First Book of the Year: "Ike's Bluff"

My first book of 2013 is in the, er, books.  It is the one you see here, "Ike's Bluff" by Evan Thomas.  

The book focuses on the eight years of the Eisenhower Presidency, and if you are a fan of our 34th President, as Thomas obviously is, you're going to love it.  Ike is painted in glowing terms by Thomas as being kind, sage, cagey, almost a saint when compared with all the President's men (to coin a phrase) that surrounded him, not to mention those who were opposed to him (Jack Kennedy was "callow", Lyndon Johnson was a showboating grandstander {not that there's anything wrong with being a Grandstander}, and there are other numerous examples throughout).   Curiously, Thomas glosses over what many consider two of Ike's failings:  his foot-dragging on Civil Rights, and his failure to stand up and confront Joe McCarthy.

The main thrust of the book is that while all those around him were very casual with the idea of using nuclear weapons to solve the problems that confronted the world from 1953-60, and I will say that this notion is a truly frightening part of this book, Ike kept a cool head and never allowed any situation to escalate to such a level.  His greatest legacy was the wars that were never fought.  No small thing.

The other frightening thing about this book was the state of Ike's health.  A heart attack, serious gastric surgery, and a stroke right in the middle of the administration.  I wish my Dad was still around so I could ask him about how this was reported in 1950's news media.  I cannot imagine a 21st century President having the same such health issues and being either (a) reelected, as Ike was, or (b) being allowed to continue in office given the news coverage, and the political pressures, that would be brought to bear upon such a situation.

When reading in this book the name John Foster Dulles, Ike's Secretary of state for all you youngsters out there, a quote from a college teacher of mine kept coming to mind.  It was back in 1972, and the course was in US government, and the teacher was retired military guy who insisted on being addressed as "Colonel".  At some point during the course, the name of John Foster Dulles came up and the Colonel described him as "a man to whom many of the world's current problems can be directly traced."  I always loved that quote.

A good book for history buffs, and I certainly learned a lot by reading it,  but be aware it may not be the most objective book you'll read on the subject.