Eisenhower: Soldier and President [Turtleback]

Stephen E. Ambrose (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2002 | ISBN-10: 0606251391 | ISBN-13: 978-0606251396

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY.

--This text refers to the School & Library Binding edition.

Editorial Reviews

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Publishers Weekly The definitive one-volume biography of Eisenhower.

Robert J. Donovan The best book to date on its subject....Of Eisenhower's high rank on the list of presidents there can he little doubt.

John Keegan A magnificent biography.

James MacGregor Bums Fascinating....An important case study in military and political leader ship. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Turtleback
• Publisher: Demco Media (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0606251391
• ISBN-13: 978-0606251396
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Dr. Stephen Ambrose was a renowned historian and acclaimed author of more than 30 books. Among his New York Times best-sellers are: Nothing Like It in the World, Citizen Soldiers, Band of Brothers, D-Day - June 6, 1944, and Undaunted Courage.He was not only a great author, but also a captivating speaker, with the unique ability to provide insight into the future by employing his profound knowledge of the past. His stories demonstrate how leaders use trust, friendship and shared experiences to work together and thrive during conflict and change. His philosophy about keeping an audience engaged is put best in his own words: "As I sit at my computer, or stand at the podium, I think of myself as sitting around the campfire after a day on the trail, telling stories that I hope will have the members of the audience, or the readers, leaning forward just a bit, wanting to know what happens next." Dr. Ambrose was a retired Boyd Professor of History at the University of New Orleans. He was the Director Emeritus of the Eisenhower Center in New Orleans, and the founder of the National D-Day Museum. He was also a contributing editor for the Quarterly Journal of Military History, a member of the board of directors for American Rivers, and a member of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Council Board. His talents have not gone unnoticed by the film industry. Dr. Ambrose was the historical consultant for Steven Spielberg's movie Saving Private Ryan. Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks purchased the film rights to his books Citizen Soldiers and Band of Brothers to make the 13-hour HBO mini-series Band of Brothers. He has also participated in numerous national television programs, including ones for the History Channel and National Geographic.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Underrated Figure, October 3, 2005

By 

Adam Dukovich "colts_19" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eisenhower: Soldier and President (The Renowned One-Volume Life) (Paperback)

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.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well-written Ike bio, January 15, 2002

By 

kelly6228 (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eisenhower: Soldier and President (The Renowned One-Volume Life) (Paperback)

You can tell that Stephen Ambrose truly likes and admires his subject, Dwight Eisenhower, yet he's able to present a very balanced sketch of the 34th President in "Eisenhower: Soldier and President".

This is Ambrose's condensed, one-volume biography based on his earlier two-volume work, but I didn't feel as though I was missing out on anything.

I gained a better understanding of the realities of war from this book. Eisenhower knew when he launched the D-Day invasion, that thousands of soldiers would die even if the mission was successful. It made me think back to earlier in the book, when a young Eisenhower bemoaned the fact that World War I had ended before the West Point graduate saw any 'action'. Be careful what you wish for. Even in monumental success, there had to be quite a weight on Eisenhower's soul from all the young lives lost under his command.

I had a little trouble warming up to Eisenhower as reluctant politician. He obviously wanted to run for President, he just didn't want to be seen as someone who wanted to run - he insisted on seeming above the fray, passively waiting to be drafted into presidential politics. Similarly, he liked to act like he was above party politics, was coy about his party affiliation for quite a long time, didn't really want to be associated with Republican party politics - he just seemed like he was in the mushy middle to me.

Ambrose provides interesting insight into Eisenhower's relationship with his Vice President, Richard Nixon. When they were running in 1952 and Nixon was engulfed in the financial controversy that led to the famous "Checkers" speech, Eisenhower once again was passive - he didn't back Nixon up, he listened too much to the (mostly liberal, Nixon-hating) traveling media, he left it up to people sending telegrams to the RNC as to whether he'd keep Nixon on the ticket. The interesting thing, however, is that Eisenhower was infuriated by a little-remembered aspect of the "Checkers" speech. Nixon challenged the candidates on the Democrat ticket to disclose all of their finances, as he had done. Eisenhower knew that he would now have to disclose his finances as well and the intensely private Eisenhower (at least with regard to his finances) never forgave Nixon for causing this invasion of his financial privacy.

Sometimes when I read a book like this, the most bizarre and trivial thing will stick with me. In the case of President Eisenhower, it was this unusual example of candidate Eisenhower's detachment from everyday American life, found on p.299 of the paperback edition: "To leave his mind and his time free, he had others to do the most basic of human chores for him. He did not dress himself - John Moaney, his valet, put on his underwear, socks, shoes, pants, shirt, jacket and tie." Unfortunately, now everytime I hear Eisenhower mentioned, I think about how he had a manservant to put his underwear on for him. I mean, how free does your mind have to be? (Thanks a lot Mr. Ambrose, I can't unring that bell).

This is an enjoyable and informative book. I knew next to nothing about Eisenhower before I opened it and I learned a lot. While I wouldn't say that Mr. Ambrose's book made me want to learn even more about Ike, it did make me want to read other Ambrose books.

45 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Biased, but wonderfully readable, August 5, 2000

By 

Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eisenhower: Soldier and President (The Renowned One-Volume Life) (Paperback)

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.