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The Age of Eisenhower
The Age of Eisenhower: America and the World in the 1950s | William I Hitchcock
5 posts | 4 read | 1 reading | 3 to read
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A page-turner masterpiece. Jim Lehrer In a 2017 survey, presidential historians ranked Dwight D. Eisenhower fifth on the list of great presidents, behind the perennial top four: Lincoln, Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Teddy Roosevelt. Historian William Hitchcock shows that this high ranking is justified. Eisenhowers accomplishments were enormous, and loom ever larger from the vantage point of our own tumultuous times. A former general, Ike kept the peace: he ended the Korean War, avoided a war in Vietnam, adroitly managed a potential confrontation with China, and soothed relations with the Soviet Union after Stalins death. He guided the Republican Party to embrace central aspects of the New Deal like Social Security. He thwarted the demagoguery of McCarthy and he advanced the agenda of civil rights for African Americans. As part of his strategy to wage, and win, the Cold War, Eisenhower expanded American military power, built a fearsome nuclear arsenal and launched the space race. In his famous Farewell Address, he acknowledged that Americans needed such weapons in order to keep global peacebut he also admonished his citizens to remain alert to the potentially harmful influence of the military-industrial complex. From 1953 to 1961, no one dominated the world stage as did President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Age of Eisenhower is the definitive account of this presidency, drawing extensively on declassified material from the Eisenhower Library, the CIA and Defense Department, and troves of unpublished documents. In his masterful account, Hitchcock shows how Ike shaped modern America, and he astutely assesses Eisenhowers close confidants, from Attorney General Brownell to Secretary of State Dulles. The result is an eye-opening reevaluation that explains why this do-nothing president is rightly regarded as one of the best leaders our country has ever had.
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Jen2
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Interesting

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Bookwormjillk
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The only gold cover I could find 🤷‍♀️

#12ColorsofDecember #WinterGames2020 #ReadNoseReindeer

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Tkgbjenn1
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I knew Eisenhower for three things. His campaign slogan, “I like Ike”, the Interstate Highway System and his warning of the Military Industrial Complex. Dismissed as a great General he was a do nothing President who just happened to have led during America‘s Post War Boom. This book credits him as being a much more adept President. Establishing our position in the Cold War. And despite warning us of the Military Industrial Complex, created it.

RamsFan1963 IMHO, Eisenhower is the most underrated president of the 20th Century. From what I've read, his leadership kept this country out of several conflicts that could have gone nuclear. Because he wasnt dynamic or charismatic like Kennedy, he gets over looked. 5y
Tkgbjenn1 You would enjoy this book. Your points are very much what this book touches upon. 5y
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Ericalambbrown
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The first outdoor read of the year finished up this book. I thought this was a well written, well annotated book. I admire Eisenhower both more (his attempts to thaw the Cold War) and less (him allowing the CIA to jack with other countries) now, if that makes any sense. Lots of what occurred in his administration seeded many of the problems we still have today. Good read for history nerds or those wanting to know more about how we got here.

Ericalambbrown @Susanita Oh, nice!!! Thank you! 🙏🏻 6y
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Ericalambbrown
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Oooofffff. “It is the rise to power of the demagogue who lives on untruth.” Truman is describing McCarthy here, but it sure sounds relevant to today.