Ike's Bluff: President Eisenhower's Secret Battle to Save the World [Hardcover]

Evan Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 2012

Evan Thomas's startling account of how the underrated Dwight Eisenhower saved the world from nuclear holocaust.

Upon assuming the presidency in 1953, Dwight Eisenhower set about to make good on his campaign promise to end the Korean War. Yet while Eisenhower was quickly viewed by many as a doddering lightweight, behind the bland smile and simple speech was a master tactician. To end the hostilities, Eisenhower would take a colossal risk by bluffing that he might use nuclear weapons against the Communist Chinese, while at the same time restraining his generals and advisors who favored the strikes. Ike's gamble was of such magnitude that there could be but two outcomes: thousands of lives saved, or millions of lives lost.

A tense, vivid and revisionist account of a president who was then, and still is today, underestimated, IKE'S BLUFF is history at its most provocative and thrilling.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for IKE'S BLUFF:

"With grace, insight, and originality, Evan Thomas has written a brilliant and engaging book about the most important of subjects: how close we came to Armageddon in the seemingly placid 1950s. Thomas's Eisenhower is a canny savior, a president who kept the peace through feint and bluff. No one writes more astutely or more honestly than Evan Thomas. This is the work of a master of storytelling at his best." (author of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power Jon Meacham )

"[Thomas's] detailed, engaging pictures of Eisenhower's personality bring him vividly to life. Most important, by the end of the book Thomas has made his case that Dwight Eisenhower's 'greatest victories were the wars he did not fight.' " (New York Times Book Review )

"Evan Thomas has written an insightful and penetrating study of my father, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Dad was a hard man to know; he played it close to the chest. So despite my extensive exposure to him throughout forty six years, I still found myself learning new aspects, some of which, I must admit, are a bit painful. But the balance that Thomas achieves between Eisenhower the public servant and Eisenhower the man is, in my opinion, as close to the mark as we are likely to see." (John Eisenhower )

"Evan Thomas's profoundly important book shows how the card-playing general who did as much as anyone to win World War II became the president most adroit at preserving peace. Behind his open smile, Eisenhower was a secretive and subtle leader with quiet moral courage. By projecting confidence while keeping his intentions concealed, he became the model of a nuclear-age peacekeeper. Thomas has produced a fascinating history that is also a brilliant guide to great leadership." (author of Steve Jobs Walter Isaacson )

"A bustling, anecdotal book with a high-concept premise. [Thomas] approaches the ever more changeable Eisenhower legacy with new and intriguing questions." (The New York Times Janet Maslin )

"Well-researched and highly readable...Thomas' account is sure to appeal to older readers who can recall the mandatory duck-and-cover drills in the classroom and to others with an interest in a fascinating and pivotal period when the nation was in better hands than many at the time probably realized." (The Associated Press )

"[Thomas is] a five-star biographer who blows apart that image [of Ike as a bumbling old man] with devastating detail." (Vanity Fair )

"A thoroughly researched, tightly organized and briskly written biography...Thomas is especially skilled at bringing characters of the era to life..." (Washington Post James Ledbetter )

"Dwight Eisenhower was a great general and President because he was a great leader, and Ike's Bluff uncracks the code. Evan Thomas's original and fascinating book is an immersion in the Eisenhower School of Leadership, with lessons not only for Presidents and military officers but leaders in other arenas of American life operating in moments of both tranquility and rapid change. Especially in these times, Thomas's book is an essential reminder that strong leadership can be exercised with kindness, morality and respect for opponents." (author of The Conquerors Michael Beschloss )

"Thomas has written a book that elucidates Eisenhower's wisdom for general readers." (Richmond Times-Dispatch )

"Highly absorbing." (Huffington Post Tom Alderman )

"An imaginative, approachable volume that may well accelerate Eisenhower's slow but seemingly inexorable movement toward presidential greatness. Evan Thomas is right. The greatest victories of the man who helped win World War II were 'the wars he did not fight." (Boston Globe )

"An enjoyable book, fast-moving and packed with anecdotes." (Los Angeles Times )

"Engaging and insightful...Thomas' treatment is valuable...for the verve of its telling and convenience of bringing disparate and specialized sources together." (National Interest )

"Incisive and direct...Evan Thomas brings considerable rhetorical power to his examination of the Eisenhower presidency." (Dallas Morning News )

"Works such as Ike's Bluff are encouraging historians and the media to take a closer and more objective look at Dwight D. Eisenhower." (Washington Times )

"[Thomas] is doing [for Eisenhower] what David McCullough did for John Adams." (Chris Matthews on Hardball )

"When the stakes for America and the world were highest, Eisenhower played a winning hand. So, too, does his latest biographer." (Christian Science Monitor Eric Spanberg )

"Ike's Bluff is a testimony to the need for national leaders who place the nation above self...The book should be required reading for every member of Congress and the president as well." (Richard Fisher, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas )

"Historian and journalist Evan Thomas argues convincingly that keeping the United States out of war is a chief reason [Ike's reputation is on the rise]." (Virginian-Pilot Timothy J. Lockhart )

About the Author

Evan Thomas is the author of several bestselling works of history and biography, including The War Lovers and Sea of Thunder. He was a writer and editor at Time and Newsweek for more than 30 years, and he is frequently a commentator on television and radio. He teaches at Princeton University and lives in Washington, D.C.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (September 25, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316091049
• ISBN-13: 978-0316091046
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.5 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (172 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,189 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Presidents & Heads of State

More About the Author

Evan Thomas is one of the most respected historians and journalists writing today. He is the bestselling author of six works of nonfiction: Sea of Thunder, John Paul Jones, Robert Kennedy, The Very Best Men, The Man to See, and The Wise Men. Evan Thomas was made editor at large of Newsweek in September 2006 and is the magazine's lead writer on major news events and the author of more than a hundred cover stories.
Thomas has won numerous journalism awards, including a National Magazine Award in 1998 for Newsweek's coverage of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. In 2005, his 50,000-word narrative of the 2004 election was honored when Newsweek won a National Magazine Award for the best single-topic issue.
Thomas is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a fellow of the Society of American Historians. He is a graduate of Harvard and the University of Virginia Law School. He lives with his wife and two children in Washington, DC.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

264 of 276 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Narrative, Though Nothing New Here as Scholarship September 22, 2012

By Captain Hornblower

Format:Hardcover

As a historian who has done research on Eisenhower, and as an admirer of the General/President, I have been waiting with great anticipation for Evan Thomas' book. I have had my copy since Tuesday, and have been reading it every spare moment I can get since I acquired it.

I agree with Thomas' overall thesis of the book, which is that Eisenhower was long overlooked as a President. Historians like Arthur Schlesinger and others from his generation wrote off Ike as the bubble-head who played golf for eight years as President. Therefore, any book that shows the falsehood of that assessment and presents a more accurate picture of Eisenhower's presidency is welcome.

In terms of Thomas' scholarship on Eisenhower and his thesis on Ike's presidency, the author does not really present anything new in his narrative. The assessment of Eisenhower as a cunning and insightful President who staved off war with the communist block was one that was already successfully pioneered by both Stephen Ambrose and Fred Greenstein back in the 1980's. The work of those two authors (Ambrose's Eisenhower-the President and Greenstein's Hidden Hand Presidency) started the modern age of scholarship on Eisenhower. That work has continued to produce work on Eisenhower's presidency. In recent years, new work from Jean Edward Smith and Jim Newton have also continued to support Ike's importance as a president. Therefore, if you are already someone who is well read on Eisenhower, you are not going to find much that is new on his presidency with Thomas' work.

That being said, this fact should not detract too much from Thomas' work on its own merit. Thomas' narrative is well composed, well researched, and an example of great historical storytelling at its finest. Those readers who are already familiar with the history of Eisenhower's presidency will still enjoy this book as a reaffirmation of Ike's importance to American history as a president. For those who are not familiar with Eisenhower's presidency, and thus not familiar with earlier scholarship on Ike, will learn much from Thomas' book.

I thoroughly recommend this book for both Ike aficionados and the uninitiated to Eisenhower's history. Thomas' book confirms the place of Eisenhower as one of our most important presidents. The author effectively presents the story of a president who now ranks in the top tier of U.S. Presidents for both his skills and his accomplishments in that office.

60 of 63 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Complex President September 30, 2012

By Byrdman

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a good book on Eisenhower during his presidency. Evan Thomas gives an excellent narrative, and it reads so well that there are times that you resent the call to dinner and are reluctant to put the book down.

A most recent biography Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith continued my interest in Eisenhower and thus, the purchase of this book. Even after reading the story, it is still hard to define this man. You would think that the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe would have been a hard lined supporter of a strong military, but Ike was everything but that. He knew the high cost of the military, and during his presidency he worried about the smoke and mirrors that the Pentagon and their scores of generals were constantly using to promote more and improved weaponry. Ike had seen it all, and he saw it in terms that the average man could understand, for example in translating the cost of a destroyer versus the social benefits that could be attained with the same money for schools, hospitals, etc., and he was the one who warned of the military industrial complex. He simply mistrusted the people that he knew the best through decades of service to his country.

As his son once said, that in forty six years of knowing him, there were things that he still did not know about hsi father, as he held his cards close to his chest. Eisenhower during his career was careful of his friends and I got the impression that he trusted no one, maybe with the exception of his family.

His greatest challenge during his years in office was the recognition of the new technology that resulted in the capacity to wage atomic (or nuclear) war. For some time, he struggled with the very concept that man had at last developed weaponry that could destroy mankind and he was horrified by it. His maturation continued as advanced concepts arrived to show how artillery could be fitted with nuclear warheads, torpedos, and even a rocket launcher that could be fired from a jeep and whose blast would kill not only the enemy in the area but the very soldiers who launched the demon. And there were times that he felt, especially in Euroope that a nuclear response would be the last ditch effort against overwhelming numbers of Soviets.

Eisenhower from a personal side, was an excellent and brutal bridge player and early in his career with the Army, he had to quit playing poker because he had taken so much money from fellow officers that it went beyond just a game or comradery. Indeed, he held his cards close to his chest and much of this followed with the mannner that he treated his subordinates. John Foster Dulles is an interesting case in point. While many of the intellectuals scorned Dulles (Dull, Duller, Dulles) Ike kept him for years as Secretary of State until he died of cancer. The book tells little about Richard Nixon which is understandable but there was talk of dropping him from the ticket for the second run.

Also of interest is Ike's development of the interstate highway system. We take it for granted today, but Ike felt that it was necessary for people to get out of cities quickly in the event of nuclear attack.

There is interesting information on Krushchev and his insecurites and dealing with Eisenhower. Finally the author shows how when Kennedy failed with the Bay of Pigs, Ike explained to him how the CIA had bungled this operation and that JFK had not gathered all the information and conducted extensive meetings to examine the proposal from a variety of sources.

All in all, a good book. As the previous reviewer stated, there is no new material, but all of it is presented well and in a fast pace and the reader will enjoy this work immensely

60 of 64 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The "Ike" we need to know October 3, 2012

By L. Y. Jones

Format:Hardcover

Anyone who grew up in the 1950s remembers the stereotype of Ike as a Mr. Bluster-esque fuddy-duddy, inevitably compared unfavorably with the youthful New Frontiersmen of JFK's presidency. How wrong this is! The great strength of Evan Thomas's reporting on Ike is that we see him here not only as the leader of the Free World (a title he earned the hard way during World War II) and a judicious statesman -- but as a genuine human being, with anger, passions, and profound wisdom -- displayed with the likes of Churchill and Krushchev but also with his own family (human but not always endearingly). We see him jousting with the cowboys in the CIA and throwing a golf club at his doctor. Thomas has made wonderful use of the intimate diaries and papers of his secretary, his doctor, and the Dulles brothers (themselves fascinating cases) -- as well as revealing interviews with his children -- to create the best portrait we have of Eisenhower, the man who made some of the wisest and most difficult decisions of the 20th century. Thomas's book advances the revisionist scholarship on Eisenhower to give us a fully realized portrait of a man who was up to the demands of the job -- something we wish could be said for more Presidents.