Originally commandants house. ,here at fort adams, in newport. Join us as we learn more about this historic home. So the Eisenhower House we are in today was used as a summer white house during 1958 and 1960. He came in the summer of 1957 and stayed in the naval war college. He found that living on the war college was not exactly what he was looking for, study took a little tour of the town. He saw this house which was at that point used as the commandants quarters and decided this would make a fine summer white house. So he was here for two summers, usually late summer. So late august into the middle to late part of september was primarily the two years he was here. The summer of 1957 was the integration of Central High School in little rock, arkansas. Which was a very big, politically charged event he did deal with while here in newport. He was famously said the white house was essentially wherever he is. So there were always things that go on he had to deal with here, as well as in his Remote Office college, whichr he could access by boat a few miles from here. A beautiful area. This is historically part of a larger fort. So it was at that point easily defendable. It was still under navy protection. So it was a lot easier for the secret service and those to secure the area, and certainly, it is very close to the Newport Country Club golf course, which he was a big fan of golf, even if not the best golfer. That thisinsula building is built on is part of a greater fort called fort adams, built between 1824 and 1857, with modifications all the way through world war ii. So in most of that time the , whole peninsula would have been blocked off as an army base, coastal artillery, and the officers originally lived inside the fort itself. But those rooms were notoriously damp, cold. So in the 1970s, they built Eisenhower House and a number of other officers quarters. Time, this was a family home to many, many families, starting with general hunt, the first occupant, right up to president eisenhower. And then the various naval officers that lived here afterwards. The army moved into fort adams in 1840. Finally, right around 1875, the house was built for the commandant, as well as a row of victorian frame houses for the other officers of the fort to live in with their families. This house here is a prime example of the effort we used to put into our structures. Many, many years ago this was used as our national logo. Right after the civil war, it was sort of adopted as the nation united the form of u. S. , the public hated it. It looks like a dollar sign. It does not really look like u. S. It looks like something a calligrapher designed. So by the time this house was occupied, right around 1875, this was all left in place. It is on both of the windows. These are original. And the architectural details of this house, what we used to put into our federal structures, is amazing. This new post, one can only guess at how many pieces of wood are here, and they are all handcarved. Again at the bottom, if you can pick that up, the u. S. Appears in four sections of this. Now, in here, this room would have served as a sitting room or receiving room. In 1960, president eisenhower came to newport to dedicate eisenhower park. And i remember going to the ceremony. There was a platform stage with many dignitaries, lots of music, lots of happiness. And everybody was absolutely pleased that the president chose to honor us with a visit to newport. I remember at the time they dedicated the monument, i was brought by my mother over with the crowd to see the unveiling. And my mother was a very small woman. Me being a very small child i cannot see , anything except brown canvas covering over the monument. And a very nice lady picked me up to see the unveiling. The cover was ripped off, and you could see the name eisenhower and in the five stars of his general of the army rank. And that was fantastic. At that point, he came down into the crowd and started shaking hands with people. And this woman take me up a said, shakend hands with the general, and that was he had such a pleasing, pleasant face. And it inspired confidence. Announcer and our staff recently traveled to newport, rhode island, to learn more about its rich history. Learn more at cspan. Org citiest our. Watching you are American History tv every weekend, all weekend, on cspan3. Announcer at next weekend, fayetteville, arkansas, and with the help of our Cox Communications cable partners, we will explore the literary scene and history of fayetteville. Watch the cspan cities tour of fayetteville, arkansas, next and the on book tv, next sunday at 2 00 p. M. On American History tv on cspan3, working with our cable affiliates as we explore america. Announcer and next on the presidency, a look at the relationship between president john f. Kennedy and soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev in the early 1960s. The university of virginia at thecenter is looking complicated history between u. S. And russian leaders over the last century. The discussions included assessments of franklin d nixon,lt, jfk, richard torch h w bush, and bill clinton, as well russian counterparts. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome panel, our second relationsu. S. Soviet in the 1960s and 1970s. I am not going to chair the panel that i will turn the duties over to my colleague at the miller center, professor Barbara Perry who is going to acre the panel. She is a noted scholar of the kennedy