Susan Eisenhower

Eisenhower has written extensively on nuclear and space issues. She is the author of three books: Breaking Free: A Memoir of Love; Mrs. Ike: Memories and Reflections on the Life of Mamie Eisenhower; and Partners in Space: US-Russian Cooperation After the Cold War. She has also edited four books on regional security issues; the most recent – Partners in Space (2004) – was also published by Nayuk, the publishing house of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2000, she co-edited a book, Islam and Central Asia, which carried the prescient subtitle An Enduring Legacy or an Evolving Threat? She has written chapters for a number of collected volumes, and penned hundreds of op-eds and articles on foreign and domestic policy for the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, United States Naval Institute's Proceedings, The Spectator, the National Interest, Politique Americaine, USA Today and other Gannett Newspapers.

On October 29, 2012, she re-endorsed Barack Obama for a second term in the 2012 presidential election.

In January 2010, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu appointed Eisenhower to serve on the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future, which has been asked to develop a long-term solution for safely managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle.

Eisenhower has spoken at many diverse types of gatherings: from the nation's most distinguished institutions such as Harvard to countless World Affairs Councils and corporate gatherings. She has also spoken to many expert audiences. For instance, she gave the Commandant's Lecture at the Army War College in Carlisle, the Harry S. Truman Distinguished Lecture at Sandia National Laboratory, and she delivered the 2008 Rose Lecture at MIT. She has also given full speeches, by invitation, at other prominent places, such as the National Press Club, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives, the Hollywood Bowl, the French National Assembly, the Rotunda of the Capitol, and the White House, on two recent occasions.

She has received four honorary doctorates, most recently from the Monterey Institute, where she was cited for her work on nuclear nonproliferation. Eisenhower received the 2008 Dolibois History Prize from Miami University. She was a keynote speaker at the 2012 Washington & Jefferson College Energy Summit, where the Washington & Jefferson College Energy Index was unveiled.

Although a lifelong member of the Republican Party, Eisenhower endorsed Barack Obama for president of the United States in 2008. Eisenhower announced on August 21, 2008 that she was leaving the Republican Party and becoming an Independent. She spoke on the final day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Her speech was delivered at INVESCO Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado, and began with, "I stand before you tonight not as a Republican or a Democrat, but as an American." The full transcript of her remarks as delivered is on her website.

Her father, John Eisenhower, had similarly left their family's traditional party in 2004 to become an Independent; he endorsed Democratic candidate Senator John Kerry for president.

Over the years, Eisenhower has served on many other government task forces. In 2000, she was appointed by United States Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson to the Baker-Cutler Commission, a blue-ribbon task force, to evaluate U.S.funded nonproliferation programs in Russia. Since that time, she has also served as an advisor on two other United States Department of Energy studies; one on the threat of nuclear terrorism and the other a blue-ribbon panel on the future of nuclear energy. In 2001, after two terms on the NASA Advisory Council, she was appointed to the International Space Station Management and Cost Evaluation Task Force, which analyzed ISS management and cost overruns. She currently sits on the Nuclear Threat Initiative board, co-chaired by Senator Sam Nunn and Ted Turner, the Energy Future Coalition, the US Chamber of Commerce's new Institute for 21st Century Energy, and the Air Force Academy's Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense Studies.

In 1970, Susan Eisenhower was presented as a debutante to high society at the prestigious International Debutante Ball at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Many members of the Eisenhower family have been presented as a debutante at the International Debutante Ball.

Susan Elaine Eisenhower (born December 31, 1951) is an American consultant, author, and expert on international security, space policy, energy, and relations between the Russian Federation and the United States of America. She is the daughter of John Eisenhower, and the granddaughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.