I discovered a curious personal bias when I cracked open the book at home. I had grabbed this volume from the new releases shelf at the local library. Being a history buff my selection of this title was predictable. "Jim Newton" I read. Who is he? His name appeared at the top of every-other-page, with "Eisenhower" printed on the other face. No "Ph.D"? No "Professor"? Is this guy qualified to write a book? What had I gotten myself into?
I endeavored to suspend judgment and found a book that I enjoyed to the level that I did not want to read it too fast, so as to prolong the enjoyment. After finishing I glanced at the inside back cover and discovered that Mr. Newton is a reporter. Normally I view reporters as masters of investigation and the one-sentence paragraph, but Mr. Newton, Mark Twain and Tom Wolfe are among the exceptions.
Eisenhower, I learned, has two commonly-understood legacies. One, he alerted us to the military-industrial complex. He coined this phrase and prescient warning in his farewell speech. Two, he played President in between bridge games and rounds of golf.
The better view, according to this author, is that Eisenhower spent considerable effort to ensure that little happened. On foreign relations, the economy and civil rights he was a devoted conservative at a time when that term meant caution and fair-mindedness rather than extremist as it does today. He stuck to the middle ground on key issues such as Eugene McCarthy; the economy; Brown v. Board of Education; and communist expansion into Cuba, Iran, Korea and Laos.
Eugene McCarthy, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, was a bully and anti-communist zealot. Through a combination of thorough preparation, intensity and meanness he wielded terrible power from to . Some of Eisenhower's advisers urged him to speak out against McCarthy. Eisenhower thought poorly of McCarthy. Yet, he feared tangling with him on the belief that doing so might not be decisive and would instead allow McCarthy to draw even more attention and power. The President worked behind the scenes, befriending those whom McCarthy attempted to smear and instructed his staff to not testify at the hearings, stating a never-before-used claim of executive privilege, namely that no one can be compelled to testify to advice given to the President, much like an attorney-client privilege. No court ruled on that assertion because before the matter could be brought before a court McCarthy finally overstepped his bounds by badgering a clearly innocent witness.
Many times Eisenhower faced Communist aggression, or perceived aggression: Cuba, Iran, Korea, Laos. In each case nuclear weaponry was an option as the United States held a clear firepower advantage over the Soviets. In each case he declined and instead met the threat with methods that have since been discredited: military and financial aid and subterfuge, supporting regimes that, while not communist, could hardly be called benevolent.
I was only vaguely aware before this reading that Richard Nixon was Eisenhower's Vice-President. The relationship was not warm. Nixon was a controversial choice for Eisenhower's first presidential campaign and for his second. When asked during his second race whether Nixon would remain on the ticket Eisenhower relayed his "admiration, respect and deep affection" for him. Eisenhower, in fact, offered Nixon a way out, advising Nixon that if he desired to be President some way that his best course was to take a cabinet position, such as Secretary of Defense. Vice-President are viewed as doing nothing, Eisenhower explained. Eisenhower also noted that, should he die during his second term, Nixon would immediately rise to his chosen position. What a bind for Nixon!
Even though Eisenhower was conservative his Supreme Court appointments were hardly so, with the bare exceptions of John Harlan II in 1954 and Potter Stewart in 1958. Earl Warren (1953) and William Brennan (1956), on the other hand, were leading liberals. And even though Eisenhower was conservative one of his lasting legacies is our interstate highway system. He tapped General Lucius Clay from his wars years to lead the effort; Clay marveled at how the Germans used their autobahn to quickly moved war materiel. Wanting to avoid a budget deficit he proposed gasoline taxes to pay for the 41,000 miles of roads (repeating California's approach for building its highway system). Eisenhower: tax-and-spend liberal.
Eisenhower's health was poor, or at least poorer than your typical American President. (This chart shows the ages at death for all presidents. Going back to Nixon presidents have died at ages 81, 93 and 93. Still alive are presidents at ages 87 (Carter) and 88 (Bush I).) Although Eisenhower lived 78 years he suffered two strokes while in office along with various other maladies that caused his Vice-President, Richard Nixon, to act in his stead on occasion.
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