Commonwealth Club Of California Podcast

In 1953, Robert Cutler—the first person appointed to be national security advisor to the president, and one of the closest aides to new President Dwight Eisenhower—helped put into effect an executive order that destroyed the lives of thousands of federal employees just because they were homosexual. What was not known at the time is that Cutler himself was gay. Come hear Cutler's great-nephew, Peter Shinkle, tell what he found out about Cutler, his life, and his impact. Peter Shinkle worked for 19 years as a reporter at various news organizations, including most recently the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He covered the federal court system and wrote investigative stories on subjects ranging from improper disposal of radioactive waste to contamination spread by a lead mining company. Shinkle is the great-nephew of Robert Cutler. It was during a family vacation in 2006 that his mother, Judith Cutler Shinkle, and his aunt told him that their "Uncle Bobby" was gay. That sparked a 12-year endeavor to explore the story o