Peter Shinkle

presents

Ike's Mystery Man:
The Secret Lives of Robert Cutler

with an introduction by THOMAS POWERS

This event includes a book signing

Date

Jan
23
Wednesday
January 23, 2019
7:00 PM ET

Location

Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Tickets

This event is free; no tickets are required.

Harvard Book Store welcomes veteran reporter PETER SHINKLE for a discussion of his new book, Ike's Mystery Man: The Secret Lives of Robert Cutler. He will be introduced by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and writer THOMAS POWERS.

About Ike's Mystery Man

President Eisenhower's National Security Advisor Robert "Bobby" Cutler shaped US Cold War strategy in far more consequential ways than previously understood. A lifelong Republican, Cutler also served three Democratic presidents. The life of any party, he was a tight-lipped loyalist who worked behind the scenes to get things done. While Cutler's contributions to the public sphere may not have received, until now, the consideration they deserve, the story of his private life has never before been told.

Cutler struggled throughout his years in the White House to discover and embrace his own sexual identity and orientation, and he was in love with a man half his age, 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.

Praise

"An extraordinary story . . . a man who held the nation's most sensitive secrets, who also happened to be gay—at a time when such a thing was supposed to be impossible . . . a gripping, moving tale." —Evan Thomas, author of Ike's Bluff: President Eisenhower's Secret Battle to Save the World

"This is a book that deserves, and is sure to get, a wide audience." —Michael Isikoff, co-author of Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump

"A historical treasure unearthed . . . A must-read for all Cold War scholars, it is a great read for everyone else." —Martin J. Sherwin, Pulitzer Prize–winning co-author of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

Peter Shinkle
Peter Shinkle

Peter Shinkle

Peter Shinkle worked for 19 years as a reporter at various news organizations, including most recently the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He covered the federal court system and also wrote investigative stories on subjects ranging from improper disposal of radioactive waste to the political influence of the payday loan industry. Shinkle is the great-nephew of Robert Cutler. It was during a family vacation in 2006 that his mother, Judith Cutler Shinkle, and his aunt told him that their "Uncle Bobby" was gay. That sparked a 12-year endeavor to explore the story of the man who was one of President Eisenhower's closest advisors.

Thomas Powers
Thomas Powers

Thomas Powers

Thomas Powers is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and writer best known for his books on the history of intelligence organizations. Among them are Intelligence Wars: American Secret History from Hitler to al-Qaeda; Heisenberg’s War: The Secret History of the German Bomb; and The Man Who Kept the Secrets: Richard Helms and the CIA. His book The Killing of Crazy Horse won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for history, the Western Writers of America Spur Award for historical nonfiction, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in the biography category. He lives in Vermont with his wife, Candace.

Photo Credit: Annette Hornischer

Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Walking from the Harvard Square T station: 2 minutes

As you exit the station, reverse your direction and walk east along Mass. Ave. in front of the Cambridge Savings Bank. Cross Dunster St. and proceed along Mass. Ave for three more blocks. You will pass Au Bon Pain, JP Licks, and TD Bank. Harvard Book Store is located at the corner of Mass. Ave. and Plympton St.

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