Ike

Ike

Review by Dennis Showalter This richly textured narrative study of one of America's heroes is, despite its length, easy to read, going down smoothly from start to finish. The footnotes are limited; there is no elaborate bibliography: yet the work also has a strong intellectual dimension. Korda, long-time editor at Simon and Schuster, is a man of learning as well as a man of letters. He wears both of his skills lightly, and his text is the better for it. Korda's Eisenhower was in no way born for greatness. His apparent ordinariness invited the cutting down to size that Korda regards as the norm for heroic figures in America's democracy. Scarcely had the guns of World War II fallen silent than a legion of critics emerged. From “bomber barons” to defeated German generals, to Eisenhower's own allies and subordinates, they denounced Eisenhower's shortcomings as a general. As President he came to be ridiculed as a man out of touch and out of his depth, more interested in his golf game than the state of the union or the world. Korda defines Eisenhower in terms not of talent, but of character. “Typically American” in his pragmatism, Eisenhower was a problem-solver whose essential approach used common sense and flexibility to develop opportunities. He understood how to look for the “big picture:” the essentials in any situation. He was willing to make decisions and take responsibility for them. The brief statement he prepared for release should D-Day have failed belongs on the desk and in the soul of every politician, statesman, and general. As commander of the Allied forces in Europe, Eisenhower developed into the right man in the right slot. Conventional wisdom argues that the D-Day campaign lasted longer than necessary. In fact, tension among the western allies, including France by 1944, might well have generated operational friction enabling the Russians to occupy large parts of the occupation zones assigned to the West at Yalta. Eisenhower's fairness, his energy, his patience—and not least his ability to deal with prima donnas: de Gaulle, Montgomery, Winston Churchill, George Patton—were essential to the final victory. The general was father to the chief executive. Eisenhower understood politics quite well enough to secure the Republican nomination against a strong stable of rivals in 1951. His terms in office were characterized by the same “hidden hand” that shaped his exercise of command in World War II. Eisenhower consistently succeeded in establishing his policies against determined, sophisticated opposition, domestic and foreign. His calm public demeanor in the depths of the Cold War played no small role in helping the US-and the world-develop a sense of perspective. A sense of perspective was something Dwight Eisenhower never lost. He understood to near-perfection his limitations. His years of experience shaped a confidence that he did not need to move first to achieve his ends. His decisions as general and president may not always have been optional, or even wise. But they were developed and implemented with no doubt where ultimate responsibility lay. Eisenhower did his duty-and in doing it earned the status of hero. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael Korda is a New York Times best-selling author and a former editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster. His many books include Charmed Lives, Queenie, Country Manners, Horse People, Ulysses S. Grant, and Journey to a Revolution. ABOUT THE REVIEWER: Dennis Showalter has taught history at Colorado College since 1969 and is a former president of the Society for Military History. His book Tannenberg won the prestigious Paul Birdsall Prize for best new book of 1992 from the American Historical Association.

Hardcover: 784 pages

Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers ( August 01, 2007 )

Item #: 90-1069

ISBN: 9780060756659

Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 x 1.25 inches

Product Weight: 31.0 ounces