The Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower: Revised Edition

by Elmo Richardson and Chester J. Pach Jr.

Book Overview

The focus of this revision is not how Eisenhower made policy, but how his decisions shaped American life in the 1950s and beyond. In this first post-revisionist study of the Eisenhower presidency, historian Chester Pach reaches beyond the issues the revisionists raised: Was Eisenhower in command of his own administration? Did he play a significant role in shaping foreign and domistic policy? Drawing on the wide range of works published within the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0700604375
• ISBN13: 9780700604371
• Release Date: April 1991
• Publisher: University Press of Kansas
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Ike finally gets his due

Read this for graduate American history course. The Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower by Chester J. Pach, Jf. and Elmo Richardson seeks to provide a lucid, cogent, and relatively brief (263 pages) analysis of the Eisenhower presidency. Many early historical writings about Eisenhower's presidency came to the conclusion that he was beyond his depth in the presidency because he lacked any previous elective political experience. The image of the Eisenhower grin and his generally genial demeanor could not conceal his obvious bafflement when the subject was tax policy, civil rights, or farm subsidies. When he spoke extemporaneously, his statements were frequently so baffling that an assistant frequently had to offer clarification to listeners so they could understand the president's point, assuming there was one. Issues that puzzled or bored him he assigned to subordinates-John Foster Dulles for the daily management of foreign relations, George M. Humphrey shaped economic policy, while Sherman Adams handled a host of domestic matters-and reserved his energies for golf, bridge, and fishing. Eisenhower did not so much run the country, as preside over it; at a time of national complacency, he was able to provide some welcome inertia. This image of Eisenhower was challenged by revisionist and post revisionist historians beginning in the 1970s. According to revisionist scholars, Eisenhower only appeared to be a complacent chief executive: although he willingly let his subordinates take responsibility for decisions, within the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room, he was a dynamic and forceful leader who used the powers of his office vigorously and deftly to shape the policies being implemented (e.g., his successful extrication of the United States from the quagmire of the Korean War and his restraint in avoiding intervention in other conflicts such as the Hungarian uprising and the Suez crisis). The work is divided into a Preface and ten subsequent chapters: "Duty and Ambition" traces the slow but steady evolution of Eisenhower from military man to presidential candidate, to elected office holder and his apprenticeship at learning how to play political hardball; "Organizing the Presidency" examines the transition difficulties that occurred between the outgoing Truman administration and Ike's incoming administration, and his efforts at organizing a post-New Deal Fair Deal cabinet; "President, Party, and Congress" analyzes Eisenhower's contentious relationship with the congressional leadership of both political parties over the economy and other domestic issues; "Waging Cold War" looks at Eisenhower's efforts to create a foreign policy that would effectively keep the free world secure and neutralize communist aggression through the use of military strength that would not overburden the American economy; "Personal Victories" focuses on Eisenhower surviving his heart attack and being reelected, as well as foreign policy resolutions especially in Hungary