Past Forgetting My Love Affair with Dwight D. Eisenhower [Hardcover]

Kay Summersby Morgan (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Book Club (BCE/BOMC) edition (1976)
• ASIN: B000PAXK6Q
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,013,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ghostwritten but still riveting, July 31, 2003

By 

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

This review is from: Past Forgetting: My Love Affair with Dwight D. Eisenhower (Hardcover)

Kay Summersby produced this book while dying of cancer. It was actually ghostwritten, but based on material she provided the shadowy author, who writes extremely well. In fact, it's very difficult to put this one down and I have read it several times over the years. Kay paints fascinating word portraits of various WWII personalities she met, including the profane and hilarious Patton, the bombastic Monty, the loquacious Churchill and the shy Omar Bradley.

Of course the most interesting character is Ike himself. There is no doubt Kay was utterly besotted with Eisenhower. She was wildly infatuated with him, as well as being physically attracted to him. How Ike felt about Kay is more nebulous and one can't dismiss the hundreds of love letters Ike penned to Mamie during the time he was entwined with Kay. The fact that Ike's staff denied he was sexually involved with Kay doesn't count for much; for a discreet couple, it's easy to fool outsiders.

Kay writes of two thwarted sexual encounters. Both occurred in public houses where people could presumably walk in on the amorous couple. Their first attempt at being intimate was in England, but Ike couldn't perform. He apologized profusely for this failure, but Kay assured him still she still loved him anyway. Their second attempt at consummation was after VE Day, in Germany. Kay claims that clothes were wildly discarded and they tried to get down to business... but again, Ike was unable to complete the act. Poor Kay!

Historians debate whether this is all wishful thinking. One might question why a woman would invent a situation where her would-be lover is impotent. If you're going to lie, why not go the whole nine yards and invent passionate couplings all over WWII Europe? Indeed, the dialogue Kay invents is more upsetting that her sexual depictions. It's hard to imagine Ike grabbing her and saying, "God-----, Kay, I love you!" Or fantasizing about having a baby with her. This sounds like pure fiction.

Despite all these problems, it's still an incredibly interesting book. You either accept Kay's romance with Ike or you believe she invented it all. I tend to think he was extremely attracted to her but was too uptight to commit adultery, especially with his chauffeur. Still, an excellent read.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WHAT A DELIGHTFUL SURPRISE!, March 22, 2007

By 

D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Past Forgetting: My Love Affair with Dwight D. Eisenhower (Hardcover)

First, I must admit to not caring much for books by people who "hung around" famous people. In fact I, for the most part, despise them. They, the writers, either have an axe to grind, want money or crave attention. I did not find this to be so with this particular work. Due to the circumstances in which it was written, time lines, the author's impending death, etc. I found it to be none of the things I usually dislike this type of work for. The book of course was written by a ghost writer, Barbara Widen, but it is obvious that Widen has captured perfectly the thoughts and perceptions of Kay. I found the book to be quite fascinating as to the late General and the details of his very private life during the height of the war in Europe. Now those that are expecting a torrid, sex filled autobiography tell all will be quite disappointed. The affair between these two people was not the almost gross stuff we read of today. It actually reads more like a high school romance than a story of an affair. The reader also must make up his or her own mind as to how truthful Kay is. For myself, I tend to believe most of what she has written. She had no real reason of make anything up at this point in her life. It would be very interesting to have available Eisenhower's side of the story, in his own words, but that is not going to happen. Most of what the author has recorded is perfectly logical and quite believable. One of the most interesting aspects of this story for me was, the unreal pressure that Eisenhower was under during this period of his life. This work brings this point out quite graphically. The book is an easy read, but I did find that after reading the first few pages, I could not put it down, ergo, I lost a full nights sleep. All in all, this is a very worth while read. It is handled with dignity and insight. Recommend this one highly.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I highly recommend this excellent book!, October 4, 2005

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Past Forgetting: My Love Affair with Dwight D. Eisenhower (Hardcover)

During World War 2, a constant source of scuttlebutt was the relationship of General Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969) and his British (Irish, actually) drive, Kay Summersby (1908-75). In 1948, Kay published her first book, Eisenhower Was My Boss, which gave a history of Kay's work with Eisenhower during the war, but glossed over any talk of an intimate relationship between the two. In 1973, after she was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer, Kay decided that it was time to tell the story of her affair with Ike. This book is Kay's story.

Published after her death, this book is the joint work of Kay Summersby Morgan and Barbara Wyden, a veteran ghost writer, and it is an excellent read. I really enjoyed the first half of the book, which covered Kay's early work with Eisenhower and what it was like. But, once we get to the blossoming of their relationship it takes on such a bittersweet edge, that it is almost heartbreaking. Overall, I found this to be a great read, one that really casts Eisenhower in a different light. I highly recommend this excellent book!