Overview
"The 34th president of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower won over Americans with his irresistible "I like Ike" slogan and brought to the presidency his prestige as a commanding general during World War II. Eisenhower worked diligently during his two terms to ease the tensions of the cold war. Pursuing the moderate policies of "modern Republicanism," he left a legacy of a stronger and more powerful nation." The Eisenhower Years focuses on the administration of President Eisenhower and includes a section of more than 500 entries covering all the key personalities of the era. In addition, there is a chronology of contemporary events; a sizable appendix that includes important documents, such as inaugural addresses and presidential speeches; tables listing the members of the White House staff, cabinet members, members of Congress and the Senate; and more.
Synopsis
"The 34th president of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower won over Americans with his irresistible "I like Ike" slogan and brought to the presidency his prestige as a commanding general during World War II. Eisenhower worked diligently during his two terms to ease the tensions of the cold war. Pursuing the moderate policies of "modern Republicanism," he left a legacy of a stronger and more powerful nation." The Eisenhower Years focuses on the administration of President Eisenhower and includes a section of more than 500 entries covering all the key personalities of the era. In addition, there is a chronology of contemporary events; a sizable appendix that includes important documents, such as inaugural addresses and presidential speeches; tables listing the members of the White House staff, cabinet members, members of Congress and the Senate; and more.
Library Journal
Part of Facts On File's "Presidential Profiles" series, this volume is primarily made up of A-to-Z biographical entries on 500 prominent individuals who served in the Eisenhower administration (e.g., John Foster Dulles) or in Congress or state government (e.g., Sen. Joe McCarthy and Gov. Orval Faubus) during Eisenhower's administration or who achieved fame in fields like the media, academia, and civil rights (e.g., David Sarnoff, Seymour Martin Lipset, and Roy Wilkins) during the same period. The work also features a useful chronology of the Eisenhower years and a listing of cabinet and sub-cabinet officials, members of Congress, and governors. The section of selected primary documents encompasses Eisenhower's speeches on the military-industrial complex and the Little Rock integration crisis. Written by a scholar of the Eisenhower presidency, this work contains much interesting information, including a fine introductory essay on the era. But one wonders whether anyone would think to consult this book for biographical information when probably much more is available in the highly respected American National Biography Online, published by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies. BOTTOM LINE Readers wanting a panoptic view of the era might look for popular and well-regarded narratives such as David Halberstam's The Fifties or Taylor Branch's Parting the Waters. Nevertheless, Mayer's "pointillist history of the 1950s" is recommended for larger public and academic collections.—Donald Altschiller, Boston Univ. Libs.