IT HAS LONG BEEN ASSERTED that Eisenhower swept into the White House as the 34th president on a wave of personal popularity rather than for any set of ideas or policies. Certainly Eisenhower was popular, universally known and admired for his war service. Yet in the election of 1952 he did not rely on his reputation as an apolitical soldier to stay above the fray of the campaign. Quite the opposite. Rather than playing it safe, rising above faction and controversy, coasting on his name recognition, Eisenhower jumped into the mess of electoral politics with gusto.
