Talk:Kay Summersby

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I fail to see the relevance of Eisenhower's impotence. He was bald too, and, by all accounts, a very good poker player, but so what. Much of Summersby's book, even according to this article, are called into question. To specifically reference the impotence, and the non-penetrative nature of thieir relationship, pretty much to the exclusion of all else, seems inflammatory (as does the adjective "prudish") and unnecessary. -- Centerfielder 09:51, 22 April 2006 (PDT)

I respect your opinion. However I am not in agreement. There are no criteria to determine relevance beyond a topic or question being political. Thus any information about a political figure, oranization, event or concept passes the threshold for relevance. Having written that, there are two arguments to be made for the relevance of this fact, one involving political psychology and the other symbolism.

First, information about Eisenhower's mental processes and motivations are important. That he enjoyed poker and golf rather than say chess or jogging would thus be relevant to help draw a picture of his view of politics. That he was balding and impotent would be similarly important clues about his inner motivations, about what might drive compensatory behavior.

Second, Eisenhower's impotence could be taken as symbolic of his presidency, in particular his failure to oppose the McCarthyite witchhunts and his failure to set goals for the U.S. space program. This latter responsibility was left to JFK, our most "pentrative" of modern presidents.

Reporting this fact in the absence of a more complete bio of Eisenhower may be in bad taste. But the cure for that is a more complete bio. Inflammatory? Perhaps a little, but more imporantly it can be sourced as factual.

BartFraden. April 23, 2006.