Eisenhower: Soldier and President (The Renowned One-Volume Life) (Paperback)

by Stephen E. Ambrose (Author) "HE WAS BORN on October 14, 1890, in a small rented frame house, not much more than a shack, beside the railroad tracks in Denison,..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, White House, New York (more...)

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
James MacGregor Bums Fascinating....An important case study in military and political leader ship. -- Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (October 15, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671747584
• ISBN-13: 978-0671747589
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,474 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #1 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( E ) > Eisenhower, Dwight D.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	Adam Dukovich "colts_19" (Roseville, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

33 of 39 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

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.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More Than Meets the Eye, June 29, 1999

By	Bill Fleck (Wurtsboro, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

With D-DAY, CITIZEN SOLDIERS, and UNDAUNTED COURAGE, Stephen E. Ambrose has taken his place with Sir Martin Gilbert, Michael Grant, and Gerald Posner as a top historian.

With EISENHOWER: SOLDIER AND PRESIDENT, his earlier biography of the man most responsible for the Allied victory in WWII, we can see his talents beginning to come into bloom.

This volume is an abridgement of a two-parter Ambrose authored, and, as such, is not the book CITIZEN SOLDIERS is. Further, there are those who hold that Eisenhower as President really did nothing (a canard this book helps to dispel), and so would be quite boring as the subject of a book.

In truth, neither is the case. Ambrose forcefully catalogues Eisenhower's accomplishments, both on the battlefield and in the Oval Office. And, in spite of his obvious asffection for Ike, he is not afraid to deal with the General's shortcomings--his temper, his early failing as a commander, his reluctance to help the Civil Rights Movement, and his use of the CIA in covert actions.

Along the way, he paints a marvelous picture of a humane warrior, a man who detested battle beyond even the pacifists of his generation because he'd actually seen what it could do. And he gives a much-needed boost to a presidency that did much more than meets the eye in terms of preserving peace and prosperity in an otherwise dangerous world climate.

EISENHOWER: SOLDIER AND PRESIDENT, then, is a great place to start for both an understanding of the importance of Ike AND an introduction to the writing talent of Ambrose.