Letters to Mamie

by Dwight D. Eisenhower, John S.D. Eisenhower

Hardcover has minimal surface, edge and corner wear. Hardcover has minimal surface wear, edge and corner wear. Second cover page has inscription, handwritten, "Amemorable trip to gettysburg with...". All pages intact, no rips, tears, notes, etc.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Presidents, Biography, American History

277 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1978

About the author

Dwight David Eisenhower, born David Dwight Eisenhower, nicknamed "Ike", was a General of the Army (five star general) in the United States Army and U.S. politician, who served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States (1953 – 1961). During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944-45. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.

As President, he oversaw the cease-fire of the Korean War, kept up the pressure on the Soviet Union during the Cold War, made nuclear weapons a higher defense priority, launched the Space Race, enlarged the Social Security program, and began the Interstate Highway System.

Reviews

[Marti]

More letters.

Had to read this after reading "Mrs. Ike."

[Jeremy Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day are rarely attached at the flanks of a long weekend, but I seized the opportunity to pull "Letters to Mamie" down from a personal library of nearly 300 presidential books, a loving, if one-sided correspondence between General Eisenhower and his wife of more than 25 years during World War II, while he was commanding multiple fronts. There's no question it would have helped to have Mamie's letters coupled together with the future president, but what we do have, through his eyes, is a deeper insight into the struggles of a marriage at a distance, nearly three years apart. The loneliness on both ends. The awkwardness of written flirtation. The many attempts to remember what was, in the hope of what may still be. Unable to recount the details of his plans or his movements through the field of war, Eisenhower uses his letters to instead highlight his love for her, his love for their son, and his longing to be home, quiet, away from it all. Still, you can't help but see his looming ambition as a leader, despite his many attempts at deflection, as if the attention or the adulation were of no interest to him. Eisenhower was clearly a man who relished in both, in peace and in conflict.

[Shirin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished Letters to Mamie. It was slow reading but I liked it for two reasons. It exemplified the love that can exist between two people even after being apart for over under three years. He was so devoted to his wife. He always expressed such love and concern for her in every letter assuring her of his loyalty. And secondly,I never realized how compassionate and sensitive Eisenhower was as he was such an amazing military man.Tough, yet kind especially in his empathy for his men. He never forgot the guys on the battle front. He had such integrity and seemed very unassuming. I like IKE after having read this very slow book.

[Patrick Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book a slow read, letter books to be usually are. They are very personal and offer a lot of insight into people but they tend to read very slow because you are on the outside trying to read into some things you don't know about and the ones you know about are plodding along.

I found this book interesting but I'm not sure I would say it was good. Ike's letters to Mamie when they were apart and he was fighting the war in Europe show love and devotion however it is fairly well known by folks that were in his theater of operations that he was having an affair with his personal secretary.