Product Description

Stephen E. Ambrose draws upon extensive sources, an unprecedented degree of scholarship, and numerous interviews with Eisenhower himself to offer the fullest, richest, most objective rendering yet of the soldier who became president. He gives us a masterly account of the European war theater and Eisenhower's magnificent leadership as Allied Supreme Commander. Ambrose's recounting of Eisenhower's presidency, the first of the Cold War, brings to life a man and a country struggling with issues as diverse as civil rights, atomic weapons, communism, and a new global role.

Along the way, Ambrose follows the 34th President's relations with the people closest to him, most of all Mamie, his son John, and Kay Summersby, as well as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Harry Truman, Nixon, Dulles, Khrushchev, Joe McCarthy, and indeed, all the American and world leaders of his time. This superb interpretation of Eisenhower's life confirms Stephen Ambrose's position as one of our finest historians.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73105 in Books
• Published on: 1991-10-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 640 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780671747589
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From Publishers Weekly
In this admiring and enormously readable revision/condensation of his acclaimed two-volume biography, published in 1983 and 1984, Ambrose reminds us that this "great and good man" was the most successful general of the greatest war ever fought and the only president of this century to preside over eight years of peace and prosperity. Tracing Eisenhower's family background, education, military and political careers, and influence as elder statesman, the author chronicles Eisenhower's triumphs and failures and at the same time provides a vivid picture of the off-duty Ike. As Allied Supreme Commander, he is revealed once again as a coalition leader of extraordinary ability (and "an intensely alive human being who enjoyed his job immensely"). As our 34th president, he was a statesman who guided the free world through one of the most dangerous decades of the Cold War. Ambrose argues that Eisenhower has much to say to us today on such fundamental issues as national defense, arms expenditures, the importance of a balanced budget and the desirability of a United States of Europe with an all-European army. This is the definitive one-volume biography of Eisenhower.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
James MacGregor Bums Fascinating....An important case study in military and political leader ship. -- Review

Review
Publishers WeeklyThe definitive one-volume biography of Eisenhower.

Robert J. DonovanThe best book to date on its subject....Of Eisenhower's high rank on thelist of presidents there can he little doubt.

John KeeganA magnificent biography.

James MacGregor BumsFascinating....An important case study in military and political leadership.

Customer Reviews

An Underrated Figure
Eisenhower is generally regarded as a do-nothing President, one whose only legacy to the country is his face on the discontinued silver dollar and who only left for the presidency a putting green on the White House grounds. Surrounded as he was by two younger and more idealistic men in the history books, Ambrose clearly sees something of value in his eight years in office, and after reading this book, I somewhat agree.

However, just to do an Eisenhower biography focusing on the Presidency would be insufficient: as a general, he masterminded Operation Overlord and led the final assault on Germany, in the process defeating German genius Erwin Rommel. The first half or so of the book details his military successes and failures, his relationships with Generals Marshall and MacArthur, and how his remarkable victory came about. However, few deny that Ike was a great military leader. His presidency, on the other hand, is a quite contentious matter to this day, and Ambrose defends his record. He doesn't obfuscate facts, though: Eisenhower declined to take leadership on the single most important issue of his term in office: civil rights. The book makes it very clear that Ike's sympathies were with the southerners in the integration battles, and although his response to the Warren Court's decision to end segregation was far from Jackson's famous one ("John Marshall has made his ruling, now let him enforce it"), he didn't enforce Warren's sweeping proclamation with much vigor. In fact, for several years, he didn't enforce it at all. It took outright defiance for him to act, which he ultimately did. The book claims that Eisenhower's nomination of Earl Warren as Chief Justice was something that he always approved of, even if he had differences with the great Chief, which would be a real revelation if true, since he famously referred to Warren as "the biggest damned-fool mistake I ever made." In spite of Ike's reticence to rigorously enforce desegregation, he did appoint Warren and William Brennan to the Court, both of whom would at least help his legacy on this issue. Eisenhower's presidency was extremely secretive, perhaps just as much as Nixon's (and the current Bush's), but he took the constitutionally murky step of using executive privilege to try to shut down, indirectly, the McCarthyist fear machine. Ambrose also rightly admonishes Ike for failing to denounce the demagogue himself. Also, using the CIA to incite rebellion and assassinate foreign leaders was unprecedented, although, like executive privilege, he was not the chief abuser of these extra-legal powers (LBJ did more with the CIA, and for executive privilege, you know who). However, Ambrose points out many of his successes also: he was the only President of the 20th century (aside from Clinton) to preside over two full terms of peace and prosperity, and one of an even smaller group that left office with a popularity rating higher than when he entered (also, incidentally, like Clinton). It is interesting to note the two men's similarities: both won the presidency after the opposing party had been entrenched in the White House for years, both were moderate compromisers, both were thought of by their detractors as do-nothing presidents and by their supporters as great ones. There's a book I'd like to see, but I'm getting off subject. Eisenhower got us out of Korea, kept us out of Vietnam (despite elaborate efforts to "get us in"), continued Truman's multilateralist policy in containing communism, urged calm and restraint at a time of great fear and paranoia, and history has proven him right at questioning the sanity of the missile gap, warning us of the military-industrial complex, and avoiding conflict in Southeastern Asia. Now, if only we'd listened to those ideas...

Although many might characterize Eisenhower's presidency as a catalogue of missed chances, he provided stable leadership and political moderation at a polarized time. Unlike some reviewers, I am not bothered by Ambrose's open admiration of his subject. Ask any historian if it's possible to write unbiased history and they'll say it's not. If they say they're unbiased, they're lying. I'd just as soon, in the interests of full disclosure, hear where the author stands in order to evaluate him. For his wise but flawed leadership, Eisenhower has earned a place in history, and this is a great introduction to a pivotal figure in 20th century history.

Biased, but wonderfully readable
Ambrose edited the Eisenhower Papers project for many years and finally turned his talents on writing a large-scale biography of Ike. The Ike opus is infinitely superior to Ambrose's earlier biography on Henry Halleck and his research and knowledge about Ike is obvious throughout.

The only "criticism" I have is that Ambrose is blatantly biased in Ike's favor and makes no bones about it. The first words in his introduction are, 'Dwight Eisenhower was a great and a good man," which is undoubtedly true, but a biographer should take more pains to disguise their own feelings. There is very little criticism of Ike in Ambrose's work, which borders on the hagiography. Perhaps a bit more of Harry Truman's invective towards Eisenhower could have infused these pages.

Still, Ambrose is a wonderful writer and his works are always fun to read and informative. This is still the definitive look at Eisenhower, even if it is a completely uncritical examination.

Fast moving and well written
Quite interesting and readable biography, probably not for experts but an excellent starting point to get your Ike on. History's been increasingly kinder to his presidency as the years go by, and certainly Stephen Ambrose makes the case for his achievements. It's also fascinating to discover that Ike saw no combat in WWI (much to his dismay), and that even just a few years before Pearl Harbor (after nearly three decades in the Army) he'd expected to rise no higher than colonel (and that not until 1950). Definitely a story worth reading.