The Politician [Paperback]

Robert Welch (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Western Islands; 9th edition (May 1975)
• ISBN-10: 9990864985
• ISBN-13: 978-9990864984
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,476,308 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A politically incorrect bio. of Dwight David Eisenhower., January 2, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Politician (Paperback)

This book was considered one of the most controversial non-religious manuscripts of its day. The author felt it was too "hot" for publication in 1956, when Eisenhower was a very popular president. A few copies circulated among some of Robert Welch's friends, and some updates were made in the next few years. The national press "uncovered" a copy after Welch's new organization, The John Birch Society, proved to be a growing threat to the status quo. Hostile reviews began appearing across the country of an unpublished manuscript!
People began asking for the book.

Mr. Welch decided in 1963 to publish The Politician in self defense. Once the book was printed, demand by bookstores suddenly dried up, and reviewers quit mentioning it. Hundreds of thousands of copies were eventually sold, but that is another story...

The chapter on Operation Keelhaul is worth the price of the book. Eisenhower's role in the forced repatriation of refugees and anti-communists to the Soviet Union at the end of WWII is well documented. It is a nauseating account of treachery and politics in the twentieth century.

The maneuverings leading up to the 1952 GOP presidential nomination are also revealed in the book, along with many other historical details of the Eisenhower years not commonly known. Hundreds of footnotes list primary sources, mostly major newspaper stories, to verify the narrative.

The value of the book is not limited to students of the 1950's. Great insight into present day U.S. foreign policy is hidden within the story of Ike. The uncanny similarity of Clinton's globalism to Bush's "New World Order" makes more sense after reading this groundbreaking book.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A counterrevolutionary masterpiece!, July 23, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Politician (Paperback)

In the years before the American Right ceased to function as a true counter establishment force the John Birch Society sent shivers down the spine of left wing politicians and their pawns. Our author Robert Welch, the Society's founder and leader, was not shy in pointing out the role played by Establishment types, Republicans as well as Democrats, in America's decline. This book centers on the Eisenhower Administration and the advance of Communism and leftism that it collaborated with. It is not for the feint of heart but when one surveys the wreckage which Ike left behind (all herein documented) anti-Communist Russians, German prisoners of war, the political destruction of McCarthey, Taft and the South it seems in retrospect that the old Belmont candy manufacturer might have been on to something. This is an important political document of the Amrican Right (old school) and deserves a reading or a re-reading today.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Insight into the Future!, November 21, 2010

By 

V-ROD "Bookworm" (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Politician (Paperback)

Robert Welch published this book in 1963. Now, almost 50 years later, Welch was "dead on" in his predictions for the U.S. if we continued the policy of appeasement with the Communists. And for those who think Reagan defeated the Communists, think again. Something much worse is coming...and it's called the New World Order.
In this book the author explains in great detail why he believes Pres. Eisenhower was a pro-communist or at minimum a communist dupe. There is no denying the evidence the author lays out, but it is still hard for me to see IKE that way. Maybe my heart doesn't want to believe it. As of this moment my belief is Pres. Eisenhower felt we had to find some common ground with the Soviet Union, and find a way to live in peace in this nuclear age. Nevertheless it's hard to dispute the author's thesis.
The book unfortunately is not an interesting read. It is a continual diatribe against IKE. After the first 50 pages it starts to get real old. This would have been a great book if the author's thesis was denouncing communism and not just Eisenhower alone. Robert Welch's insight into Communism and his predictions for the future of the U.S. was absolutely correct. He predicted the huge trade imbalance, and foreign nations dumping dollars for gold which as we all know forced Nixon to close the gold window. Also, the cheap goods that we receive in exchange for dollars, those dollars are then used by Communist nations to buy American companies and also buy influence in our foreign policy. We were sold out by our own politicians.
This book is a must read to understand the past and where we are headed!