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    Eisenhower in War and Peace
    Eisenhower in War and Peace
    Eisenhower in War and Peace
    Audiobook28 hours

    Eisenhower in War and Peace

    Written by Jean Edward Smith

    Narrated by Paul Hecht

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Author of the best-seller FDR, Jean Edward Smith is a master of the presidential biography. Setting his sights on Dwight D. Eisenhower, Smith delivers a rich account of Eisenhower's life using previously untapped primary sources. From the military service in WWII that launched his career to the shrewd political decisions that kept America out of wars with the Soviet Union and China, Smith reveals a man who never faltered in his dedication to serving America, whether in times of war or peace.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateFeb 21, 2012
    ISBN9781464008283
    Eisenhower in War and Peace
    Author

    Jean Edward Smith

    Jean Edward Smith taught at the University of Toronto for thirty-five years, and at Marshall University for twelve. He was also a visiting scholar at Columbia, Princeton, and Georgetown. He is the author of Bush, a biography of the 43rd president; Eisenhower in War and Peace; FDR, winner of the 2008 Francis Parkman Prize of the Society of American Historians; Grant, a 2002 Pulitzer Prize finalist; John Marshall: Definer of a Nation; and The Liberation of Paris.

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    Reviews for Eisenhower in War and Peace

    4.5/5

    95 ratings16 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Exhaustively researched, thoroughly documented, and very interesting, but not engaging enough to be a pageturner. Can't believe it took me nearly 2 months to read. Having heard about WWII all my life and having grown up during DDE's presidency, I could relate to many of the stories and incidents in the book, making them relevant. And I enjoyed learning "inside scoop" information.
    • 5/5
      A fantastic read about one of the great Americans in history. I had read very little about Eisenhower before this book, and I now realize how much I have been missing out on the knowledge of a great figure.

      This book covers all of Ike's life with the first third focused on his career and rise to power, the second third on his time during World War II, and the third third on his Presidency. Ike's rise through the Army was not terribly interesting, but reading about a peace time army is not exciting by definition. I really enjoyed the World War II section (I always enjoy reading about World War II), and thought the author did an outstanding job of highlighting both the successful and failed decisions and leadership of Ike. I learned the most reading the section on his Presidency, and again thought the author was very fair in his analysis.

      I know I am not saying much in this review, but I think the best compliment I can give to a book is that it makes me want to read more about the many topics it touched on.
    • 4/5
      [reading in progress, currently on disk 8 of 24, Jan 1943] Up until World War II, I found this book well written, well organized, with just the right amount of detail. As World War II starts, I find that the author is trying to cover too many things in too few words; he is continuing to provide context, but just barely enough, so that it becomes hard to keep it all straight. I am picking up Army at Dawn to read simultaneously and I am sure that will help. Anyway, so far I have learned that DDE was a hard worker and a good writer, which made him indispensable to a series of well-placed generals during his first twenty years in the U.S. Army: he became their go-to guy for high visibility, difficult tasks. I am disappointed to learn of his affair with Kay Summersby, which would be none of my business except that he got her commissioned into the U.S. Women's Army Corps (WAC's) to enable her assignment as his constant companion. What an abuse of power, and insult to the women who served as WACs in support of the actual war effort. [To be continued, when I finish reading the book.] Paul Hecht is an excellent narrator.
    • 5/5
      This is a really fine full-life biography of General and President Dwight Eisenhower. Author Jean Edward Smith has previously written biographies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Lucius Clay, and his research for those books deeply informs his analysis of Eisenhower. Above all, Smith is judicious, direct about assessing his mistakes as well as his successes, and Smith makes no effort to hide anything about Eisenhower's life. That's particularly important in that Eisenhower himself was particularly adept at telling his story in ways that made him look responsible and smart in the eyes of his audience. Sometimes Eisenhower's own account of his actions or decisions departs from the historical record; Smith's detailed research allows him to pinpoint the time when that happened, and use them to offer greater insight into the man's mind and personality. It is well worth reading the footnotes and endnotes in this book.For a reader today, Eisenhower is an important reminder of the progressive tradition in the 20th century Republican Party, now nearly moribund; also, a reminder of the value of informed, internationalist leadership in the White House - and in particular, the way a general who has waged war and hates it can bring that experience to bear on advancing global peace. In fact, a recurring dynamic of Eisenhower's presidency seems to have been, in the context of foreign affairs, his Secretary of State or the Joint Chief urging him to use atomic weapons, or launch a conventional war, with Eisenhower dismissing the suggestion as dumb. One has to wonder whether a president without his experience and stature could have resisted the pressure so effectively. The many early chapters, following Eisenhower's career, show how his postings in the army - especially in Europe, Asia, and Latin America - prepared him to be an effective president.As Smith presents it, Eisenhower was much less interested in domestic policy, with the exception of infrastructure. In one of the very late chapters, Smith also spends some time on Eisenhower's handling of desegregation, and especially his decision to send federal troops into Little Rock to quell riots by white racists. Smith notes that Eisenhower framed his actions in terms of upholding the rule of law and carrying out the instructions of the Supreme Court, rather than in terms of advancing basic justice or human rights. But, at the same time, Smith explicitly and forcefully rejects the claims made by popular historian Stephen Ambrose, in his 1990 biography, that Eisenhower didn't agree with desegregation. (That's not the only place in the book where Smith's deeper research overturns Ambrose's more worshipful account).Although the greater reason to read this biography is for insight into Eisenhower's professional life, Smith handles his personal life - his marriage to Mamie, their difficulties following the loss of their firstborn, his affair with his WWII driver Kay Summersby - straightforwardly. Smith believes that just after the war, Eisenhower sought George Marshall's permission to divorce Mamie and marry Kay, was strongly rebuffed by Marshall, and dropped the idea, but that a copy of Eisenhower's cable to Marshall stayed in top-secret files until outgoing President Harry Truman destroyed it. (p441) If true, that goes far to explain several otherwise out-of-character actions by Eisenhower between the end of the war and his election as president (his snub of Truman on Eisenhower's Inauguration Day, for example, p563). Smith doesn't have much to say about Ike and Mamie's marriage from that point on, but does literally give the final words of the book to her, answering their son's question of whether she felt she had really known her husband: "I'm not sure anyone really did." (p.766) That speaks volumes about her and their relationship - especially since, as Smith quotes Eisenhower's friend and colleague Lucius Clay much earlier in the book as saying, with respect to Eisenhower's initial decision to seek the Presidency, "this was a very simple man in a lot of ways." (p502).That's not a bad thing - as Smith shows, it was often a very good thing - but one of the sorrows of Eisenhower's very accomplished life seems to have been that Mamie was perhaps even simpler, and over the course of their marriage, Eisenhower grew far beyond the place she preferred to stay.
    • 5/5
      Wow. What a life. I feel a little more positivity about the United States and her people after reading this book. Thank you.
    • 5/5
      If you're looking for the best book on Eisenhower you could get your hands on you'd be hard pressed to do better than this one. It takes a look at Eisenhower's early life, his military career, and presidency. The bulk focus is on his military career and then presidency. What makes this book especially good is that it's far enough removed out from history that it's not tainted by the "need" to protect the subject from harsh truths and it's able to rely on both primary sources and follow up investigations. The author does not attempt to beat around the bush on things like screw ups or short comings or Eisenhower's probable mistress. However, it is a middle of the road approach which makes it a good read.

      The author tends to go over implications of some of Eisenhower's political moves that maybe a bit of editorializing but it's not terrible. The ending to the book is very abrupt as well. There was a lot of information that I learned from this book that I didn't know before and the author provides good context around events that Eisenhower was involved in. Things like the allies fighting French troops in Africa during WWII at first or that Eisenhower was the first to use CIA resources to start the overthrow of governments in the Middle East and South America were some of the things I learned.

      If you're looking for a well rounded and fair book on Eisenhower, I cannot recommend a better one. Final Grade - A
    • 5/5
      As always, Jean Edward Smith was a pleasure to read, well researched and with insightful notes and comments throughout the chapters. I absolutely loved this biography of Eisenhower and learned a lot about him that I previously did not know. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys presidential biographies or has an interest in WWII and/or the 1950's.
    • 5/5
      A wonderful book. As a youth, I lived through this and Ike or someone like him, was always ipresident, 'The authior is somewhat late, which means he]gets a lot of stuff right. This is not a book for Monty bashers, For one thing, he was right: Ike was a bad general who could really manage people. It shows up more when he is president. Montgomery is fine with Ike as supreme commander, but does not think his military role is correct, whenIke takes over the direction of the armies, One problem in the book is that we never find out whether Ike added time to the war,, but there were always 'russ
    • 5/5
      A fabulous read, and a pleasure to learn about this man, our President for 8 years. A man whose intellect and temperament made him such an outstanding leader. This is the first book I have read by Jean Edward Smith, and his prose provides you with a sense of him speaking directly to you, the reader. It was just a pleasure being in the company of the author and the President, General Eisenhower. Reading this over the past year, (no fault of the book or writing), and during the time of the DJT presidency, it made you yearn for a man and a time when such a wise, calm, confident person was at the helm. Thank you, Jean Edward Smith, for this book. Anyone with interest in this President, and his life in battle and in office will not be disappointed.
    • 4/5
      Very good book on the life of Dwight Eisenhower. I had a fear upon buying this book that the hundred pages devoted to his presidency would not be enough and leave me unsatisfied. However, upon reading the book, I realized that I was mistaken. All the major events of his presidency were covered and with good background explanations of each. Of course, being a lover of history, there is still a part of me that wants more details (especially on the U2 incident, Suez Crisis and the Iranian Coup) but i think Smith's explanation would be more than enough for some casual readers. I will also have to warn people that they are numerous comparisons with President Grant which can irritate some readers (so many anecdotes on President Grant that I have decided to buy Chernow's book on Grant rather than Smith's for fear that i might read the same anecdotes all over again). Please also note that while Eisenhower's pre-presidential career is covered in great and entertaining detail, (So entertaining that it is hard to put down) his post-presidential career is not given too much attention. There is so much that happened after he stepped down,and which he witnessed, (such as JFK's assassination) that I feel they should not have been omitted from the book. As a result, i downgraded my rating from five to four stars.
    • 5/5
      Ike had a very poor childhood. He had a remarkable stroke of luck securing a Wesf Point appointment. This occurred only because his Kansas US Senator had instituted competitive examinations for appointments. His second stroke of luck was obtaining a commission. He had a knee injury playing football. The peacetime Army did not want officers with potential disabilities. After finally making it and obtaining a commission, Ike was again very fortunate. A couple of the leading figures in the Army mentored Ike. As the author notes, Ike finally had a bad break. He failed in his wish to go overseas and obtain a combat command in WW II. This failure would haunt him during WW I. Nonetheless, Ike's mentors insured he would receive appointments to the War College and the command school. Ike also received another bad break when he had to work under MacArthur when MacArthur was Chief of Staff and when MacArthur was in command in the Phillipines. When WW II breaks out, the author shows why Ike was elevated over all of his peers. In North Africa, Ike and the US Army are quickly shown to be "not ready for prime time" as its initial attack in Tunisia is smashed by the Germans. Ike shows his political skills in working successfully with the Brits and DeGaule. The author says D Day was a success because Montgomery was the commander on the ground and not Ike. Perhaps correctly, the author says Ike and US strategists were wrong in attempting to attack all along the line in France at the same time. Rather, the author says the Allies should have adopted the British strategy of probing for a weakness and then punching through at that point. For this point, the author cites German and British sources. Ike keeps his cool at the Battle of the Bulge. Also, Ike is adept at using the skills of the mercurial Patton. Of course, we must not forget Kay Summersby. According to the author and reliable sources she was certainly Ike's mistress. At the end of the War, Ike does rather coldly dismiss her. Now I am moving on the the second part of this excellent book.
    • 5/5
      "Eisenhower in War and Peace" (EWP) is excellent and has changed many of the incorrect perceptions I have had about Ike since childhood. I was a third grader when Ike was first elected in 1952. In those days there were very few filmed news reports on television. When Ike did appear in a rare TV speech to the nation, e.g., the "Little Rock school integration" speech, he often read from typed pages on the podium; his delivery was less than fair. My impression at the time was that presidents were dull, old men. And though my childhood was a happy one, my recollections of the 50's were also "dull" and "old" as in old-fashioned. I thought of Ike as a bridge between some rather excellent presidents - FDR, Harry Truman, and JFK. But Smith's excellent book has turned my impressions around 180 degrees. I am delighted to have become more familiar with Ike as a man, his accomplishments, and his character. He rose to the challenges of the day and we were fortunate to have him. Though there were no foreign wars during those eight years, Ike did have to deal with not only some of the most critical racial issues in our history, but also the Suez Canal, the U-2 spy plane downing, Sputnik and the space race, the Cold War, post WWII Germany, the construction of the national highway system and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Ike had his plate full, and had some serious health issues to deal with concurrently.Though the book is listed as having almost 1000 pages, there are many pages of notes, acknowledgements, and an index. The actual text in my edition was about 766 pages and well more than half dealt with his years in the military, particularly the WWII years. Throughout it is clear that author Smith greatly admires Ike but that did not prevent his most critical assessment of Ike throughout both his military and presidential careers. For example, not too long after Ike was promoted to Supreme Allied Commander, several of his generals made clear that Ike's strategic skills in battleground planning left something to be desired. Apparently, his strengths were most obvious in dealing with all the heads of state and others, e.g. Churchill, Stalin, FDR, DeGaulle, ensuring their total support and dealing with their 'suggestions', all critical to a truly allied front. I particularly admired Ike for his leadership, his honesty, his unwillingness to pass the buck, his decisiveness, and his total commitment - and Smith gives countless examples of all of these strengths throughout the book. The book was very readable, the pages seemed to fly by. Even the footnotes were interesting. In the paperback edition which I read, there were many photos, perhaps 1 every 15 pages or so instead of the typical gallery bound together in the middle of a book. Well done ! There are two areas that I wish were different and that diminished the book somewhat for me. I thought too much attention was paid to the Kay Summersby affair.. I was stunned and fascinated by what I read, but there were also times when I felt like I was eavesdropping. Summersby wrote two books about her time with Ike. I highly recommend "Past Forgetting", her second book; it is very charming and I feel it could be read as a companion to Smith's book. By the way, Smith refers to information in Kay's book a number of times.Secondly I wish about 50-100 pages of the WWII pages could have shrunk, as interesting as they were, to allow for more pages on his presidency. Needless to say, I recommend this book highly and without reservation.
    • 3/5
      Working from interviews, letters and diaries Jean Smith has written a very detailed and complete account of Dwight Eisenhower’s life. He starts with Eisenhower’s parents, chronicles his actions to get an education, in order to be able to have a better life, how he got into West Point, his experiences in both wars and his tenure as president of the United States.This is a complete and very detailed account of Eisenhower’s life. Smith has a writing style that is very readable. This is not a “this happened, then this happened” biography. He does not drag out situations but gives the reader enough to understand what was happening. He brings out Eisenhower’s strengths, such as his ability to get along with people, his understanding of military strategy, his political savvy. At the same time he does not gloss over Eisenhower’s faults or deficiencies, such as in some cases his lack of battle experience (that may have prolonged the war) and his affair with Kay Summersby, who was his driver in London and ended up staying with him until the end of the war.Also explained for those of us not familiar with military life, is military life. The way promotions were done in Eisenhower’s time, what favors he asked for and why these were necessary for Eisenhower’s advancement in the Army.Mr. Smith seems to have interviewed everyone who ever met Eisenhower, he includes excerpts from letters and diaries. The result is a biography that reads like a biography should. I liked this book and recommend it.
    • 4/5
      Eisenhower is one of the few presidents of the 20th century who is liked by both sides of the increasingly divided political spectrum. The Interstate Highway System, Desegregation, a Budget Surplus, won WWII and ended Korea, put a stop to 'gunboat diplomacy' by the European powers at Suez, and one of the longest consecutive periods of economic growth. His approval rating stayed above 60% for most of his term - astonishing by today's standards.

      Such is the nature of presidential administrations in retrospect. Their initial malaise or disappointment may yet turn into some deeper respect or admiration. Nixon, as hated as he was, got credit for opening China. Carter, for all of his disasters, is at least respected by the Left now. And Eisenhower, who seemed overshadowed by Kennedy, now seems as a worthy predecessor.

      His military command remains in high esteem. Although it may be easy to overlook him for other, more flamboyant and temperamental commanders, he served the useful roles of grand strategist and diplomat, who held together the feuding Allies, and learned quickly from the initial mistakes of North Africa.

      The author does not shy away from Ike's faults as much as his praises. U-2 spying, his questionable affairs, and the Iranian coup are some of his most contentious affairs, but he handles these with an astonishing and clear leadership role. His critics may have called him too detached. But this may have been one of his great strengths - his clear vision and ability to get all sides to agree for once.

      This book is very well researched, organized, and written. It integrates military, political, and personal details seamlessly.

      We Like Ike once again.
    • 5/5
      Excellent book, especially at this time of year. Smith shows that Eisenhower was a much more interesting, complicated figure than most people imagined.
    • 4/5
      All I remembered of Eisenhower outside of limited textbooks were "I Like Ike" buttons. Now I have Jean Edward Smith's rendering of Eisenhower to complement the one dimensional images from textbooks. I learned that Eisenhower had flaws and that he was just as much a politician as a general. Indeed, that his success as a general in war time owed much to his natural talent as a politician. This is a long book and while I recommend it to you, I advise that you pace yourself and that you take the time to read the footnotes.