Eisenhower: Soldier and President (The Renowned One-Volume Life)

I fell in love with Stephen Ambrose’s style of writing after reading his 3 volume retrospective of Richard Nixon. He’s very clear, concise and easy to understand. He seems never to spend too much time on laborious details about any one event in his subject’s history except where obviously needed (case in point – volume 3 of the Nixon series spent a lot of pages on the Watergate crisis.)Because of this, I was a bit put off by the fact that this biography is actually an amalgamation of two books that the author devoted to Dwight Eisenhower – the first one focused on the soldier, the second one, the President. I’m not a big fan of anything abridged when it comes to literary works, but I confess that I couldn’t pass up on the bargain price offered up by Kindle! So, suffice to say, I think I would have liked to have read more, but whether or not the information I would have liked the author to expand on is discussed in the two “uncut” versions remains unknown to me.That’s not to say that this is not a good read. Everything that I expected from an author such as Ambrose is present. We don’t get too much detail on Eisenhower’s early life – other than he was a typical Midwestern boy around the turn of the twentieth century who had four brothers, got into a lot of fights, and played a lot of football. Yes, even then you could see that this young boy had the potential to be a general and/or a president.Although he enters the army via West Point, he never engages in any military conflict up until World War II. His promotion to General is based on tenure, and not necessarily accomplishments (the only real action he could have seen was in World War I, yet he “just missed” being in the thick of things). One thing that all see in this brilliant young man is his ability to succeed at battle “case studies” that is apparently prevalent in one’s military training. He has the smarts to know just how to win the big battles. As World War II progresses, he’s in some very high level conflicts. He makes mistakes, but is such a strong leader that eventually everyone “back home” likes Ike. Loves him actually. Strangely, the politics of war time can be just as exasperating as anywhere else, and by the time Ike is the Commander of Allied Forces in Europe, he has to deal with a lot of bickering - especially with Bernard Montgomery and George Patton (the two men hated each other, and Ike really doesn’t care for them either). Still, he succeeds as a strong leader should, and we get a very detailed glimpse into the preparation of Operation Overlord (D-Day). Although history tells us that this turning point was a major success, there was a lot of gambling, second guessing, and uncertainty up until the morning of the invasion. This event alone warrants its own narrative (which Ambrose, amongst many others, has written.)Ike is such a national hero that everyone wants him to run as President upon conclusion of the war. Even current President Harry Truman wants him to run in 1948 (Ike declines, Truman is re-elected). Finally the masses are placated in the 1952 election, and Ike has two successful terms. That’s not to say flawless – he makes several mistakes, but overall history holds his presidency in higher than average regard. The best thing about Eisenhower’s presidency is that the man never had to pander to anyone. Being a successful five-star general essentially means you can win election to the highest office of the free world without having to kiss anyone’s backside. This was very refreshing. The man never really cared much about what others thought of him.Such attitudes did have some downsides however. One example was his Vice President, Richard Nixon. Although the relationship between the two was never perfect, Ike did respect Nixon. He wanted Nixon to step down as Vice President in 1956 and accept a Cabinet position instead so Nixon could be “better prepared” to be President one day. What Ike never realized is that such a move would have been viewed as a horrible demotion and probably would have killed Nixon politically.Unlike the stereotypical war monger that becomes Commander in Chief, Eisenhower is very cautious when it comes to the military and military spending while he is President. Quite frequently, Eisenhower is constantly telling the country that the military is too large, spending too much money, and has too many bombs. He is persistent in balancing the nation’s budget, and if he has to massively cut military spending, it’s a no brainer to him. It’s not that Ike has become “anti-military”, it’s just that as a successful military leader, he’s smart enough to know it’s not how much money you spend on defense, but how you spend money on defense. He looks at the military in the nuclear age as just being wasteful.We also read about wife Mamie, son John, and his wartime secretary Kay (despite consistent allegations over the years, an affair was never proven between the two, but it’s very obvious that the two were somewhat in love with one another being so far from home during the war.) Ike’s post presidency years are talked about a bit too briefly. I was hoping for more reflections as to his thoughts on the country during the 1960s. It’s talked about, but not as much detail as I would have liked. Why, for example, was Eisenhower so against involvement in Vietnam back in 1954, yet seems to be one of the biggest hawks of the 1960s during the Lyndon Johnson administration? This was very odd indeed to read, and I had to wonder if Ike was getting a bit senile. I wish there could have been more explanation.Although this book is favorable towards Eisenhower, I was very pleased that the author showed the man’s warts as well. He was not perfect. Especially heartbreaking was his response (or lack of) to the Civil Rights movement. He literally just wished the whole problem would “go away”, and worried too much about alienating his southern friends than he did pursuing equality. To be fair, this seemed to be the attitude of most leaders in the Oval Office (even, to some extent Kennedy and Johnson), but you can’t help wonder how much better things could have been, and how the Civil Rights movement could have taken bigger leaps in a quicker time frame had Ike actually cared.Reading about the goods and the bads is what I always like in a biography, and I’m very glad that the author didn’t elect to gloss over nor ignore the man’s shortcomings. I can now honestly say, that overall, I like Ike.NOTE: As other reviewers have pointed out, there are quite a bit of mistakes in the Kindle version. It didn't make the experience unbearable, but it could be quite distracting at times. The was the worst "Kindle edit" that I've ever read, and someone, somewhere should fix it. I'm not (obviously) basing my review on the poor editing, although it looks like many have.

Well done. As described.

Stephen Ambrose has written a few books of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. This book is a condensed one-volume biography on the nation's thirty-fourth president. As the book's title suggests there are two main focuses in the work, Eisenhower the solider and Eisenhower the President.The early part of his life is glossed over. The important moments are there, the time he almost lost his leg as a kid, his rebellious West Point years, courtship and marriage, his disappointment with his lack of involvement in World War I, the death of his first-born son, and his time in the Philippines. This is stuff is only briefly touched upon but it is there.Ambrose portrays Eisenhower as brilliant general who was not only a talented tactician, but also a great leader who could identify talent and put in the best place to be successful. Eisenhower could take conflicting personalities and make them work together and successfully. He hated war but he hated Hitler more, and that stronger hatred drove him though Europe.As president however, Ambrose portrays a different picture. Contrary his later defense in the closing chapter, Ambrose does present him as a `Whig President' who acts more a chairman of the board and not a chief executive. Unlike most presidents, Eisenhower did not need the presidency he didn't worry about his `legacy' he already had one. Ambrose presents a president who would refuse to take bold stands at home or abroad. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing with the tensions with the Soviet Unions being what they were refusing to draw lines in the sand was probably a good thing. He enforced Supreme Court decisions on segregation, despite that he wanted the Court to wait to the next president was in office. It is easy to see why John F. Kennedy's claim that `we need to get the county moving again' caught on to a lot of people. Eisenhower just wanted to cruise through the fifties.I enjoy Ambrose take on Eisenhower's retirement. In some ways Eisenhower was more prepared then many of his predecessors to become the president, having been a world figure for over a decade before taking the office. Eisenhower in the same respect was more unprepared for the challenges of retirement. The scene where Ambrose describes Eisenhower's attempt to use a phone is hilarious. Although I may have preferred Michael Kordra's Ike this is a good one-stop book to learn about one of America's most important leaders in history.

No doubting Stephen Ambrose's love of subject - Dwight D Eisenhower.Author paints a picture of a patient man, willing to serve in the Phillipinesunder McArthur, who tested Eisenhower's patience to the limit.Eisenhower's understanding of FDR's and Churchill's political pressuresmost likely led Ike to be chosen to lead Overlord. Ike's talents, handlingthe mercurial Monty and the abrasive Patton are well dealt with and explainedin this book.Ambrose's treatment of Kay Summersbee are a little confusing, Ambroseinitially denying there was any romance and later inferring that there wassome passionate encounters.Author's treatment of Ike's presidency is candid and objective - given thatthis is a one-volume life, issues are not delved into, but all are objectivelydealt with - thus giving a balanced view of a president, whose militaryexperience gave him the confidence of confronting the Joint Chiefs onoperational and budget matters.Overall a good introduction to anyone looking to explore the 34th president.John Lawlor

nice easy read

I am really enjoying this book. It is a comprehensive biography written in an easy style, and simply zips along. I would recommend it to anyone interested in Eisenhower.

What a brilliant story

No dust cover but otherwise excellent.