EISENHOWER’S SECRET WAR

Part One, "The Lure of the Presidency," starts with the Korean War and moves through 1953 as it discusses what led a reluctant Ike to run for president, the behind-the-scenes maneuvers of his campaign, Nixon’s "Checkers Speech," and his use of television. Part Two, "Building Bombs, Talking Peace," covers 1953 through 1960 and looks at the beginnings of the arms race, the "New Look" defense policy, the end of the Korean War, the "Open Skies" proposal, the Suez Canal crisis, Sputnik, Khrushchev’s 1959 visit to the U.S., the U-2 incident, and the Paris Summit. Stocked with archival film footage and both contemporary and past interviews with eyewitnesses (American and Soviet), historians, and notable figures such as son John Eisenhower, Walter Cronkite, and former presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan, the program reveals how Eisenhower’s mastery of politics and foreign policy kept the Cold War "cold."