President Eisenhower Designated Private Citizens to Take Control of the Government in the Event of a Nuclear Attack on the United States
President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed private citizens as "emergency designees" in the event of an atomic attack on the U.S. The details are revealed in CONELRAD's "This Letter Will Constitute Your Authority: The Eisenhower Ten "
Los Angeles, California (PRWEB) February 10, 2004 -CONELRAD, the website devoted to Cold War popular culture reveals today that in 1958 and 1959 President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed private citizens as "emergency designees" in the event of an atomic attack on the U.S. or any other disaster that would have incapacitated senior government leaders. The story is revealed in detail for the very first time by CONELRAD in its article "This Letter Will Constitute Your Authority: The Eisenhower Ten" (http://conelrad.com/atomicsecrets/secrets.php?secrets=05). The story contains exclusive comment from the last living private citizen who served in President Eisenhower's "shadow cabinet," former CBS News President Frank Stanton.
On March 6, 1958 President Eisenhower issued letters to six private citizens, two administration cabinet secretaries and one letter to the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve granting all unprecedented authority in the event of a national emergency. The recipients of these letters were to become "Emergency Administrators" for agencies in the various fields of expertise that they were deemed most qualified for. For example, Frank Stanton was the designee for the "Emergency Communications Agency" and Theodore F. Koop, a CBS vice-president, was to head the "Emergency Censorship Agency." All but one of the President's letters has been declassified: Theodore F. Koop's. CONELRAD learned of Koop's role from another document that was not classified. So much for effective censorship!
CONELRAD first learned of the existence of the Eisenhower letters from the Federation of American Scientists (http://www.fas.org/) whose website published an internal Kennedy Administration memo referring to the unusual contingency correspondence issued by Kennedy's predecessor in office. CONELRAD obtained copies of the actual declassified letters including associated government paperwork from the Eisenhower Presidential Library.
CONELRAD has thoroughly researched the members of the "Eisenhower 10" and presents its findings in an entertaining and graphically stunning report. The article contains quotes from Eisenhowe's Staff Secretary, Gen. Andrew J. Goodpaster (USA, Ret.) who discusses the "E-10" publicly for the first time.
CONELRAD is a website that has been recognized by national media and as well as by academia for its incisive and witty Atomic pop culture analysis since its debut in 1999. For Cold War film, music, television, tourism, and SECRETS, CONELRAD is considered one stop shopping for anyone obsessed with this bizarre era of American life.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Bill Geerhart, editor and co-creator of CONELRAD
(323) 913-5965
bill.geerhart@conelrad.com
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