"I have been in politics ... most of my adult life. There's no more active political organization in the world than the armed forces of the United States." So said Dwight Eisenhower, the subject of journalist-novelist Tom Wicker's thoughtful--and often critical--Dwight D. Eisenhower, shortly after leaving the presidency.

Eisenhower was never above politics, as his admirers claimed; Wicker shows that he was a political creature through and through, as Patton suspected while serving under him in World War II. ("Ike wants to be president so badly you can taste it," Patton said.) He held all the contradictory positions of a politician, too: a dedicated cold warrior and anti-Communist, he famously decried the power of the "military-industrial complex," resisted American involvement in Vietnam while setting the stage for it, and called himself a "liberal Republican" while doing little to attend to pressing domestic issues, especially in the realm of civil rights. He refused to stand up to Joe McCarthy and chose Richard Nixon as his running mate for reasons of political expediency.

Wicker gives Eisenhower middling marks: "The worst did not happen in his time, but neither did the best." His survey may not cheer Ike's fans, but it's balanced, highly readable, and useful for those seeking a window on American political life half a century ago. --Gregory McNamee


From Publishers Weekly
The latest in the American Presidents series of brief biographies (edited by Arthur Schlesinger Jr.), journalist Wicker's chronicle of Eisenhower offers a solid account, plus a unique personal view, of the much-loved and maligned politician. Wicker (One of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream), who covered politics for the New York Times for 30 years, spent a week with Eisenhower in 1962. Wicker had been a left-leaning Stevenson supporter and critic of Eisenhower's policies in the 1950s, but he found himself entranced by the ex-president and by the end of the week became a lifelong booster of Eisenhower the man, if not Eisenhower the president. Wicker says he has tried to factor out his personal fondness for Eisenhower while composing this biography, and he does manage a lively evenhandedness-not an oxymoron in this circumstance-in weighing the accomplishments and pitfalls of his administration. Only a few pages are devoted to his first 62 years on earth-the real beginning is Eisenhower's 1952 presidential campaign. A fine introduction to 1950s political history, the biography covers the domestic and international crises that occurred on Eisenhower's watch, including the Supreme Court's decision to racially integrate public schools, the poisonous influence of Sen. Joe McCarthy, tensions with the Soviet Union and the threat of nuclear war. Thanks to Wicker's limber prose (his talents as an oft-published novelist are on display), careful research and personal touch, the learning is easy.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Another in the "American Presidents" series edited by Arthur Schlesinger Jr., this brief review of the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower by one of the nation's most respected journalists is a valuable addition to the literature of the administration and its times. While necessarily cursory owing to the page limitations imposed by the series, this work nonetheless captures the key events of the Eisenhower presidency in a way that is highly accessible and intellectualy compelling. Wicker examines aspects of Ike's administration with an eye not only to the 1950s, but to our own era as well. This is especially evident in his examination of the roots of "executive privilege," a concept first used by Eisenhower and of vital importance to the presidency today, and of Ike's use of covert actions around the globe. Wicker (One of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream) concludes that Eisenhower was a great man, but not necessarily a great president. He does, however, give Ike rather high marks for his accomplishments while calling him to task for his failings (e.g., his mild response to McCarthy and his failure to exercise moral leadership in desegregation). This is one of the finest single-volume treatments of the Eisenhower presidency available. Michael A. Genovese, Loyola Marymount Univ., Los AngelesCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
The 1950s? The cold war, the Edsel, and Ike, of course. Without a doubt, Dwight Eisenhower put his stamp on the era of poodle skirts and nascent rock 'n' roll. In another new offering in this publisher's American Presidents series of concise and helpful biographies, Wicker, a noted political commentator and book author, takes a new look at the man who emerged from World War II as a hero of consequential proportions. He finds that Eisenhower was "one of the best-loved presidents of the century." The majority of Americans believed at the time that he kept the Soviet Union in check and the economy well afloat. But Wicker also finds aspects of the Eisenhower presidency to question, including his aloof stance toward school desegregation and McCarthyism--"at the expense of opportunities to provide moral leadership to a nation badly in need of it." Wicker concludes that Eisenhower was "a great man--but not quite a great president." Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
An American icon and hero faces a nation-and a world-in transition

A bona-fide American hero at the close of World War II, General Dwight Eisenhower rode an enormous wave of popularity into the Oval Office seven years later. Though we may view the Eisenhower years through a hazy lens of 1950s nostalgia, historians consider his presidency one of the least successful. At home there was civil rights unrest, McCarthyism, and a deteriorating economy; internationally, the Cold War was deepening. But despite his tendency toward "brinksmanship," Ike would later be revered for "keeping the peace." Still, his actions and policies at the onset of his career, covered by Tom Wicker, would haunt Americans of future generations.



About the Author
For over thirty years, Tom Wicker covered American politics at The New York Times, where he began writing the Times's "In the Nation" column. He is the author of several books, including One of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream and JFK and LBJ, as well as several novels.

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., is arguably the preeminent political historian of our time. For more than half a century, he has been a cornerstone figure in the intellectual life of the nation and a fixture on the political scene. He served as special assistant to John F. Kennedy; won two Pulitzer Prizes for The Age of Jackson (1946) and A Thousand Days (1966); and in 1998 received the National Humanities Medal. He published the first volume of his autobiography, A Life in the Twentieth Century, in 2000.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"A bona fide American hero at the close of World War II, General Dwight D. Eisenhower rode an enormous wave of popularity into the Oval Office seven years later. We may view the Eisenhower years through a hazy lens of nostalgia, but the good times of the 1950s distracted the public from a world in the throes of great transition, and masked profound unease both at home and abroad. Americans didn't seem to mind much that their fatherly president spent much of his time on the golf course with his wealthy businessman cronies, or that his health was suspect." Veteran journalist Tom Wicker traces Eisenhower's life from his hardscrabble Kansas childhood, through his West Point years and his dramatic success during the war to his reluctant entry into politics.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The latest in the American Presidents series of brief biographies (edited by Arthur Schlesinger Jr.), journalist Wicker's chronicle of Eisenhower offers a solid account, plus a unique personal view, of the much-loved and maligned politician. Wicker (One of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream), who covered politics for the New York Times for 30 years, spent a week with Eisenhower in 1962. Wicker had been a left-leaning Stevenson supporter and critic of Eisenhower's policies in the 1950s, but he found himself entranced by the ex-president and by the end of the week became a lifelong booster of Eisenhower the man, if not Eisenhower the president. Wicker says he has tried to factor out his personal fondness for Eisenhower while composing this biography, and he does manage a lively evenhandedness-not an oxymoron in this circumstance-in weighing the accomplishments and pitfalls of his administration. Only a few pages are devoted to his first 62 years on earth-the real beginning is Eisenhower's 1952 presidential campaign. A fine introduction to 1950s political history, the biography covers the domestic and international crises that occurred on Eisenhower's watch, including the Supreme Court's decision to racially integrate public schools, the poisonous influence of Sen. Joe McCarthy, tensions with the Soviet Union and the threat of nuclear war. Thanks to Wicker's limber prose (his talents as an oft-published novelist are on display), careful research and personal touch, the learning is easy. (Nov. 5) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Another in the "American Presidents" series edited by Arthur Schlesinger Jr., this brief review of the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower by one of the nation's most respected journalists is a valuable addition to the literature of the administration and its times. While necessarily cursory owing to the page limitations imposed by the series, this work nonetheless captures the key events of the Eisenhower presidency in a way that is highly accessible and intellectualy compelling. Wicker examines aspects of Ike's administration with an eye not only to the 1950s, but to our own era as well. This is especially evident in his examination of the roots of "executive privilege," a concept first used by Eisenhower and of vital importance to the presidency today, and of Ike's use of covert actions around the globe. Wicker (One of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream) concludes that Eisenhower was a great man, but not necessarily a great president. He does, however, give Ike rather high marks for his accomplishments while calling him to task for his failings (e.g., his mild response to McCarthy and his failure to exercise moral leadership in desegregation). This is one of the finest single-volume treatments of the Eisenhower presidency available. Michael A. Genovese, Loyola Marymount Univ., Los Angeles Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews