Actually, according to what I recently read but can’t cite the source (seems like I read a recent book about Eisenhower that I can’t recall the title of), Eisenhower was asked by his inner circle (which was staffed by heavyweights) if it wasn’t dangerous to create the CIA group which invaded at the Bay of Pigs. On the basis that it might be used to launch a poorly prepared, ungrounded attack on Cuba. Ike replied, “Not while I am president,” and his adviser said that that caveat was what he was worried about.Eisenhower briefed JFK about the program and warned that it should only be used when there was a plausible alternative to Castro. JFK was a lot less attentive to Eisenhower before taking office than he had every reason to wish afterward that he had. The invasion had no leader with the stature to claim legitimacy as the president of Cuba.
When JFK explained to Ike that he had withheld air support to keep US fingerprints off the operation, Eisenhower was dismissive of the conceit that, in any such operation, US involvement could plausibly be denied.
In my #47 I said:Actually, according to what I recently read but can’t cite the source (seems like I read a recent book about Eisenhower that I can’t recall the title of), Eisenhower was asked by his inner circle (which was staffed by heavyweights) if it wasn’t dangerous to create the CIA group which invaded at the Bay of Pigs. On the basis that it might be used to launch a poorly prepared, ungrounded attack on Cuba. Ike replied, “Not while I am president,” and his adviser said that that caveat was what he was worried about.Three Days in January: Dwight Eisenhower's Final Mission is about the transition to the JFK administration, from Eisenhower’s perspective. During those 3 days Ike gave his “military industrial complex” speech and tried to get JFK up to speed - which of course depended on the willingness of JFK to listen, which was unfortunately far from unbounded.