DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER: General, President

by Henry Thomas ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 24, 1969

Could a boy from the wrong side of the tracks hope to become a successful man?"" That depends -- for a long time -- on how he ranks: ""As a second lieutenant who had finished sixty-first out of a class of 164, how far could he expect to go?... A major at thirty, (Ike) believed he could not rise much higher."" When he graduated from the army's Command School at the top of his class, ""this distinction brought him no immediate advance in rank, but it opened the door to an important assignment... to help in the preparation of a guide to American battlefields in France."" Not in consequence and not very consequential, this event occurred two years later, a lapse that looms larger because the really important assignment -- preparing plans for the invasion of Europe -- that led to his being placed in command is omitted. If you've weathered this much flummery and fog, you'll find the balance a fairly direct account of his role in World War II and in the White House (if he's not taxed with failings, at least he's not adulated). The books in this series offer a simple factual alternative to rampant fictionalization at the third-fourth grade level though frequently the vocabulary (e.g. protege, coalition, rebuke) outstrips the style; anyone older can do better, anyone wise may want to.

Pub Date: Sept. 24, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION