ABSTRACT
Secretary Forrestal had briefed Dwight D. Eisenhower during the fall about the problems with the 1949-1950 defense budget and the constant bickering among the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His first leave from Columbia would be pivotal for his presidency. Eisenhower hoped, Eli Ginzberg has recalled, that work on the military records of World War II would lead to "a better understanding of what had happened with manpower utilization and mal-utilization as a part of the war experience." Eisenhower and Ginzberg had taken a major step in launching one of his most significant achievements at Columbia. President Eisenhower had wanted a mandatory retirement program ever since his arrival on Morningside Heights, and the Committee on Education presented its report on "automatic and optional retirement" for discussion. Eisenhower had only a week and a half in New York before reporting to duty at the Pentagon, although he planned to return regularly to Columbia for a few days at a time.
