Director’s StatementnI first discovered the story of President Eisenhower meeting the world’s first super computer while reading Ray Kurzweil’s Age of Spiritual Machines. It was 1999 – the peak of the dot.com era – and anything seemed possible through technology and science. Days were full of optimism and the future seemed impossibly bright. This was a sharp contrast to how it must have been to live in America during the 50’s with the Cold War and the specter of nuclear annihilation looming over the national psyche.nLater I stumbled across Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth, and when I heard him tell the exact same story I had read in Kurzweil’s book, I instantly thought that story would make an interesting short film. But I was just scratching the surface.nThe story is actually a classic theme of man vs. machine, this one also resembling the old tale of John Henry versus the Steam Engine. In that story John Henry beats the machine, but dies victorious with his hammer still in his hand. The story of Ike and The Computer seemed like a cool technological retelling of that fable.nWhen you dig deeper, Eisenhower’s first term as President is truly an amazing time in history and was a crossroads of so many things that affect us even to this day. One of these is the signing of a Bill to change our Pledge of Allegiance by adding “Under God” and to add “In God We Trust” on all U.S. Currency. All of this happened around the same time the Russian’s caught up to us in the nuclear race after stealing our Hydrogen bomb plans. During his first four years in office, Eisenhower found himself at a crossroads where communism and nuclear war faced off with advancements in science and technology. Powerful concepts for one man, president or not, to handle.nWhen I would talk to people about the idea for my film, I found a range of reactions about the Pledge being changed. Some were apathetic. Some were shocked that it was changed in the 50’s, and not originally written this way by America’s forefathers. And some passionately wanted it changed back immediately. No doubt there is still a war being waged over the separation of church and state in the United States. If you look back over the last two decades, there has been bitter struggles concerning prayer in schools, the Ten Commandments being placed on Government property and Intelligent Design being taught in science class. No matter what side you sit on in this debate, it’s all very interesting.nThat’s why I decided this film needed to be made.nI hope you enjoy exploring these crossroads too.nRichard Farmern