the first national park, Lincoln was the first president to set land aside for protection and public use.

“This was the seed,” former Yosemite superintendent Mike Tollefson told USA Today. “This was the idea, that an area should be protected for all people for all times.”

Around 4 million visitors now visit the park every year to see its giant sequoia trees and mountains. In fact, Teddy Roosevelt was so inspired when he visited that he later expanded the grant and made it a national park.

President Theodore Roosevelt

Photo via WikiCommons

Photo via WikiCommons

President Roosevelt, who famously loved the outdoors, created the U.S. Forest Service after worrying that big-game hunters were damaging the environment and the wildlife. He also created 51 federal bird reservations, 4 national game preserves, 150 national forests, and 5 national parks during his presidency.

Roosevelt also supported the passing of the American Antiquities Act, which allows federal agencies and the president to preserve “historic” sites and landmarks. Roosevelt announced 18 national monuments through this act, which House Republicans tried to abolish this year in an attempt to limit President Obama’s power to designate national monuments.

Roosevelt ended up protecting approximately 230,000,000 acres of public land during his presidency, according to the National Park Service.

“There can be nothing in the world more beautiful than the Yosemite, the groves of the giant sequoias and redwoods, the Canyon of the Colorado, the Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Three Tetons; and our people should see to it that they are preserved for their children and their children’s children forever, with their majestic beauty all unmarred,” he said.

President Dwight Eisenhower

Photo via WikiCommons

Photo via WikiCommons

In 1960, Eisenhower established the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is currently “one of the most intact and untouched ecosystems in America.” Today, the 19 million acre area hosts 42 different mammal species, 36 species of fish, and more than 160 species of birds. It’s a mix of tundra, wetlands, mountains, lagoons, and coastal marshes.

The refuge is an oasis in Alaska free from drilling and development. Yet today’s Republicans have tried multiple times to allow drilling in the area, arguing that it would solve the nation’s energy problems, without feigning any concern for the effect that drilling could have on wildlife.

New York City Mayor John Lindsay

Photo via WikiCommons

Photo via WikiCommons

Mayor Lindsay was well ahead of his time when it came to making cities more sustainable. In 1966, his administration banned cars from Central Park Drive on weekends, inspiring other parks to follow suit. He also added some of the first bus and bike lanes in the country, promoting a more environmental lifestyle.

He even celebrated Earth Day by banning cars from Fifth Avenue on Sundays in 1970. Lindsay also proposed closing a stretch of Madison Avenue from 34th to 57th streets and designating the space entirely to pedestrians, though that plan never came to fruition.

His daughters remembered his love of nature at a recent dedication ceremony for the former mayor.

“We remember as young children, living in Gracie Mansion, that the six of us would ride our bikes together through Central Park with so many other families on bikes, or just strolling, and joggers, who would call out their thanks to our dad for closing the parks to cars,” Kathy Lake and Margi Picotte said in a statement. “The park was special to all of us and dad took great pride it having made it more accessible for all to enjoy.”

President Richard Nixon

Photo via WikiCommons

Photo via WikiCommons

Though Nixon’s policy is often overshadowed by Watergate, his administration was essential in creating sound environmental policy.

In 1969, he passed the National Environmental Policy Act, which was one of the first national environmental protection laws. It created a set of national environmental goals and required federal agencies to document the environmental impact of their programs.

In 1970, he created the EPA, which gave the federal government the power to regulate the protection of the national environment. He also signed the Clean Air Act, which allowed the EPA to create regulations to reduce air pollution.

In 1972, he signed the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and in 1973, he signed the Endangered Species Act. He also proposed the Safe Drinking Water Act, which ensures that the public water supply is clean and safe. It was eventually signed into law by his successor, Gerald Ford.

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U.S. Senate Weighs NASA Decision To Restrict Ties With Russia

U.S. Senate Weighs NASA Decision To Restrict Ties With Russia

By Mark K. Matthews, Orlando Sentinel

WASHINGTON — The granddaughter of former President Dwight Eisenhower — the man who founded NASA at the start of the Cold War — on Wednesday warned that NASA was making a “counterproductive and damaging” mistake by restricting ties with Russia over the Ukraine crisis.

Speaking before a U.S. Senate panel, Susan Eisenhower, a longtime NASA adviser, said the administration erred last week when it cut off most ties with Roscosmos, Russia’s space program, in response to Moscow’s annexation of Crimea, a former territory of Ukraine.

“Rolling back space cooperation could be counterproductive and damaging to our national security and long-term space agenda,” said Eisenhower, referring to new restrictions on NASA travel to Russia and contact between U.S. and Russian scientists.

The major exception to NASA’s blockade of Roscosmos is the operation of the International Space Station, where two NASA astronauts currently are living alongside three Russian cosmonauts, as well as a sixth astronaut from Japan.

But Eisenhower said even this exception had pitfalls.

“Where does work on ISS begin and where does it end?” she asked in prepared remarks. “This could be of major significance if there is an emergency in space that impacts the community beyond the operational side of the ISS.”

One NASA official who also appeared at the hearing conceded that Eisenhower had a point, but said the level of safety onboard the ISS remained unchanged — at least for now.

“It’s not a concern at this point. We have a very strong relationship with Roscosmos and our partners and doing day-to-day operations in a very effective manner,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations, in an interview.

“But I think we need to be aware of what Susan (Eisenhower) said and make sure that we are continually vigilant.”

Asked whether NASA made the right call in restricting ties, Gerstenmaier — a longtime NASA veteran who frequently works with Russia — declined to elaborate, but he noted that “there are huge advantages to our cooperation in space.”

NASA is in the process of reviewing some of the other partnerships it has with Russia to determine if other exemptions are warranted. Gerstenmaier said Wednesday that NASA will allow its people to participate in a space research conference this August in Moscow.

In her testimony, Eisenhower said that restricting communication between scientists could backfire on the U.S. because the Russian scientific community was among the country’s “most progressive” political sectors and the one that is open to finding common ground.

“We want to make sure that we express our displeasure with Russian behavior and do so in a way that will count with the regime and not punish our friends,” she said.

The only two senators to attend the hearing were both from Florida: Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Marco Rubio.

Rubio said that Eisenhower brought an “interesting perspective” but that he ultimately supported NASA’s restrictions.

“The geopolitical realities of what we’re facing there (in Ukraine) are significant enough that I’m not prepared to criticize the decision that was made,” he said.

Nelson took a different tack.

“I agree with Susan Eisenhower,” he said.

AFP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov