Public library tonight. Our world class exhibits and programs like this are made possible by the friends of the Eisenhower Foundation and other donors. I especially want to thank the ewing Marian Coffman for supporting this lecture series tonight. Now perhaps youre aware that the Eisenhower Foundation is raising money to conduct a comprehensive exhibit renovation, its the largest Fund Raising Campaign in our foundations 73year history and its the First Comprehensive exhibit renovation in more than 45 years. The new exhibits will be unveiled this summer. En by the response that weve received thus far and im pleased to report that weve raised 98 of our goal. [ applause ] we want to finish the campaign before june 6th so that we can publicly announce this milestone to all the veterans who join us at the eisenhower president ial library and museum that day to commemorate the 75th anniversary of dday. Now, many of our friends have already made a gift to the exhibit renovation, and id like t
Vulnerable to surprise attacks. April 18, 1942, 16 b25 bombers led by Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle prepared to take off from the Aircraft Carrier hornet. Their target tokyo and 4 other major japanese cities, with carefully selected military targets. It was only nine days after the fall of bataan. [plane engines] never before had such a thing been attempted. The psychological effects of the raid on tokyo were even greater than the material damage inflicted. It raised the morale of all americans and shocked the enemy into realization that we had the will and wherewithal to carry the war to the heart of his own homeland. Three weeks later, United States navy planes from the Carrier Task Force dealt the japanese fleet a damaging blow in the coral sea, the first naval battle in history to be fought entirely with carrierbased aircraft. [explosions] while the navy was starting to make a comeback, general wainwright surrendered corregidor. A proud old soldier who had fought in world or o
Richard norton smith, why did you call your book that you wrote 35 years ago uncommon man . Well, its taken actually from the title of a relatively famous hoover speech about the uncommon man. If you remember, Vice President henry wallace, who was the second of fdrs Vice President s, gave a famous speech in 1942, i believe, maybe 43, about the censure of the common man. And wallace from a leftofcenter perspective was projecting, in effect, the goals and ambitions of the generation that was fighting world war ii. And it wasnt enough simply to defeat the nazis, but to create at home a true democracy, a place where the common man would finally come into his own. And hoover approached this from a different place in the political spectrum. He was in effect making the case for what we might call meritocracy. But some think i shouldnt paraphrase it. But you know, when you get sick, you want an uncommonly skillful doctor. When we go to war, we want an uncommonly able general. You get the pictu
Flattered that you took the time, took your evening to come listen to me. I try to i think that my students by and large are interested in the subject but i know perfectly well that if they didnt have tests, didnt have papers, if they werent held accountable then most of the seats would be empty. None of you had to be here but you did. Come. I find that to be very flattering. I could, i suppose, give you a test at the end. The title of my talk, which i had forgotten until jamie just mentioned it is the unknown aaron burr. I am going to tell you about aaron burr and tell you why i wrote about a back about aaron burr. The title is the heartbreak of aaron burr. I will tell you about the heart break but i cant tell you the whole story without giving away the ending. I dont want to give away the ending because i will tell you why. It is not just that i want you to buy the book and read the book and enjoy it and hang around until the ends. But it has to do with the reason i wrote the book in
This week on q a, president ial historian Richard Norton smith discusses his book, an uncommon man the triumph of Herbert Hoover. Richard norton smith, why did you call your book that you wrote 35 years ago uncommon man . Well, its taken actually from the title of a relatively famous hoover speech about the uncommon man. If you remember, Vice President henry wallace, who was the second of fdrs Vice President s, gave a famous speech in 1942, maybe 43, about the century of the common man, and wallace from a left of center perspective, was projecting in effect, the goals and ambitions of the generation that was fighting world war ii. And it wasnt enough simply to defeat the nazis, but to create, at home, a true democracy. A place where the common man would finally come into his own. And hoover approached this from a different place in the political spectrum. He was, in effect, making the case for what we might call a meritocracy. I shouldnt paraphrase it, but when you get sick, you want a