Ike: An American Hero (Hardcover)

by Michael Korda (Author)
Key Phrases: tank corps, else could you get, bomber barons, United States, World War, West Point (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Characterizing Dwight Eisenhower as an American with a big grin and long-limbed, loose American way of walking, this smitten biography demonstrates his heroism by dwelling on his World War II record as commander of Allied armies in Europe. Korda (Ulysses S. Grant) defends the people's general against criticisms leveled by subordinates and historians (Eisenhower's presidency flits by in an admiring 64 pages), but for all his fulsome comparisons of Eisenhower to Napoleon and Grant, the author's case is weak. Korda's approving gloss on Ike's broad front approach—directing all the Allied armies to engage the enemy at every point... until superior numbers inevitably ground the Germans down because he did not think a single, clever stroke would do it—makes Eisenhower sound like a terrible strategist. At best, Ike comes off as a competent diplomat-in-arms, enabling egomaniacs like Churchill, De Gaulle, Montgomery and Patton to cooperate, and soothing wife Mamie's anxieties over his glamorous secretary. Unfortunately, Eisenhower's self-effacing affability in this role means his story is usually upstaged by the colorful prima donnas around him. A more critical analysis might have made for a more interesting biography. Photos. (Aug. 21)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From The Washington Post
Reviewed by John Whiteclay Chambers II

Michael Korda, successful editor, novelist and memoirist, knows a good and timely story when he sees one. What could be more appealing today to Americans, divided, trapped in an unpopular and seemingly unwinnable war, than a fresh and inspiring account of U.S. leadership in World War II?

Ike is a valentine to "an American hero," Dwight Eisenhower, who rose from humble roots in Abilene, Kan., to become the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces and later two-term president of the United States. "Like Grant and Lincoln," Korda writes, "Ike was one of the people; and he had made good without ever losing sight of what he was and where he came from." He inspired millions, and this book's implicit message is that Ike's underrated style of leadership could help Americans regain what has been lost today:

"Something about his big grin; his long-limbed, loose American way of walking . . . his easy, familiar way of speaking to everybody from King George VI down to privates in both armies; his lack of pretension; his evident sincerity; and his willingness to accept unimaginably heavy responsibility made people like Ike. They were willing to be led by him. . . . They trusted him."

As in his earlier, brief biography of Ulysses S. Grant, Korda is especially interested in how the personality and character of his subject developed and affected subsequent achievements, particularly in the chaos and competition of war. Nearly half the book deals with Eisenhower's prewar career, including his many frustrations in the small and "feudal" officer corps of the interwar years.

Yet Eisenhower gained patrons who recognized his formidable intelligence, integrity and sense of duty and, behind the affable, self-effacing mask, his toughness, self-assurance and driving ambition. Douglas MacArthur, who exploited him, was not among Ike's boosters. But Fox Connor mentored him, and George Marshall oversaw Ike's rocketing advancement from lieutenant colonel in 1941 to four-star general in 1943.

The Western allies may have had senior generals with sharper geostrategic vision than Eisenhower (for example, America's George Marshall and Britain's Alan Brooke) and with more battle experience (George Patton, Bernard Montgomery, Harold Alexander), but after the North African invasion of 1942, none had anything like Eisenhower's record of both leading an alliance and supervising huge, daring military operations. He was a natural to command the invasion of France.

On every controversial military issue -- from the Americans' slowness in seizing Tunisia, to the adoption of a broad front rather than a spearhead advance toward Germany, to the failure to anticipate the German counteroffensive at the Battle of the Bulge, to the decision not to try to beat the Soviets to Berlin -- the author comes down firmly in support of Eisenhower.

This will hardly be the last word on most of those controversies, and surely Korda overstates the case in asserting that Eisenhower was not surprised in December 1944 because he had anticipated Hitler's counteroffensive. But virtually no one will challenge Korda's overall emphasis on Ike's fairness, energy, ability, patience, common sense, authority and, above all, "his matchless ability to deal even with the most difficult of prima donnas."

Sharply etched portraits of those prima donnas enliven the narrative. Patton was "eccentric, erratic, vain, deeply emotional, and a full-fledged military romantic, in love with the whole idea of glory." MacArthur was "wealthy, socially and politically well connected, famous, glamorous, eccentric, deeply theatrical, patrician, a shameless old-fashioned snob, a military aristocrat, and a reckless hero. . . . Like one of the more difficult Shakespearean kings, he had a majestic sense of self." Montgomery "was a loner, arrogant, vain, unforgiving, professionally brilliant, and utterly convinced that he was always right."

However, this is more than a military biography. Korda seeks a fuller human dimension. He explores Ike's childhood as the third of six sons of a dirt-poor, stubborn, humorless failed businessman and an independent, outgoing, highly likable mother. The book gives considerable attention to Ike's wife, Mamie Doud Eisenhower, the spirited, pampered daughter of a wealthy Denver businessman, and her tribulations as the constantly moving wife of a soldier who informed her as he left on a new assignment less than a month after their marriage that "duty would always come first."

Drawing on the Eisenhowers' wartime correspondence as well as on the recollections of their granddaughter, Susan, Korda provides a highly sympathetic picture of Mamie throughout the marriage, but especially during the war, when she lived alone in a room in the Wardman Hotel in Washington while her husband as supreme commander resided in fancy lodgings in Europe and became one of the most famous men in the world.

Kay Summersby, the beautiful, Anglo-Irish model and British Motor Transport Corps chauffeur who became Eisenhower's wartime driver, secretary and companion, is an integral part of the narrative. Hedging his judgment about whether they actually had an affair, Korda is frank about the devastating impact such rumors had on Mamie.

Based on comparatively few, although excellent, published sources, this book is not an addition to scholarship. But it is a fresh and engaging characterization. It is enhanced by the author's clear sympathy for his subject, international perspective and charming, urbane style.

The author is a nephew of international film magnate Alexander Korda, who knew many of the characters in the book. Michael Korda was born in England and educated there and in France and Switzerland. Later he was, for more than 40 years at Simon & Schuster, one of the most successful editors in U.S. publishing.

The final section of the book on Eisenhower's presidency seems more like an addendum. Comprising fewer than 100 of the volume's roughly 700 pages, it is cursory and sometimes irritatingly skewed. Korda selectively mines the warehouse of history, and he rides his thesis hard. Once again, he has only praise or justification for Eisenhower, but this time not just for Ike's search for peace, opposition to colonial wars and criticism of the "military-industrial-complex," but even in regard to Ike's generally cautious approach to McCarthyism and racial desegregation.

This section has its value, nonetheless, particularly in light of the current administration. Korda reminds us that Eisenhower preferred to lead by consensus and that one of his great strengths was that "he didn't approach things with a rigid set of political ideas." Instead, as a pragmatic centrist, he accepted solutions from Democrats as well as from liberal, Eastern, internationalist Republicans -- both anathema to the conservative, unilateralist Midwestern wing of his party.

A true leader, Eisenhower believed strongly that a president should take personal responsibility for mistakes (and give subordinates credit for success), and as Korda concludes, that is "a belief that not every president since his time has followed as scrupulously as he did."

Copyright 2007, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 800 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; Reprint edition (August 21, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060756659
• ISBN-13: 978-0060756659
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.8 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #181,096 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

92 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Readable, But Limited and Disappointing Book on Ike, August 26, 2007

By	Captain Hornblower "captainhornblower" (Orlando, Florida USA) - See all my reviews

When I saw this book for the first time, I was excited (as always) when a new Eisenhower book comes out. He is my favorite historical personality to study, and was even a central figure in my Thesis when I completed my Masters Degree in History. However, once I looked at the book, my disappointment began to develop almost from the start.

The book jacket's description would lead you to believe that this would be a comprehensive biography, but one need only look at the Table of Contents to figure out it is not. Instead, Korda's book joins the long list of books to focus on Eisenhower's role in the military and in World War II, but only glosses over his two terms as President of the United States. In doing so, Korda actually contradicts one of his own stated thesis points on Ike, i.e. that he was one of our greatest Presidents. If, as Korda says, he was one of our greatest Presidents, why does he only spend all of one and a half chapters on his presidency? Ridiculous!

Eisenhower was an extremely important President, and one overlooked for too long until Greenstein and Ambrose resurrected him from the depths of the Presidential rankings in the 1980's. Sadly, Korda's work adds next to nothing to the growing body of historical work on Eisenhower's presidency.

But, still interested in reading what Korda had to say on Eisenhower, I bought the book and read it. The one positive thing I have to say about it is that it is a flowing, easy, enjoyable read, and I mostly agreed with Korda's thesis points on Ike's military career.

But in reality, Korda adds almost nothing new or important to the historical work on Ike's military career either. There are several other books already out there that provide a much more detailed study and/or important information on Ike's military career, including the lengthy books by Carlo D'Este, Merle Miller, and Stephen Ambrose. All of these books already say pretty much what Korda says in terms of detailed information, but also add much more to the story of Ike's military career than Korda does.

I will gladly keep this book in my ever growing library of historical works on Eisenhower, but I predict it will not be regarded as THE standard for a biography on Eisenhower, nor even THE standard for one volume works on Ike. That honor, in my view, still goes to Stephen Ambrose's work. His two volumes on Eisenhower ("Eisenhower-Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect" and "Eisenhower-the President") are still the most complete, detailed, informative, and accurate work on this important American leader. Ambrose's one volume abridgement (Eisenhower-Soldier and President) is still the best one volume work on Eisenhower's complete life and career.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable and insightful read, September 4, 2007

By	Roger J. Buffington (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Although this is a long book, it is also a quick read due in no small part to the author's crisp writing style, which holds the reader's interest. This is a very engaging biography of a great American general.

The best part of this book is its beginning. The author immediately puts the subject matter of this biography in context by pointing out that "heros" are really not part of the American culture, and generally those who experience acclaim in their lifetimes are later the subject of criticism and revisionism. Thus US Grant had a drinking problem, Lincoln did not free the slaves as quickly or as completely as he ought, etc. Thus it is with Eisenhower as well. While "Ike" received adulation in his lifetime for leading the Western armies to victory against Germany, revisionists have been at him ever since criticizing his "broad front" strategy against Germany, his alleged "hands off" leadership style as both General and President, etc. The famous "Eisenhower grin" is taken by revisionists as nothing more than evidence that Ike was a shallow chap who made it to the top by virtue of a pleasant personality. Nothing, the author points out, was more predictable than that this type of revisionism would occur.

This biography makes the case that Eisenhower was in fact a remarkable man with numerous gifts including intelligence, integrity, and the ability to gain the confidence of superiors by his exercise of these traits. One also discerns that Eisenhower had the ability to see through detail to find and solve the main component of a problem.

This biography makes it plain that Eisenhower was identified by several powerful Army generals fairly early in his career, as someone destined for high rank and great responsibility. First General Conner (who I had never heard of) groomed Ike and saw to it that he attended the Army's Command and General Staff School and other schools that Army "comers" seek to attend. Conner brought Ike to the attention of General Marshall, who no one has ever accused of being subject to influence by someone's vapid "nice guy" personality. In a very short time Marshall saw to it that Ike was placed in charge of implementing America's plans to defeat Nazi Germany. The rest, as they say, is history.

Korda's analysis of Ike's performance as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe is very interesting. Unabashedly pro-Eisenhower, Korda makes the case that Ike had some learning to do on the job (his performance in North Africa was far from perfect) but that he learned quickly. Indeed, the entire American Army was essentially green and not battle-tested; Ike was far from alone in this regard. North Africa served to blood and harden the American Army, including its commander, Eisenhower. It also taught Ike and the British how to fuse two (three, counting the French) armies into a single fighting force.

Korda's thesis of Ike as a General is essentially to liken him to Ulysses S Grant. Korda argues that Eisenhower deduced that to defeat the Germans it was necessary to essentially keep throwing Allied manpower and equipment against them, keeping them engaged, thereby maximizing the Allies' advantages of material, which derived from America's overwhelming economic-industrial superiority. This strategy mirrors Grant's successful strategy against Lee in the US Civil War, and Korda makes a good case that this strategy, employed by Eisenhower, was the correct one. The British, of course, favored a narrower thrust in the north aimed at Berlin and the German coastal cities (which, by no coincidence, would have meant that Montgomery would lead the main Allied thrust). The reader can make up his or her own mind on this point, but I would argue that Ike's broad front strategy seems to have worked, and it prevented the Germans from attacking the Allies on the flank worse than they in fact did in the Battle of the Bulge. (This was Ike's main argument against the narrow front strategy.)

The author makes a good case that Eisenhower did a good job commanding Allied forces during the Battle of the Bulge, and that this battle in fact was consistent with Ike's strategy of engaging the Germans to the maximum extent possible. (Better to engage them in a mobile battle than to fight dug-in German formations at the Siegfried Line.) In any case, within a month the German Army was soundly trounced by largely American arms, and every soldier in both armies knew that the defeat of Germany was now only a matter of time.

One theme that recurs throughout Korda's analysis of Ike as General is the famous Kay Summersby relationship. Was it innocent, or was it not? The author does not purport to tell us, but does provide the reader with a great deal of insights into this somewhat unusual question.

The book's analysis of Ike as president is much less detailed than the rest of this piece, but is not bad for all that. It paints Ike as a competent president who was largely in tune with the American people, and who led them largely in the direction where they wanted to go, and where the national interest required, i.e. a strong defense against Russia, and avoidance of nuclear conflict.

This is a very good book. I gave it five stars because it is unusually well-written, and it eschews engaging in trendy revisionism of a man who, in fact, dominated the world stage for many years to the very great benefit of America, her allies, and the world.

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not without its problems..., August 30, 2007

By	A. B. Powers - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ike: An American Hero is a decent treatment of Dwight D. Eisenhower's life, but it pales in comparison to the biographies written by Stephen Ambrose and Carlo D'Este. Korda relied almost exclusively on secondary works for his research, as his endnotes and bibliography indicate; to include Ambrose's and D'Este's books. He acknowledges his debt to previous writers, especially D'Este, but the lack of emphasis on primary research means there is little in Korda's book that is new to students of Eisenhower, World War Two, or the American presidency. Additionally, Korda perpetuates some minor errors regarding Ike's early career that other authors such as Mark C. Bender have taken pains to correct. These weaknesses combine to keep Ike: An American Hero from being a much better book.

Korda compensates for these problems by writing in a lucid style that evidences a strong regard for his subject. He succeeds in keeping the reader engaged in the story of Eisenhower's life, and is at his best when discussing World War II and Ike's relationships with senior officers such as Patton and Montgomery.

Overall, this is a good book, but not a great one. I recommend for the quality of Korda's writing rather than the depth of his research and analysis.