President Eisenhower in an Era of Peace Book Reviews

President Eisenhower in an Era of Peace by Mary Beth Smith Book Summary

Eisenhower was probably the only Republican who could have won the election of 1952. He had been the greatest general in the greatest war there ever was. He was kind, humble and a man of integrity. More than that he was ready to re-organize the executive branch of government. And although it didn't always show, he was a very smart and clever leader.

But he didn't want to be president.

In 1945 he was asked if he wanted to be the next president. He said no.

In mid-1947 he was told it was his duty to run.

When Dewey was defeated in 1948 he was pressured once again and said no. But the Republicans kept calling on him. He was the head of NATO in 1952 when a grass roots movement rose to make him president. When he discovered the likely Republican candidate, Senator Taft, was a nationalist and an isolationist, he decided to run.
Because of his heroic stature he easily won the election.

People loved him. He had a 65 percent approval rating during his eight years as president.

This fatherly man was a simple, natural, and highly ethical person. And in addition to that he was self actualized. Self actualization is, according to Abraham Maslow, "the full use and exploitation of talents."

He did not want people to know how dangerous this "peaceful era" of the 1950s was. So he confused and misspoke during press conferences. His writing however, like his great wartime memoir Crusade in Europe, was clear and logical.

During the campaign he promised to end the Korean war. Forty-five thousand men had been killed or were missing. After the election he flew over the 38th parallel. He saw that the war couldn't be ended without a huge increase in fire power. As president he used pressure on the South Korean president, Rhee, to accept a divided Korea. The Korean war was brought to a halt.

Even though a conservative, he kept in place the New Deal policies, expanded social security and raised the minimum wage. He asked for a national health care system. He pushed forth a civil rights act to protect voting rights and sent Federal troops to desegregate Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas.

He balanced the budget and built thousands of miles of highway.

He added many cabinet positions and put in a chief of staff. He enlarged the National Security Council and had frequent cabinet and NSC meetings. Unless there was some kind of crisis brewing the Federal government ran like a finely tuned machine. All his adult life Eisenhower had been in the Army. He brought the "staff system" to Washington. Each cabinet member was an expert in their field. They would make their recommendations and send them to the president who would make the final decision. This system made it possible for the government to function when the president had a heart attack.

After his heart attack "the team" was able to carry on. Eisenhower quickly regained his health. The question was: would he be healthy enough to serve 4 more years? If so, what changes would he have to make to his lifestyle in order to prevent another heart attack.

Knowing he was the one who could lead the U.S. best for the next four years, he ran again in 1956.

The 1960 race between Kennedy and Nixon was extremely close. It may have been "stolen" from the vice president. Nixon explained why he didn't fight the election results and why a concession speech is important. A section on the smooth transfer of power explains the difficulty of teaching all the topics that the next president needs to know. Eisenhower did his best to hit the important points. Eisenhower offered to be available at any time to answer any further questions. He would be asked to meet Kennedy at Camp David soon enough.

His farewell address foresaw the military-industrial complex. He left the presidency for a hard-won retirement in Gettysburg and California.

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