Eisenhower: Soldier and President » (TOUCHSTONE)

An historian whose books prompted America to regard its war veterans with newfound reverence, Stephen E. Ambrose was as prolific as he was passionate about his country. His bestsellers chronicled our nation s critical battles and achievements, from his seminal war works D-Day and Band of Brothers to his fitting last love letter To America.

Stephen E. Ambrose draws upon extensive sources, an unprecedented degree of scholarship, and numerous interviews with Eisenhower himself to offer the fullest, richest, most objective rendering yet of the soldier who became president. He gives us a masterly account of the European war theater and Eisenhower's magnificent leadership as Allied Supreme Commander. Ambrose's recounting of Eisenhower's presidency, the first of the Cold War, brings to life a man and a country struggling with issues as diverse as civil rights, atomic weapons, communism, and a new global role.

Along the way, Ambrose follows the 34th President's relations with the people closest to him, most of all Mamie, his son John, and Kay Summersby, as well as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Harry Truman, Nixon, Dulles, Khrushchev, Joe McCarthy, and indeed, all the American and world leaders of his time. This superb interpretation of Eisenhower's life confirms Stephen Ambrose's position as one of our finest historians.

Publishers Weekly

In this admiring and enormously readable revision/condensation of his acclaimed two-volume biography, published in 1983 and 1984, Ambrose reminds us that this "great and good man'' was the most successful general of the greatest war ever fought and the only president of this century to preside over eight years of peace and prosperity. Tracing Eisenhower's family background, education, military and political careers, and influence as elder statesman, the author chronicles Eisenhower's triumphs and failures and at the same time provides a vivid picture of the off-duty Ike. As Allied Supreme Commander, he is revealed once again as a coalition leader of extraordinary ability (and "an intensely alive human being who enjoyed his job immensely''). As our 34th president, he was a statesman who guided the free world through one of the most dangerous decades of the Cold War. Ambrose argues that Eisenhower has much to say to us today on such fundamental issues as national defense, arms expenditures, the importance of a balanced budget and the desirability of a United States of Europe with an all-European army. This is the definitive one-volume biography of Eisenhower.

CONTENTS

Foreword

1 Abilene, West Point, World War I

2 Between the Wars

3 Preparing the First Offensive

4 North Africa, Sicily, and Italy

5 D-Day and the Liberation of France

6 The West Wall and the Battle of the Bulge

7 The Last Offensive

8 Peace

9 Columbia, NATO, and Politics

10 Candidate

11 Getting Started

12 The Chance for Peace

13 Peace in Korea — Coup in Iran — Atoms for Peace

14 McCarthy and Vietnam

15 ChiNats and ChiComs

16 The Geneva Summit and a Heart Attack

17 The 1956 Campaign

18 Little Rock and Sputnik

19 1958 — A Most Difficult Year

20 A Revival

21 1960 — High Hopes and Unhappy Realities

22 Transition and Assessment

23 Elder Statesman

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Index

MAPS

North Africa and Sicily and the Invasion of France

The Defeat of Germany