Ike's Spies: Eisenhower and the Espionage Establishment

by Stephen E. Ambrose

This classic Cold War-era history looks at the way President Dwight Eisenhower managed America’s secret operations as general and as commander in chief and is based on privileged access to the president and his private papers—from bestselling historian Stephen E. Ambrose. During his time in office, Eisenhower projected the image of a genial bureaucrat, but behind that public face, he ran the most efficient espionage establishment in the world, overseeing assassination plots, the growth of the CIA, and the overthrow of governments. This book gives a behind-the-scenes look at some of the most ambitious secret operations in American history, including the 1954 overthrow of  Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán’s government of Guatemala; Operation AJAX, which toppled Iran’s Mossadegh; and the U-2 flights over Russia. Some of Ike’s most conspicuous intelligence missteps are also discussed, including the failure to predict the German attack during the Battle of the Bulge and the tragic encouragement of freedom fighters in Hungary, Indonesia, and Cuba. Ike’s Spies is indispensible to anyone interested in the development of America’s Cold War spy operations.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Espionage, American History, Presidents, Military Fiction, Politics

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 28, 1981

About the author

Stephen Edward Ambrose was an American historian and biographer of U.S. Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Richard M. Nixon. He received his Ph.D. in 1960 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In his final years he faced charges of plagiarism for his books, with subsequent concerns about his research emerging after his death.

Reviews

[C.H. Cobb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ambrose is an expert on Eisenhower, a fact which is quite apparent in Ike’s Spies, a heavily researched, fascinating book about the beginnings of the CIA. A very good read, the volume is a good representation of the quality of Ambrose’s writing and story-telling. Though the author is favorably disposed toward Eisenhower, he does not sugar-coat Ike’s miss-steps, nor those of his agents.

The book begins with Churchill informing Eisenhower of the ULTRA secret in 1942, and then moves into the gradual development of an Allied spy network in North Africa, whose purpose was both to keep an eye on the Germans and their troop strength and dispositions, and to enlist the allegiance of the French for the coming Allied invasion.

Ambrose carries the reader through TORCH, then the Italy campaign, then OVERLORD. After working his way through the rest of the European theater of the war, Ambrose unfolds the founding of what would become the CIA, and traces America’s spying, assassination plots, and efforts to overthrow foreign governments right through the Bay of Pigs fiasco.

Two things I am taking away from having read this book are (1) the messiness of the spy business, generally, and (2) the fact that America has intruded, at times, into matters of other sovereign nations in ways that are hard to justify. Having admitted that, however, it’s all-to-easy for a civilian reader, fifty years removed, to pass judgment and play armchair quarterback of an era when a violent and repressive communism was sweeping the world, and the reader has neither the full data nor the crushing responsibility to act upon it. Ike’s Spies is an eye-opener into a world most of us will never have to deal with.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories of Ike during WWII were compelling and interesting, and they benefited from the revealing of ULTRA two years prior to this book’s publication. The account of Eisenhower’s presidency suffers from a decency bias, and is less interesting, lacking the same level of context as the first half of the book. Ambrose himself seems to recognize this in his conclusion which is solely focused on FORTITUDE and OVERLORD and not at all at the topic of the latter 125 pages.

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm generally not a history fan but this belied the impression of Eisenhower as a sedentary President and showed him as not the bumbling accidental Chief Executive we're accustomed to seeing. Some successes, some failures, but involved.

[Darren Sapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit dryer than most of Ambrose’s books but nonetheless thorough in this aspect of Ike’s work as general and president. Readers will lean a ton.

[George Siehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ambrose, a popular writer of American and military history here focuses on the experiences of General, later President, Dwight D. Eisenhower with the policy and operations of espionage and intelligence in war and peace. Winston Churchill introduced "Ike" to the subject soon after America's entry into WWII. Churchill explained the intricacies of Britain's long practiced use of these tools, and the successes that nation had achieved against Hitler's forces. These successes included breaking the Nazi system used for encrypting messages, the Enigma machine; capturing and turning (or executing) all the German spies sent to Britain; and matching the Germans in many top secret scientific advances. Other successes followed as America engaged as a partner in the war against Hitler.

The story is told in terms of three periods. The first is that of WWII when Ike was first learning about the operationalization of spying and intelligence in wartime. America was forging its own structures and techniques: founding of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) for intelligence gathering and special operations; codebreaking success of its own against Japanese systems; and learning to make use of the information derived from Ultra, as the exploitation of the Enigma breakthrough was called.

The second period covers the postwar years when Ike was not daily involved in espionage activity. During this time America discarded he intelligence structure it had built during the war, such as the OSS. It quickly learned that the end of WWII had morphed into what came to be the Cold War. Here the Soviet Union and world communism became the new threat against American and her Allies. New structures were put in place such as the National Security Council in the White House, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the separation of the Air Force from the Army. The war-ending weapon of WWII, the atomic bomb, coupled with its rapid acquisition by the Soviets through espionage, charged a whole new arena of concern. The George Kennan inspired policy of containment to prevent the global spread of communism required better procurement and analysis of information in foreign and military policy. All thee major changes shaped the environment in which Eisenhower would operate in the future.

The third period shows Eisenhower as President, now crucially dependent upon the best information possible, and the responsibility of making certain it was obtained. Ambrose shows the character of the men chosen to help the President, Allen and John Foster Dulles at CIA and State, respectively, along with his wartime staff aide, General Bedell Smith, among others. These men, and the people they brought into their service contributed to the intelligence/espionage successes and failures that would follow. Ambrose enriches our knowledge and understanding of U. S. international relations in places such as Iran, Guatemala, Vietnam, Hungary, and Indonesia. He deals in depth with the outstanding success of the U2 spy aircraft--until its fateful shootdown by the Soviets on the eve of peace Summit meeting. These situations impacted national and international politics, influenced the national economy, and generated endless discussions over how, and if, espionage and intelligence should be a part of America's system of governance. The information provides a means of evaluating Dwight Eisenhower's use of these tools in war and peace.

This recommended book can be of interest to both specialists and general readers. It is rich in details and offers a wide range of further sources for those wanting to dig deeper.

[Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I could have awarded 4 stars, but settled on 3 because of its dry and tedious nature at times. All the same, the analysis and overview of history was very interesting to me, as I learned more about CIA tampering in Guatamala, Iran and Cuba. I found the assessment about the US involvement (or lack thereof) in the 1956 Russian invasion of Hungary to be one of the most intriguing sections of the book, as Ambrose showed how politics in the US gave the struggling Hungarians false hope for assistance. Ambrose does a nice job relating these episodes in 'overview mode', since each chapter could certainly serve as the basis for several entire books. While Ambrose doesn't judge Eisenhower (he has a lot of admiration for him), he does raise the questions about the president's knowledge of CIA assassinations of foreign leaders.

[Matthew Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was ooookay. The title is a little deceiving as although the first entire 1/2 of the book is "technically" about spies and espionage, it's 90% about Eisenhower's WWII strategy to beat Germany. Good but just a little too straight foreward WWII history that isn't really all that interesting to me. If I knew that's what the first half of the book was I probably wouldn't have read it to be honest.

The second half of the book was much better. This half dug into the CIA, it's beginnings, and all the different types of covert operations they involved themselves with. This is what interests me, all the secret things that go on that we don't know about until so many years later haha. With all that said, unless you're super into military history, WWII, or Eisenhower I probably wouldn't recommend this one. One of the few books I've read that I can't see myself reading again.

[Craig Beam · Rating 3 out of 5]

During his time in office, Eisenhower projected an image of a genial bureaucrat, but behind that public face, he ran the most efficient establishment in the world, overseeing assignation plots, the growth of the CIA, and the overthrow of governments. This book gives a behind-the-scenes look at some of the most ambitious secret operations in American history, including the 1954 overthrow of Jacob Arbenz Guzman’s government of Guatemala, Operation AJAX, which toppled Iran’s Missadegh ; and the U2 flights over Russia. Some of Ike’s most conspicuous intelligence missteps are also discussed, including the failure to predict the German attack during the Battle of the Bulge and the tragic encouragement of freedom fighters in Hungary, Indonesia, and Cuba.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating portrayal of Dwight Eisenhower's use of espionage during his reign as Commander of the Allied Forces and his terms in the White House. The book is organized chronologically. This gives the reader a chance to see Ike's vision of how espionage should be used in battle and while governing the US. A lot of research into the secret works of the CIA that included attempted assassinations overthrow of foreign governments and the mistakes made as well.

[R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was duly corrected and informed about the degree to which Overlord’s success was the result of intelligence misdirection. That was the best part. Much of the rest once Ike is president felt very cursory compared to have much time is dedicated to SHAEF.

[Susan Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent history—reads like a novel. 1942-1960. I would gladly read anything by this author. It gave me a new appreciation for Ike—a thoughtful and cautious man. Highly recommend if you like 20th century history. 322 pages

[Carl Palmateer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very slow start, the chapter on the Torch preliminaries seemed more concerned with politics than intel and most of the WWII stuff seemed a rehash. It wasn't until the presidential years that the book started to take off. At that point it was a solid 4 stars.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ambrose is good, here, for a 1981 effort, leaning on his previous interviews for Eisenhower biography as well as sources like the Senator Frank Church Committee findings. His writing is always readable. Recommend reading with follow-up of the tumultuous decades immediately following.

[Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was good, but not as good as I had hoped.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

a tedious read

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book! Very informative telling tales of that time that I'd never read before.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting history of subterfuge during WWII and the Cold War, if a bit dry.

[pat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I mean, it’s well written we just don’t know if it was him that wrote it.

[Seth Petok · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent Hot War commander; excellent Cold War commander via CIA

[Beryl Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raised in the era of 007 movies, I never thought of the actual details behind the use of spies by our leaders. This book begins with Eisenhower's education by Churchill on the whole spy system. This ultimately leads to the joint arrangement between the U.S. and Britain with their mutual use of spies, code crackers, recruitment of double agents, and the French underground, all.of which contributed so heavily to winning WWII. Afterwards, the Cold War begins, and so does more intrigue and covert operations.

Some of the book can be dry, but much of it fascinatingly brings to life the personalities and stories within the era of Eisenhower during WWII and his presidency.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating historical account of Ike's use of intelligence and espionage as General during WWII and as President. Focus is on WWII where Churchill introduces Ike to espionage, and on the Cold War where intelligence & espionage were used successfully and not so... as in attempted Castro assassinations and ultimately the Bay of Pigs. Ike didn't invent espionage, but became a brilliant master -- a supreme commander -- at using intelligence and creating effective intelligence organizations. All the big successes and huge blundering miscalculations are discussed.

[Don LaFountaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. History has shown Ike to be an easy going, he had things under control, and such a likeable person that he was above anything and everything. This book shows how he was not such a benign and caring person; that there were things he held dear, and if someone or something got in his way or had to die, then so be it. It was an interesting book about a President who gets much deserved accolades, but a person who has had a number of his deeds whitewashed.

[Erneilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit ponderous but interesting history, especially the WW II era. I remember the 50's and 60's pretty well although as a young boy/teenager I probably wasn't as aware as I should be, so this book brought me up to date on some of the events of that period. The book tries to exonerate Eisenhower from the CIA's shenanigans, but their black ops are still a black mark on our country in my opinion. But that's just an opinion.

[Dave Mccormick · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like a 3.5 star book for me. Effectively debunks many myths of Ike being an ineffectual president or just interested in playing golf. Covers the start of the OSS and events that led to it's growth as the CIA. Although Stephen Ambrose is clearly a fan of Eisenhower, the book is pretty even-handed in it's assessments of the intelligence successes and failures under his watch.

[John Hilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and exciting

Very interesting book. Early chapters dealing with WW2. A little lull in the middle found myself losing interest but I pushed on and the later chapters a great. Worth it

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

His history may sometimes be questionable, but he is incredibly readable--the Ken Burns of military history.

[Conor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It is a incredible story about how the CIA was started.

[Victor Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly good read!

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting having been written in the late 1970's it raises questions about American foreign policy that are more even more salient now.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting look at counter-intelligence leading into the D-Day invasion and the birth of the CIA after the war.