Eisenhower: A Biography

Great Generals

by John Wukovits, Wesley K. Clark (Foreword)

American general and 34th president of the United States, Eisenhower was the principal architect of the successful Allied invasion of Europe during World War II and of the subsequent defeat of Nazi Germany.World War II expert John Wukovits explores Dwight D. Eisenhower's contributions to American warfare. American general and 34th president of the United States, Eisenhower led the assault on the French coast at Normandy and held together the Allied units through the European campaign that followed. The book reveals Eisenhower's advocacy in the pre-war years of the tank, his friendships with George Patton and Fox Conner, his service in the Philippines with Douglas MacArthur, and his culminating role as supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe. Wukovits skillfully demonstrates how Eisenhower's evolution as a commander, his military doctrine, and his diplomatic skills are of extreme importance in understanding modern warfare.

Genres: Biography, History, Military Fiction, Nonfiction, American History, Military History, World War II

239 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 31, 2006

Reviews

[Chris Dietzel]

This is good as a brief biography but it's too short and too repetitive to be ranked higher. Wukovits spends a lot of time on Eisenhower's time as a child and his decision-making in WWII but he devotes almost no time to Eisenhower's time as President or his time afterward. If you are hesitant to read one of those 1,000 page definitive biographies, then this is a good substitute. But if you want a comprehensive view of the man's life, I would recommend a different book.

[Chris]

Repetitive, largely uncritical and at times fawning, this biography primarily focused on Eisenhower's war years, with a single (surprisingly critical) brief chapter covering his post-WWII life, including both terms as president. Coupled with the author's numerous asides sharing his views on the Vietnam and Iraq wars, this biography was a disappointment. At times it seemed more like a bad inspirational speech. At least it was easy reading.

[Joe]

Book twenty-five of my presidential challenge.

I like Ike. There, I said it, I like Ike. I had always assumed that that old campaign slogan was being either ironic or wrong but no, he seems like he was a great guy who I would totally love to hang out with.

This is the third and final book of the "Generals who became Presidents" part of my challenge. I've got to say, I've been very impressed with all three: Washington, Grant, and now Eisenhower.

This book covers almost exclusively Eisenhower's military career and only briefly touches on his time in the White House. That stands to reason because the book is part of the "Great Generals" series.

I hadn't known much about Ike going into this but I really had the wrong impression of him. I'd assumed because he was in the military and was a 20th Century Republican that he would be an asshole. Not so much, guys!

I loved his leadership style! He would give everybody the information he he and fully explain his decisions so that no one felt talked down to. He would tell his men the motivations behind things and go figure, they would all be extremely motivated! It helps that he had a great evil to fight but I get the feeling that this guy would have been successful no matter what he tried in life.

I really liked how he handled General Patton but I can only describe as a completely batshit crazy person who also happen to be a really fantastic general. There would have been so many times that it would have been easy for Ike to sell Patton out or just give up on him (like the time Patton yelled at and slapped a soldier in a hospital who was suffering from PTSD. Oh yeah, that totally happened.) But he didn't. He worked with Patton. He put in the time and effort and ultimately, Patton came through and delivered big time during the Battle of the Bulge.

The brief glimpses we get of Ike's presidency convince me I need to know more. He seemed more concerned with building schools than building battleships. After seeing how important good roads were in Europe during the war, Ike single-handedly established the Interstate Highway system. If you don't think this is a big deal, look up how difficult it was to drive anywhere in this country before this. You ever been on an old country highway stuck behind a semi before? Try that across the entire country with no other options.

On his way out of office, he warned about the dangers of the "Military Industrial Complex." This came from a WWII General! I need to find out more about this!

All in all, a fascinating guy and a good read. I will definitely be returning to Ike again.

[George]

This biography primarily focused on Eisenhower's war years, with a single brief chapter covering his post-WWII life; combined with a few chapters that discussed growing up in Abilene, the academy and his staff maturation...many years on the staff. It also focuses on his mentors with the effect they had on his life. MacArthur was one of them, but a good influence? Wukovits produced a readable narrative of Eisenhower's military life--does a good job relating the stresses that the man faced as he balanced political and military personalities (prima donnas). The audio version had about a dozen irritating repeats of a sentence or two--a little like the needle slipped on the vinyl. Overall, a readable and concise history.

[Stuart]

Pro: This is a readable and concise history of Eisenhower's career and a good summary of major events and personalities in the European theatre in WWII.
Con: The writing style is flat; the praise and foreshadowing are too frequent; many details and perspectives are missing that a more thorough biography would cover.
Overall: Useful and interesting for someone who is not already familiar with the history (like me).

[Mary Keen]

This is one of many books about Eisenhower. This is the only biography I've read re him, altho i see there are quite a few other books by his family members and others, particularly by Stephen Ambrose.

I don't have others to compare it with, but I think the Wukovits version is so well done and complete without getting lost in details that I've recommended it to friends and family members. I've noticed that Ambrose is quoted several times in the book.

While i was searching for this title, i scrolled other Eisenhower ones, and unfortunately, came across one by his driver and so-called mistress, Kay Summersby Morgan, "Past Forgetting: My Love Affair with Dwight D. Eisenhower." I'd heard about the affair, but she wasn't mentioned in the Wukovits version.

Again, I recommend this book and hope successive readers like it as much as I have!

[Sue]

This audio book helped us cover miles on a recent trip. The author covered his childhood and military career, but not his careers after that in any depth. Ike's personality, focus, and drive brought the WW2 war effort to a positive conclusion. Now our appetites are whetted to read more about the other generals, like Patton, MacArthur, Montgomery, as these and others figured prominently in the Eisenhower war years.

[David]

Great primer on Eisenhower’s military career.

[Pmuldary]

Excellent review of Eisenhower's management style.

[Gary]

In my mind IKE was a great general but there was a void in my mind regarding his eight years as president. This book covers his entire life but helped me understand his political years. I probably still need to read another book that goes over his years in the White House to fully understand this time period. IKE really never cared about what people thought of him. He had a reputation of not be a hard working president, but in truth he was very hard working but he was not interesting in playing political games to work the press and change his reputation. This part of his personality makes him intriguing to me and thus would like to read more about his life.

[Kristyn]

This is a nice biography of Dwight David Eisenhower, focusing mainly on his military career and his role in the European campaign of World War II. It was a great perspective on conditions soldiers faced in the war, how strongly the allied nations were bound, and Eisenhower's fraternal committment to soldiers on the ground. My one complaint is that several times the author does try to compare and contrast Eisenhower's tactics with strategies used in the War in Iraq. This was irritating to me, because I felt this distracted from the story.

[Mike Harbert]

John Wukovits provides a very readable narrative of Eisenhower's life, and does a good job relaying the stresses that the man faced in the role of Supreme Allied Commander. He addresses the major points of Eisenhower's role in the war, and particular his struggles to maintain an impartial and level head when dealing with the British as well as his more troublesome American subordinates and seniors. This book is a good survey of Eisenhower's role in the war, although it does lack some depth and critical analysis of some of the more controversial events and personalities of the war.

[Jacob Jensen]

This was a pretty good biography for part of his life. There was a lot of information about his military career, and almost nothing about his 8 years in the presidency. Nonetheless, I like reading about presidents for the leadership qualities that they display, and this biography showed some great qualities of Ike. He really cared about the individuals, had integrity, and was driven by his passion more than glory.

[Michael Linton]

I listened to the audio DVD's and liked the speaker. The book was fairly easy to follow while driving and the speaked spoke well. The book wasn't amazing but it gave me a good introduction to Eisenhower and would like to read more about him. It gave me insight as to his leadership/management style.

[Jason]

This is an interesting book for someone like me who new very little about Eisenhower. I knock a star off because at times it got a bit dry, but overall I liked the book and would recommend it if you like history.

[Marcy]

Poorly written, just basic facts. But with random tangents comparing the past situation to either Iraq or Afghanistan.

[Gary Geiger]

The Great Generals series is a cousin to the American Presidents Series. See my review of Richard Nixon...

[Jacob]

Really just a short outline of his life.

[Tom Connaughton]

Focused mainly on Army career and War years more so then on his Presidency