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Ike: An American Hero

3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 · rating details · 372 ratings · 71 reviews

A big, ambitious, and enthralling new biography of Dwight D. Eisenhower, full of fascinating details and anecdotes, which places particular emphasis on his brilliant generalship and leadership in World War Two, and provides, with the advantage of hindsight, a far more acute analysis of his character and personality than any that has previously been available, reaching the...more A big, ambitious, and enthralling new biography of Dwight D. Eisenhower, full of fascinating details and anecdotes, which places particular emphasis on his brilliant generalship and leadership in World War Two, and provides, with the advantage of hindsight, a far more acute analysis of his character and personality than any that has previously been available, reaching the conclusion that he was perhaps America's greatest general and one of America's best presidents, a man who won the war and thereafter kept the peace.

IKE starts with the story of D-Day, the most critical moment in America's history. It was Hitler's last chance to win the war -- he had the means to destroy the troops on the beaches, but he failed to react quickly enough. The one man who would have reacted quickly and decisively had he been on the spot, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, was home on leave and didn't arrive back at his headquarters until it was too late. It was Ike's plan, Ike's decision, Ike's responsibility. He alone, among all the Allied generals, could win or lose the war in one day, and knew it.

But of course there is more to this book than military history. It is a full biography of a remarkable man, ambitious, a late starter, a brilliant leader of men and perhaps the only American general who could command such a difficult coalition, and win the respect of not only his own soldiers, but also those of Great Britain and France, and lead them to a triumphant victory.

It is also the story of a remarkable family. Ike grew up in Abilene, Kansas, and the Eisenhowers were Mennonites, who, like the Amish, were deeply committed pacifists, so it is ironic that he went to West Point and became a general, to his mother's horror. It is as well the portrait of a tumultuous and often difficult marriage, for Mamie was every bit as stubborn and forceful as her husband, and it was by no means the sunny, happy marriage that Republican publicists presented to the public when Ike made his first moves towards the presidency.

Indeed, behind Ike's big grin and the easy-going, affable personality he liked to project was a very different man, fiercely ambitious, hot-tempered, shrewd, and tightly wound. He was a perfectionist for whom duty always came first, and a man of immense ability. In 1941 he was a soldier who was still an unknown and recently promoted colonel, and just two years later he was a four-star general who had commanded the biggest and most successful amphibious operation in history -- TORCH, the Anglo-American invasion of North Africa. He commanded respect and was dealt as an equal with such world figures as President Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Charles De Gaulle.(less)

Hardcover, 800 pages

Published August 21st 2007 by Harper (first published 2007)

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Sep 30, 2008 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really wanted to love this book. It was absolutely facinating and full of great information and wonderful details. I had 2 major hangups though.

First, Korda kept interjecting information about his family and/or career or something of that sort into the book. They were mostly footnotes similar to "The author's brother once met a neighbor of the aforementioned general and had a plesant discussion about the bombing in London." They added nothing to the book and quickly became annoying and disrup...more

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Feb 01, 2013 Jeff Kelleher rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is top-down history, an example of the "great man" school of historiography. Korda makes clear from the start that he leaves to others the chronicle of the "little people" who did the bleeding and dying. The result is a sort of Masterpiece Theater drama of manners and personalities, as Ike maneuvers to hold together the alliance, and shape the strategy that won the war in the West. The clash of egos between Churchill, DeGaulle, Montgomery, Patton, Tedder, Harris, and Brooke has been told ma...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Carl Rollyson rated it 3 of 5 stars

Michael Korda misses the point about American heroes, thinking we pester them into infamy or insignificance. In his new biography of Dwight Eisenhower, he quotes Emerson's comment, "Every hero becomes a bore at last," noting, by way of contrast, France's "national passion for Napoleon," England's "sentimental hero worship of Nelson," and Russia's "glorification of Peter the Great." But if we cut our heroes "down to size," as Mr. Korda contends, we do so only to build them back up again. Hence Da...more Michael Korda misses the point about American heroes, thinking we pester them into infamy or insignificance. In his new biography of Dwight Eisenhower, he quotes Emerson's comment, "Every hero becomes a bore at last," noting, by way of contrast, France's "national passion for Napoleon," England's "sentimental hero worship of Nelson," and Russia's "glorification of Peter the Great." But if we cut our heroes "down to size," as Mr. Korda contends, we do so only to build them back up again. Hence David McCullough's sanctification of Truman and now, in the same tradition, Mr. Korda's "Ike: An American Hero."

The title is positively antique — a throwback to 19th-century American biographical tradition, in which the hero's early years are rendered in the soft sepia of nostalgia and his command decisions related boldly so as to stand out against his lesser contemporaries.

If Mr. Korda breaks no new ground and is rather timid when it comes to describing Eisenhower the man, he is sound on Eisenhower's role as Supreme Commander. The biographer presents a powerful picture of a soldier gifted at inspiring and training his troops but just as savvy in dealing with world-class politicians and prima donnas such as Winston Churchill, Bernard Montgomery, and George Patton. The latter two often derided Ike as weak because he did not check their insubordinate behavior, but Ike tolerated their guff only so long as they adhered to his strategy of destroying the German war machine.

To bolster the prestige of Britain, a world power on the wane, Churchill wanted to take Berlin before the Soviets arrived, but Eisenhower resisted this political ploy. Patton and Montgomery wanted Berlin for their own glory. But in March 1945, the Soviets were only 35 miles from the German capital, while Patton and Montgomery were 200 miles away. Eisenhower was given estimates that taking Berlin (which had no strategic value) would cost 100,000 American lives. In the event, the Soviets lost something like 360,000 soldiers taking the German capital, according to John Wukovitsin"Eisenhower"(2006). What is more, with the atomic bomb as yet unexploded, Eisenhower knew Roosevelt counted on Soviet help with the invasion of Japan. To grab Berlin, especially after the Yalta agreement had ratified the city as part of the Soviet occupation zone, would have accelerated the Cold War, even if it did not provoke an immediate crisis on the Allied side.

Ike was such a strong wartime leader, Mr. Korda suggests, that he does not have to earn our respect again on the home front, does not, for example, have to denounce baddies like Joseph McCarthy. Eisenhower did not want to get "in the gutter with that guy," he writes. How would a strong public defense of George Marshall, Eisenhower's mentor, have been a brand of gutter politics? Yet Eisenhower, to the chagrin of many friends, failed to support Marshall, one of the towering figures of the century.

Similarly, Eisenhower's inaction on civil rights receives a pass from Mr. Korda. As president, Eisenhower reacted to the unanimous Supreme Court decision on Brown v. Board of Education with dismay, later voicing his deep regret that he had nominated chief justice Earl Warren to the court at all. Eisenhower believed that outlawing segregation went too far, and would have preferred a decision that simply affirmed equality of opportunity. But as Warren demonstrated to even the most conservative of the justices, separate but equal was a contradiction in terms. The true hero of the saga was Earl Warren.

Although Eisenhower's record of enforcing desegregation in the military was strong, and although he did enforce the Supreme Court integration decision when he sent troops to Little Rock, he was in his actions affirming the authority of the federal government, not making a moral statement about civil rights. In this, he simply did not act heroically. A hero is not only courageous, he must be farsighted. Eisenhower, devoid of a moral imagination, hoped instead to maintain the status quo.

After powerful Eisenhower biographies by Stephen Ambrose and Carlo D'Este, it would seem incumbent on Mr. Korda to provide a fresh assessment of the man. I thought that perhaps he might achieve a breakthrough in his treatment of Kay Summersby, Eisenhower's driver, social secretary, and companion during the war. After all, Mr. Korda published her memoir, "Past Forgetting: My Love Affair with Dwight D. Eisenhower" (1975). Instead, the biographer retreats to the safe "nobody knows and prurient speculation is out of place."

Ike's wife, Mamie, suspected him, and friends generally assumed Kay was his mistress. (Mr. Korda even speculates that Ike's letters to Kay "are not those that a general would normally write to a driver.") Kay wrote about Ike with insight and sensitivity in her memoir, which she wrote while dying of cancer in the 1970s. What is it that Mr. Korda needs at this point? A photograph of them in bed? The biographer's reticence obfuscates the crucial role this woman performed in Ike's life. In the end, Mr. Korda's "Ike" differs little from previous accounts that have steadily increased Eisenhower's stature as a self-effacing man who nevertheless made a powerful mark on history.(less)

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May 07, 2012 Carl Brush rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president I remember knowing or thinking much about. FDR was dead before I was five. I was ten when Truman left office. I recall my father criticizing him for his unpresidential language--a man in his position shouldn’t be saying “damn” and “hell” in public--but not much else. But I do remember Ike vs. Adlai. I even listened to one of the conventions on the radio, or at least parts of it. Why or what I got out of it, I can’t say. It was probably the democratic...more Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president I remember knowing or thinking much about. FDR was dead before I was five. I was ten when Truman left office. I recall my father criticizing him for his unpresidential language--a man in his position shouldn’t be saying “damn” and “hell” in public--but not much else. But I do remember Ike vs. Adlai. I even listened to one of the conventions on the radio, or at least parts of it. Why or what I got out of it, I can’t say. It was probably the democratic convention, since my folks were democrats, and we were certainly for Adlai. Why, again, I can’t say since dad was so conservative he squeaked. However, he was also a veteran of the depression and as such a great admirer of FDR. Whether he was a Republican before that, I don’t know. Part of the political battle lines were over Ike’s intellect. Democrats said he had little or none. Right or not, it didn’t matter to the voters.
According to Michael Korda, he had a great deal more upstairs than people gave him credit for. He was drubbed by some of his military colleagues for lack of battle sense. His contribution to the allied effort, it was said, was mainly as a politician able to keep multiple factions from destroying the various projects he oversaw, but his acumen as a strategist was low. Yet, he was from an early age steeped in history, particularly military history. He had heroes ranging from Caesar to Hannibal to Grant. This, before he’d formulated any idea of a military career, a profession he entered mainly as a way to get to college when his family couldn’t afford to send him.
Add to this reading background to a West Point education (though he didn’t distinguish himself) and you have a man well-prepared to lead troops. Problem was, he wasn’t given the opportunity for some time. He was too good at teaching, organizing, and other nuts and bolts. So, WWI found him being held stateside training men to go to the battles he wanted to fight himself. When he finally got to go abroad, it was as an aid to General MacArthur in the Phillipines, where he became was MacArthur later called “the best clerk I ever had.”
During all this, though, he was being exposed to high-level military politics and operations, kept abreast of the latest weapons technology--including aircraft--as well as being introduced to (and impressing) quite a number of distinguished brass. All of which became one of those moments when opportunity meets preparation. In a couple of years following Pearl Harbor, he rose from lieutenant colonel to four- then five-star general in command of the allied armies and (for D-day) air forces of five countries, with the results everyone knows about.
Korda (who is, incidentally, a nephew of Sir Alexander Korda, a distinguished film producer from Britain and one of the group of remarkable Hungarian Jews who escaped to the west and changed all our lives, for which see my comment on The Great Escape, Dec. 29, 2007.) counters as he enumerates the rumors and attacks that have followed Ike. Spends so much time on them, in fact, that he begins to seem a bit of apologist. Patton and Montgomery, two of Ike’s main antagonists (though Patton was also a friend) come off looking almost juvenile. The idea of an affair (which seems to me almost certainly to have happened) with his “driver”, Kay Summersby, is dismissed for lack of concrete evidence. He even gets a pass for his rather shabby treatment of Mamie, a gregarious child of some privilege for whose social proclivities Ike apparently had little sympathy. I came away from the book feeling quite sorry for her. She was virtually abandoned for years and years. Even when Ike wasn’t overseas, he was immersed in his job. And even when they went to Paris for a time (largely to indulge her) he seems to have given her short shrift. And that’s not counting rather miserable stays in Panama and the Phillipines, where she suffered both physically and emotionally from heat and loneliness. And when he was in Europe, the rumors of affairs with Summersby were often in print, which promoted enormous anxiety for Mamie. Instead of getting a different driver, he expanded Summersby’s duties and increased the amount and quality of the time they spent together. When Mamie mentioned her concerns, he made light of them. How would a man as busy as he, constantly surrounded by people, have time for affairs? Of course, as an army wife, she might have expected that hubby’s duty always came first, but Ike seems to have been particularly insensitive to her.
It’s during the presidency that Korda stretches his apologies for Ike the farthest. Even beneath the excuses, it seems that Ike’s health impaired his performance during his second term, especially the last couple of years. I’m glad he didn’t quit, though, because Nixon (whom he had the good instincts to despise) was waiting in the wings, and who needed more of him earlier? We might never have gotten Kennedy. And here are some things I didn’t know that I appreciate now:
--Truman’s order desegregating the armed forces came in 1948, but was in many places not enforced even by the time Ike took office in 1952. He made sure it went into effect in the most effective and unheralded way. He ordered refurbishing of southern barracks, had all the whites only signs painted over and never redone.
--As his magnificent Interstate Highway system came into being, he prohibited segregation wherever it went and among whoever worked on it.
--Although he regretted appointing Earl Warren, when the time came for him to enforce the supreme court’s order in Little Rock, he did what he (and Grant, to whom repeatedly compares him) had always done militarily--invoked irresistible force in the form of the 101st Airborne, with which he had special ties from the combat days.
--He had a chance to get us into Vietnam, refused, and warned others against the whole idea.
For none of these things did he get much credit. Maybe if he’d been more flamboyant, made more out of the principles he followed to accomplish all this, he might have had more of an effect on the future. But who knows?
His swan song, of course, was a warning against the military-industrial complex--a phrase he created and an establishment he helped build--and we should have listened. Apparently we can’t.
Korda’s created a valuable piece of history here. Perhaps he’s a bit kinder to Eisenhower than he needed to be. Perhaps it was a necessary correction to all the negative that appears to lie around out there. It would be nice to know what Mamie would say about it all.(less)

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Apr 06, 2012 Jeremy Perron rated it 5 of 5 stars

Michael Korda's Ike is a fascinating look into one of the most famous men of the twentieth century. He was a first-rate solider and statesman, this life-long solider would leave office warning the nation of the growing military-industrial complex. This is an incredible story of a boy from Abilene, Kansas who would rise to become one of the most famous figures on the world stage. If history had not intervened he probably would have retired from the army a bird colonel and we never would heard abo...more

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May 11, 2009 Tammy rated it 5 of 5 stars

As someone who loves historical biographies, this book was a treat. Korda employs a readable style with enough detail to delight, but not too much so as to overwhelm.

Without question, Korda is sympathetic towards Eisenhower. Countless places throughout the book he will state others’ criticism towards Eisenhower (i.e., not pressing to Berlin in WWII), and immediately follow with “but…” and defend the general’s decisions and character. In particular, Eisenhower’s relationship with Kay Summersby is...more

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Feb 05, 2009 Bookmarks Magazine added it

Citing David McCullough's biographies of Truman and MacArthur, Michael Korda claims that "a reputation can be revised by a single great book," and he seeks to do just that in Ike. Korda treads no new ground; instead, he gathers his information from previously published sources. In place of originality, reviewers commended his engaging, accessible style. Some were annoyed by Korda's lack of objectivity and the short shrift he gives to Eisenhower's presidential years (fewer than 100 pages), but th

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Feb 04, 2009 Roger rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a complete biography of Eisenhower. I like the author's writing style while telling Ike's story from his humble begining, thru his West Point days, his disappointments in WWI, his years with Mac Arthur and how he quickly rose thru the ranks in WWII and finally to his Presidency. Korda treats Ike with respect and does not hestiate to examine some of Eisenhower's battles with his staff, the British and French. Did not think the Presidency years were fully explored and would have liked to s...more

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May 14, 2013 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was the first biography of Ike that I have read. Some of the other reviewers who seem to be hard-core WWII fans, tended to dismiss Korda's work as derivative, which I thought was unfair and incorrect. I found his style very readable and the subject matter organized well. In addition, his infrequent asides about his personal connections to Ike and to WWII struck me as interesting and relevant to the material - some reviewers found it annoying.

I have two critiques: (1) there was lots of detai...more

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Feb 25, 2009 Steve rated it 1 of 5 stars

Michael Korda has to be the most arrogant biographer ever to be published. Not only does he insert himself into just about every interesting story about Dwight Eisenhower that he tells in the book, but even the book itself - underneath the jacket - doesn't feature the name of the book, but does feature the initials of the biographer. Seriously, this guy is painful to read, and it's a shame because his subject is so interesting and he managed to ruin it by drawing you out of the story and into hi...more

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Feb 12, 2009 Robert L. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Quite a good read. Does not spend a lot of time with the military decision making; some; more of Ike's personal march through life. Gives great respect to Ike's intellectual abilities, which Ike's mannerisms - at least as we hear of them nowadays - tended to hide. Tells the story of a man of duty to his country. The book generally always takes Ike's side in the controversies of his life. Defends his record on several such matters. Probably minimizes some of his bad decisions, but then maybe in t...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Jeff Loxterkamp rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Author Michael Korda also weaved his own military experience into his excellent Eisenhower biography. To me that added to Ike's frame of mind, how he went about things. Lots of humor, like how Ike had to deal with, such as negotiating with the Vichy Commander Darland, if Darland was was going to let the Allies easily land at Morroco and Algiers or not, in 1942 for Operation Torch. And dealing with shifty characters like Giraud.
Like Thomas Jefferson, who would wrather have been known as being Go...more

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Apr 30, 2010 Boomerang64 rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: presidents

I've read a lot of presidential biographies. This one was, by far, the most disappointing. There were a lot of facts, but very little insight into Eisenhower as a human being. And I have to mention this because it bothered me as I was reading -- at times it was self-indulgent. He clearly likes to put events into context, but he puts them into the context of his own life - not the reader's. (At one point, we learn how his grandparents met which, by the way, had nothing whatsoever to do with Eisen...more

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Dec 02, 2012 Lukav rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biographies, read-for-mrs-morgan

Ike: An American Hero by Michael Korda brilliantly informs you about the life of Dwight David Eisenhower and the history of his family. The author reveals information that would not have available to anyone else, because of his knowledge of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and his uncle being a prominent member of British society at the time of the Second World War.

Ike: An American Hero is not part of any collection. The author spent most of the time informing the reader about the events durin...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Jennifer Nelson rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: presidential-books, biography, 2012-books

I was pleasantly surprised by the readability of this book considering dryness of content (the politics of upper level military leaders does not appeal to me much). Michael Korda does a good job balancing historical facts with glimpses into the personalities of the people he writes about. It was entertaining to read about some of the big names of World War II: Churchill, Monty, de Gaulle, and MacArthur. However, I found that I was not very impressed with the subject of the book, Ike, that is. Fo...more

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Oct 03, 2008 Rick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Rick by: Jenn Collins

This is the first time I've read Korda and I must say I was skeptical at first considering the fact that he was a British writer. I thought that perhaps Korda would be biased towards Ike considering past British authors that have revised history in favor of Montgomery (Monty) the British general that was often at odds with Ike. I was more than pleasantly suprised by Korda's research, detail, fairness while not idolizing Ike. This was the best book on Ike that I've read since Ambrose's take on th...more

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Jun 15, 2008 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: history fans, world events, military history

Recommended to Rachel by: Dr. Marshall Gollub

Shelves: military, history

This was an excellent biography of Eisenhower. I enjoyed all 700 pages, which is saying something -- Korda is an experienced author with a good sense of what makes a story.

While several reviews of this book complain that Korda was too sympathetic to Ike, and not nearly critical enough, I felt that being critical was not the point of the work. He certainly pointed out Ike's mistakes and missteps, but his thesis was that Ike demonstrated courage, military skill, hard work, integrity, and common se...more

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Feb 22, 2008 Arthur rated it 3 of 5 stars

Korda's 700 page biography of Dwight Eisenhower. Smart move in starting the story with the D-Day invasion of Europe in 1944. Ike's great strengths were that he was a superb staff officer, superb at logistics, and superb at gaining the recognition of senior officers without being a suck-up.

The book appears to have been dictated by Korda, since it's written in a conversational style. It would have been better with more editing, leaving a 500 page book. As an example, Korda repeats some anecdotes,...more

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Jan 18, 2008 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

“I like Ike” as his campaign buttons proclaimed, I’ve always liked Ike, and I liked this Ike.
Michael Korda did not have the benefit of the “hundreds and hundreds of hours” of conversation with Eisenhower that Stephen Ambrose, the elite of Eisenhower biographers, enjoyed but this is a valid and very decent addition to the memory of a great man.
While writing this I remembered that when Ambrose wrote his three volume biography of Nixon, which stretched over a ten year period, Nixon never granted h...more “I like Ike” as his campaign buttons proclaimed, I’ve always liked Ike, and I liked this Ike.
Michael Korda did not have the benefit of the “hundreds and hundreds of hours” of conversation with Eisenhower that Stephen Ambrose, the elite of Eisenhower biographers, enjoyed but this is a valid and very decent addition to the memory of a great man.
While writing this I remembered that when Ambrose wrote his three volume biography of Nixon, which stretched over a ten year period, Nixon never granted him a single interview during those ten years. And biographies, usually, are written that way anyway.
Korda’s smooth and comfortable writing style, despite the length, almost renders this a quick read. Eisenhower, with all the rich material available including the multiple personalities involved, continues to be an enlightening and enduring subject for a reader.
Nevertheless, I am puzzled with the abrupt conclusion. It appears that Korda ran out of gas and decided to stop writing once he arrived at the White House years; the last 89 pages merely recite a very broad view. Or was he inviting us to contemplate events at a higher level without the formality of the written word?
Eisenhower’s White House years are fertile territory in our national history where we begin to reluctantly surrender our past and launch to an uncertain and new future. He was the last President born in the 19th Century, was indeed a unique figure and resided at the apex of this momentous cultural and world change. Supreme Allied Commander in command of an Armed Force of nearly three million men, connecting with every significant world leader of the time and concluding as President of the United States. He was the linchpin of the swing to the future in the 20th Century and was a man that could recognize the ominous dangers that lurked ahead. Dutifully, at the end of his public service, he warned us of these perils in his Presidential Farewell Address. I may be looking a bit beyond the contents of this book……perhaps, but deservedly so.
Truly, Ike was an American Hero!

(less)

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Jan 02, 2009 George Mead rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

One of the best biographies i have ever read. This is a remarkably well written biography about a remarkable man. Eisenhower and his life are living proof that "many are called but few are chosen". Eisenhower was chosen and had rare foresight, intelligence not only to make war but to keep the peace, both of which he did with extraordinary vision and patience, often dealing with people like Monty and Patton, who would have tested a saint.

A book with lessons for living and for our times.

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Jun 02, 2009 AuthorsOnTourLive! rated it 5 of 5 stars

New York Times bestselling author Michael Korda's books include Horse People, Country Matters, Ulysses S. Grant, and Charmed Lives. Korda's newest book Ike, is a big, ambitious, and enthralling new biography of Dwight D. Eisenhower is full of fascinating details and anecdotes, which place particular emphasis on his brilliant generalship and leadership in World War Two. It also provides, with the advantage of hindsight, a far more acute analysis of Ike's character and personality than any that ha...more

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Nov 06, 2009 Matt rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you like military history this book is for you. It depicts the life and struggles of one of the greatest American generals who ever lived. The book covers all the American involved theaters of WWII and shows how an ambitious person like Ike ended up going to West Point, being one of the few five star generals of the United States, and eventually, a twice elected U.S. President.

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Dec 05, 2009 Mk100 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history-biography

A breezy, easy read of the life of a much-admired man. Most of this will be familar to regular history readers. But Korda has a good eye for the telling anecdote, and I can just picture scenes he's painted carefully, like when a young Ike and Patton literally took apart a tank together and rebuilt it to fully understand how it worked.

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Oct 20, 2009 Alvin added it · review of another edition

Very well written and Eisenhower has a very compelling story. The bulk of the book is spent on his upbringing/childhood and his tenure as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces. Very little of the book is spent on his Presidency and for a fuller biograhical account, I suggest Stephen Ambrose's biography. Alvin

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Dec 17, 2011 Sue Seckinger added it

So much time spent on the war and little time on the presidency. I guess that says either where the author's interests lie or that Ike was a much greater military man than president. Also, time spent on his childhood, but little to nothing about his child and his family?????

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Aug 30, 2009 Dennis rated it 5 of 5 stars

A very balanced accounting of Dwight David Eisenhower's life from childhood to the Presidency. The interfaces with men such as Patton, Montgomery, Churchill and others make the accounting even more interesting. Ike was the right man at the right time in our country's history.

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Aug 24, 2012 Donnie Reeves added it

We no longer have true American Heroes but this gentleman was all that and then some. He had several misgivingss caused by the ugly and deadly war but most of his men loved him and his homeland adored him. I thoroughly enjoyed finding out much more about THE GENERAL.

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Aug 24, 2012 Robert Edmondson rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love histories. Such a personal account of what was going on in the life Ike kept me glued to the pages. He gave so much to America and others around the globe that love freedom. A full life of service dedicated to his country and his fellow man. A great read!

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Jun 21, 2012 Bonnie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Korda taught me about about Eisenhower, the man, through the illumination of a complex piece of history, and Ike's place as well as the US's in it, as he informed his audience about WWII, the origin of the global community and our nation arrived as it is today.

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Dec 12, 2008 Frances rated it 5 of 5 stars

The background on Ike's life prior to D-Day made me feel he was being trained to meet his destiny at D-Day. America owes so much to this great man. His attention to detail, planning,discipline,and diplomatic skills came together in a truly great person.

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/575506.Ike?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348567648l/575506.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/575506.Ike?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Ike: An American Hero by Michael Korda[/url]

Ike: An American Hero

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Ike: An American Hero

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Books by Michael Korda

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