Ike's Mystery Man
The Secret Lives of Robert Cutler
Reeks: Truth to Power
Peter Shinkle
- The
- Cold
- War,
- The
- Lavender
- Scare,
- and
- the
- Untold
- Story
- of
- Eisenhower's
- First
- National
- Security
- Advisor.President
- Eisenhower's
- National
- Security
- Advisor
- Robert
- "Bobby"
- Cutler
- --
- working
- alongside
- Ike
- and
- also
- the
- Dulles
- brothers
- at
- the
- CIA
- and
- State
- Department
- --
- shaped
- US
- Cold
- War
- strategy
- in
- far
- more
- consequential
- ways
- than
- previously
- understood.
- A
- lifelong
- Republican,
- Cutler
- also
- served
- three
- Democratic
- presidents.
- A
- charming
- raconteur,
- he
- was
- a
- tight-lipped
- loyalist
- who
- worked
- behind
- the
- scenes
- to
- get
- things
- done.Cutler
- was
- in
- love
- with
- a
- man
- half
- his
- age,
- naval
- intelligence
- officer
- and
- NSC
- staffer
- Skip
- Koons.
- Cutler
- poured
- his
- emotions
- into
- a
- six-volume
- diary
- and
- dozens
- of
- letters
- that
- have
- been
- hidden
- from
- history.
- Steve
- Benedict,
- who
- was
- White
- House
- security
- officer,
- Cutlers'
- friend
- and
- Koons'
- friend
- and
- former
- lover,
- preserved
- Cutler's
- papers.
- All
- three
- men
- served
- Eisenhower
- at
- a
- time
- when
- anyone
- suspected
- of
- "sexual
- perversion",
- i.e.
- homosexuality,
- was
- banned
- from
- federal
- employment
- and
- vulnerable
- to
- security
- sweeps
- by
- the
- FBI.This
- gripping
- account
- reveals
- in
- fascinating
- detail
- Cutler's
- intimate
- thoughts
- and
- feelings
- about
- US
- efforts
- to
- confront
- Soviet
- expansion
- and
- aggression
- while
- having
- to
- contend
- with
- the
- reality
- that
- tens
- of
- millions
- of
- people
- would
- die
- in
- a
- first
- nuclear
- strike,
- and
- that
- a
- full
- nuclear
- exchange
- would
- likely
- lead
- to
- human
- extinction.
- And
- Shinkle
- recounts
- with
- sensitivity
- the
- daily
- challenges
- and
- personal
- dramas
- of
- a
- small
- but
- representative
- group
- or
- patriotic
- gay
- men
- who
- were
- forced
- to
- hide
- essential
- aspects
- of
- who
- they
- were
- in
- order
- to
- serve
- a
- president
- they
- admired
- and
- a
- country
- they loved.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
