a guy named george dudley who claimed to have been a marshall under wild bill hickock. i think a lot of people made that claim during that time period. he said mr. dudley shared with him stories of hickock's prowess as a revolver. eisenhower knew many people in abilene who had lived through those years. he wasn't that far removed. the heyday of the cattle trade, again, '67 to '71 and eisenhower was born in 1890. he wasn't a full generation behind the folks who lived that history and many of them were still here in abilene. not only just the location of where he lived but of course the places still around town, the people he knew. all of this really had an influence on ike. i think that -- this was working a minute ago. now it doesn't want to advance. i'll keep going in the hopes that it will. the three influences on ike were his love of western novels and western history. but western novels and movies. a code of behavior that he learned in abilene, sort of a code of the west. then also the influence of the closing of the american frontier on his policy thinking. i'm goi

in 1967 he gives his friend who sends him a wild bill hickock dime novel from 1882, and he replies "i must have read this back in abilene as a boy." i also think because of the cost, you could buy some of the dime novels for a nickel. and with the little bit of money that he had at the time, that was probably more likely the kind of thing that he was buying. so i'm sure his reading did start with sensationalized accounts of the west. there's reference later too that he did like those that were more historically-minded, that were at least plausible and took place in a real location. max brand's books, they're kind of in this mythical west, and so eisenhower seemed to prefer real locations and more plausible plots than some of the other writers might present. well, i think that will do it. thanks again. [ applause ] >>> sunday on c-span's q and a, distinguished fellow leo edwards chronicles his involvement in the conservative movement. >> i met joe mccarthy through my father who was a confidant to him, and he was a fellow well met, and he liked to party and drink or two. and as long as