In reality, Eisenhower was a savvy political operator, the possessor of what his vice president, Richard Nixon, termed, with no little admiration, a “devious mind.” Well aware of the enormous political advantage that his military pedigree conferred on him, Eisenhower was content to follow what scholars later called a “hidden-hand” political strategy. In the campaign, this meant taking the high road and letting others make the most strident attacks on the Democrats and their candidate Adlai E. Stevenson. It was Nixon—who seemed to relish taking the low road—who saddled Stevenson, an ardent Cold
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