Review Of Eisenhower Soldier And Soldier By Stephen E. Ambrose

To write a biographical account that covers the entirety of a president’s life who lived through tumultuous events of World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and the Korean War is an incredible feat that Stephen E. Ambrose attempts to accomplish through the novel Eisenhower Soldier and President. Ambrose has a deep fascination with the World Wars and the New York Times even accredits him with the rapid growth of the nation’s interest in this time period (Goldstein). The author’s admiration for Eisenhower is apparent throughout the novel, but he also offers frequent critiques of the president’s choices which put his bias towards Eisenhower in check. Ambrose makes a strong argument that Eisenhower succeeds in his own objectives, despite some

With Eisenhower’s rise to fame from the war, the “Presidency sought him” and he won presidential election in 1953 (246). Eisenhower’s experience running the military during the war gave him incredible insight into running the country and managing a budget. This comes to his aid during the arms race with the Soviet Union as Sputnik launches and America begins panicking (454). Eisenhower’s experience in war time allows him to remain calm, deal with the panic methodically, and not approve the excessive military spending that would have caused a large budget deficit (454). This disciplined disposition becomes a critical asset throughout his presidency and Ambrose credits it with his eight years in office as having “no wars, no riots and no inflation” (541). However, Ambrose is very critical of Eisenhower’s dealings with civil rights and lambasts him by calling Eisenhower “no leader at all” for the African American population (542). Ambrose is clear that although Eisenhower fails at addressing the issue of civil rights, “he achieved his major accomplishments” in the area he saw as most important, foreign policy (547). Therefore, Ambrose’s largest arguments throughout the novel is that Eisenhower succeeded as both a soldier and as president although he had some major

The brief recount of Eisenhower’s early days gives a glimpse at where his beliefs originated. His parents, Ida and David, “taught the simple virtues of honesty, self-reliance, integrity, fear of God, and ambition”, which Eisenhower certainly emulated (16). However by chapter 2, Ike is already 28 years old and this causes the readers to lack a comprehensive understanding of his childhood and therefore, the foundation for Eisenhower’s beliefs (37). In addition, the chronological ordering of the novel cause some confusion as issues he faces are jumbled instead of neatly grouped. A prime example of this section of the novel that focuses on the reconstruction of Europe after the war, the civil rights issue of school segregation, and the arms race with Russia as Sputnik launches (438-450). These all are incredibly complex issues that became muddled together resulting in a incomplete perspective on any of them. Therefore, the two major pitfalls of the novel are the lack of a depth in the early life of the president and the combination of multiple events in order to maintain chronological