Ike's Mystery Man by Peter Shinkle

Author:Peter Shinkle [Shinkle, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781586422448
Publisher: Steerforth Press
Published: 2018-12-04T00:00:00+00:00

16

“LOSING MY RIGHT ARM”

In the White House Cabinet Room on Thursday, March 3, 1955, Bobby Cutler led the NSC through a sobering Cold War reality: a new national plan for civilian warnings and evacuations — and for survival of the federal government — in the event of a Soviet nuclear attack. Bobby had chaired a committee that worked for three months on the plan with representatives from the CIA, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Federal Civil Defense Administration, and other agencies. This was the first time the NSC had tried to forge a comprehensive national strategy for surviving a nuclear attack. After a lengthy discussion, President Eisenhower said he was “gratified” by the plan and approved it as NSC 5513.1

The following Tuesday, Bobby wrote a letter to the president asking to step down as his special assistant for national security affairs effective April 1, 1955. Bobby wrote, “You are familiar with the reasons for my resignation. They are wholly related to my personal and private concerns. For no other reason, so long as my duty was satisfactory to you, would I consider leaving your service.” After remarking on the reform of the NSC as a mechanism for formulating national security policy, Bobby turned to expressing his gratitude toward Ike:

Being quite human, I have to say what these many months of close, personal association have meant to me as a person. You have given me more courage, direction, and appreciation of the right course in life than anyone I ever knew. Any fellow who works closely with you comes away a debtor for the rest of his life. I shall always carry in my heart and mind the imprint of your warm humanity, your broad judgment, and your inner strength.2

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