The Age of Eisenhower

America and the World in the 1950s

By: William I. Hitchcock

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Length: 25 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

An original and penetrating assessment of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, showing Ike's enormous influence on modern America, the Cold War, and on the presidency itself.

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. Eisenhower's 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 Stalin's 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 peace - but 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extensively on declassified material from the Eisenhower Library, the CIA, and the Defense Department and troves of unpublished documents. In his masterful account, Hitchcock shows how Ike shaped modern America, and he astutely assesses Eisenhower's 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.

©2018 William I. Hitchcock (P)2018 Simon & Schuster Audio

Great Listen

This book shed much light on, what I feel, is an overlooked time in American history.

Fantastic analysis of an often overlooked man

The Age of Eisenhower is an in-depth account of a somewhat misunderstood and under appreciated man and time in our nation’s history. From his ending of the Korean War to his policy of peace through strength and his better-than-popularly-understood record on civil rights, Ike’s accomplishments are numerous. As the author astutely points out, Ike was disparaged by the press and his successor JFK at the conclusion of his presidency and is only recently regarded as one of our nation’s greatest chief executives.

The Audible version of this excellent book is well narrated and easy to listen to in the car.

Highly recommend!

Must Read /Listen So many things about our President that still reverberate today

So what do know about things that shaped our world after WW2? What challenged America during the atomlc proliferation? Who created NASA that led us into Space? This history is about a man shaped by events that altered who we are as the world’s superpower and what was necessary to achieve it. It also does not try to cover up mistakes that were made. All I can say that this biography is a must read as it is pithy and explains alot about how we got here today.

Great

This biography performed well and provided a lot of interesting information and insight. I really enjoyed it.

His presidency was not without major failures.

As rated, I thought the narration was very good. The book provides an excellent account of Eisenhower’s presidency. He did provide leadership regarding the economy and relations with most governments. However, the author fails to really fault Eisenhower’s allowing the CIA under Dulles to run unrestrained in interfering with foreign governments as well as planning the overthrow of many. The author fails to hold Eisenhower accountable for his real reluctance to address civil rights and intervention. I came away with the belief belief that Eisenhower treated race relations in society as he did fit the military-separate was acceptable. It was clear he played too much golf even while he was attempting to make critical decisions. I can’t but believe that when historians rate Eisenhower high that they are influenced by his handling of WW II.

Hell of a book

Excellent book about one of the greatest men of the 20th century. The reader was good, the content was better.

A legend

We need Ike now. Man with great poise with wisdom and judgement. Guided country through very challenging times.

A Very Thorough and Balanced Biography

Hitchcock has written a very thorough and balanced biography of Eisenhower's years as President. It is not meant to be a chronicle of his entire life. Within its scope, the book is very comprehensive and interesting. Although the book generally is kind to Eisenhower, it is not a fawning portrayal and includes appropriate criticism, particularly of the U-2 affair and Eisenhower's approval of covert action that was much in contrast to his public foreign policy.

Probably the best thing this book does is to present a portrait of a decent and highly intelligent man who had to govern in a very difficult time. He did this mostly by moderation and largely in a bi-partisan way. To critics, such as on civil rights, he never did enough. But he probably did what was possible during his time--a time that included a block of southern Democrats (yes, Democrats) committed to segregation. This moderate approach also won out on foreign policy--he was able to end the war in Korea and avoid war elsewhere. He was not afraid to play hardball--including with our allies--when necessary.

The book is also notable in the respect that Eisenhower clearly had for the office he occupied. This sense of respect seems to have been lacking both inside the office and outside for most of the last twenty years.

Written from enough distance, the book offers a great sense of perspective. It is clear that the political "intelligentsia" of the time vastly underestimated and underappreciated him. The only consistency with that crowd is how often they were wrong then, and how constant that has stayed through the years.

Excellent book. Good narration.

Greatness and Foibles

The 50’s are often called the Eisenhower years because he was the most influential man in the world during that decade and actually much of the decade before. He was born in Denison, Texas but his family returned to Abilene, Kansas when he was 18 months old and grew up there. He graduated from West Point. He requested a posting to Europe during WWI but was assigned to command a unit training tank crews (side note--the idea for a “tank” came from Winston Churchill who drew up the basic designs). When the US entered WWII, he oversaw the invasions of North Africa and Sicily before being assigned to supervise an invasion of France and Germany resulting in the D-Day Invasion and subsequent advance toward Berlin. After the war, he served as the Army Chief of Staff, the President of Columbia University, and the first Supreme Commander of NATO. As a military leader, he was apolitical but after the war was courted assiduously by Republican Party leaders. The Republicans had not won the Presidency since Herbert Hoover in 1933. After the 1940s, the Republican Party was becoming more and more isolationist and the most likely candidate in the 1952 election was the very isolationist Senator Robert Taft. Eisenhower wavered until almost the last minute before deciding to enter the race but won in 1952 and 1956 in a landslide. This book gives a brief summary of his life before 1952 and after leaving office but focuses on his presidency. During his lifetime he was considered only an average President but more recent scholars, with the advantage of more formerly top secret documentation, now rate him as one of the top 5 US Presidents. His main goals were to cut the deficit and prevent the spread of Communism. He did bring the deficit under control and believed that the wealthiest should shoulder the greatest tax burden. His cabinet consisted of corporate leaders and also a labor leader. He presided over one of the longest and greatest economic expansions in US history. He promoted the development of the Interstate Highway System, over the objection of many states-right advocates that believed that the road system was the sole prerogative of the states. Republicans had been against Social Security, but he expanded it. He changed the direction of the Republican Party and the nation. He threatened the use of nuclear weapons to get China to agree to the Korean cease-fire. He kept us out of Vietnam, though much of what he did laid the groundwork that would drag us in later. Though he ended the Korean War, the unresolved tension remains today. He also expanded the power of spy agencies, especially the CIA and used them to overthrow governments or support dictators. He oversaw the plans for the invasion of Cuba that took place under President Kennedy and became the Bay of Pigs disaster. He expanded the military even during peace time because of the fear of Communist expansion or an attack on the US, though at the end of his presidency, he warned of the increasing power of the military industrial complex. And, his Vice-President was a California political name Richard M. Nixon, whom he came to strongly despise. It was his weak support of Nixon that allowed Kennedy to win the 1960 election. During one interview when he was asked to name one area in his 8 years as President where Nixon made a contribution, he told them to give him a week and maybe he could think of something. The book was extensively researched and well-written and convinced me that Eisenhower was a great president, but at the same time, as with any president, some of his mistakes or oversights left us with problems that still affect us today. There was a point where Kruschev, after consolidating power in the USSR, seemed ready to talk about nuclear arms control and a solution to the divided German and Berlin, but when a US spy plane was shot down over the USSR just before the summit, Eisenhower refused to issue even a guarded apology and instead blamed the USSR for its closed system that made the spy overflights necessary. Kruschev demanded an apology and when there was none, he refused to talk and simply increased his control over Eastern Europe and expanded his influence throughout the newly created nations that had resulted from decolonization. The book is a great background for understanding the 60s, Vietnam, and today’s Korean stalemate. For those who love American history, this is a good one for modern context.

Fantastic

This is one of the best books I have listened to on Audible. It is a compelling narrative of a fascinating and pivotal period in American history. Ike was at the center of it all. I strongly recommend this book
for anyone interested in what was going on beneath the headlines of
the 1950’s. It is superbly written and superbly narrated.