"EISENHOWER, THE PRESIDENT."   Term Paper ID:29184 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Critique of Stephen Ambrose's 1984 biography.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Critique of Stephen Ambrose's 1984 biography. Main thesis of the book. Eisenhower's popularity during and after leaving office. Commends the book's historical perspective and coverage of the Eisenhower years. Eisenhower's pragmatism. His political and personal relationships. Strengths and weaknesses of the book. Thorough research. Paper Introduction: EISENHOWER, THE PRESIDENT The author: Stephen Ambrose, the book’s author died this past month. He is perhaps best known for his books dealing with World War II, especially the recent Steven Spielberg/HBO series, “Band of Brothers," the book written in 1992, and “D-Day”, published in 1994. It was after Ambrose, as a young man, met returning veterans from World War II, according to his obituary in TIME Magazine (p. 23, October 28, 2002) that he began his fascination with events before, during, and after World War II. All told, he was the author of 38 books, but his fame was somewhat diminished a couple of years ago when he was accused of plagiarism, or at least, of not quoting some of his sources and implying that they were his words. Eisenhower, The President is the second volume of an extensive biog Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. So, for those readers who know more aboutWatergate than about John Foster Dulles or the Suez Campaign, or Nixon asVice-President, can figure out that Nixon was not really well liked, thoughpolitically necessary.Strengths and weaknesses: The strength of the book is its very thorough and careful research.And, yet, at the same time, this is also a major weakness because it merelylays the information out for the reader, without truly involving him intotaking "sides" where sides needed to be taken. The usefulness of this book now lies in its historical perspective.Our generation never knew Eisenhower, except through books like this andhistory texts. And this book points out, warts and all, some ofEisenhower's frustrating decisions, or lack of them. For example, he likedChief Justice Earl Warren (who truly disappointed Republicans by notbecoming the Republican conservative justice they had counted on). "Eisenhower's political problem was what to do with Nixon. 23, October 28, 2 2) that he began his fascination withevents before, during, and after World War II. Grant after the Civil War, has amilitary leader been elected a peace-time president. At the same time, the strength of Eisenhower, ThePresident, is that it gives perhaps the best coverage of the eightEisenhower years- in the White house, Congress, the U.S., and the world.Accuracy Ambrose includes forty pages of references and notes, includingcitations, interviews, and personal notes. Younger readers of Ambrose's workwill surely be interested to see his reasons for both supporting RichardNixon as his vice President, and then issuing a statement for the 196 Republican nomination endorsing Nixon as the Republican candidate. "If...Eisenhower decided not to run again, Warren would make an excellentpresidential candidate" (Ambrose 293). Without coming right out andsaying so, Eisenhower, therefore, made it plain that he would havepreferred someone other than Nixon to run with him in 1956. Eisenhower was noparagon of perfection. Eisenhower, The President isthe second volume of an extensive biography of the general and president,published in 1984, after two decades of research, writing, and editing.The book's thesis: As Ambrose points out in his introduction, that "along with the twoRoosevelts, he is the only Twentieth Century {President who, when he leftoffice, still enjoyed wide and deep popularity" (Ambrose 9). WORK CITED: Ambrose, Stephen E.: Eisenhower, The PresidentNew York: Simon & Schuster 9184) All told, he was the authorof 38 books, but his fame was somewhat diminished a couple of years agowhen he was accused of plagiarism, or at least, of not quoting some of hissources and implying that they were his words. It is useful for the historystudent to realize that, not since U.S. Eisenhower said "I was nevertrained in politics; I came in laterally at the top. He is perhapsbest known for his books dealing with World War II, especially the recentSteven Spielberg/HBO series, "Band of Brothers," the book written in 1992,and "D-Day", published in 1994. Second, the imbroglio with Senator McCarthy continued to bea stain on American politics. In the service when aman gives you his word it is binding'; in politics, you never know"(Ambrose 652). Hecontinued to urge Nixon to select a Cabinet post for himself (but not Stateor Justice)..." (Ambrose 297). The fact that it took some twenty years to complete thisbiography proves that it was not a cut-and-paste job. What the American public, returning to the toils and travails ofpost-war America got was a father figure. He wouldbe the final arbiter and decision maker, but he would rely on his Cabinetand other trusted advisers to make those decisions easier. His years were those of a transition to a more modern,modified and even conservative world. There is little in the facts of the Eisenhower years thataffect us today. This, even though he knew Warrenwould never resign from the Supreme Court. It takes time to read,absorb and re-read. Yet, onecan read between the lines that Eisenhower was not really comfortable withNixon. The book should beread by everyone interested in what happened to America following World WarII, following the immediate inundation of returning veterans and the finalTruman years.Usefulness and Appropriateness Today, everything seems to be measured according to some poll- whetherpopularity, dollar amounts, bell-curves, etc. It was after Ambrose, as a young man, metreturning veterans from World War II, according to his obituary in TIMEMagazine (p. Ambrose makes two important points at the outset of theEisenhower presidential years: First, his campaign promise to go to Koreawas fulfilled. The chapters are chronological, and highlight events of a specifictime period. However, thereis a clear distinction between being a popular president both during andafter leaving office, and a "good, effective" President. What we learn fromthis second volume, devoted to Eisenhower's presidency, is that he waspragmatic- the same traits he demonstrated as Allied Supreme Commander.There were those who would have preferred a Patton-type of activistPresident. Another strength of the book is to look far more deeply intoEisenhower's political and personal relationships. We are not aware of the problems of a post-war world, andthe needs for the kind of steadying influence the pragmatic Eisenhower hadon the American population as well as that of the world, ready to assume acold-war stance that would take decades to resolve.The audience: This extensively researched and well-written biography is aimed at thehistory buff. The Cold War, combined with anti-Communism, McCarthy, the House Un-Americans Committee and international recessions comes across asEisenhower's strength in his ability to delegate responsibility. EISENHOWER, THE PRESIDENTThe author: Stephen Ambrose, the book's author died this past month. That sums up over 65 pages of the man as President. Yet, he knew hislimitations. Within the various chaptersfootnotes indicate the source (listed in the back of the book) for quickreference. Our grandparents' generation would surely remember theEisenhower years as the construction of backyard bomb and nuclear testing.They looked to Eisenhower, the old soldier, to lead the way to Cold Warvictory. An evident weakness is the length of the book. While there were anxiousworld-wide economic problems during his eight years in office, we only geta sense of what he SAID, and not what he THOUGHT. There is no doubt that thecampaign slogan "I Like Ike" continued until his death. Ambrose writes about a time in 1964, when William Scrantonwent to visit him in Gettysburg to win his endorsement in a stop-Goldwatermovement before the Republican convention. But, being wellliked (as Arthur Miller sarcastically points out in Death of a Salesman) isnot always the optimum. For example, "...he toldthe Republicans, 'We cannot live alone, and we've got to find some way forour allies to earn a living, because we do not want to carry them on ourbacks'" (Ambrose 156). If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.