Eisenhower
The White House Years
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Narrated by:
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John H. Mayer
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By:
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Jim Newton
About this listen
If you think of our 34th president as little more than the babysitter-in-chief during the prosperous fifties, think again. Dwight Eisenhower was bequeathed an atomic bomb and was the first American president not to use it. He ground down Joseph McCarthy and McCarthyism until both became, as he said, “McCarthywasm”. He stimulated the economy to lift it from recession, built an interstate highway system, and, for good measure, turned an $8-billion deficit in 1953 into a $500-million surplus in 1960. (Ike was the last president until Bill Clinton to leave his country in the black.)
The President Eisenhower of popular imagination is a benign figure, armed with a putter and little else. The Eisenhower of veteran journalist Jim Newton’s rendering is shrewd, sentimental, and tempestuous. He mourned the death of his first son and doted on his grandchildren but could, one aide recalled, “peel the varnish off a desk” with his temper. Mocked as a blunderbuss, he was in fact a meticulous manager. Admired as a general, he was a champion of peace. In Korea and Vietnam, in Quemoy and Berlin, his generals urged him to wage nuclear war. Time and again, he considered and rejected it. And it was Eisenhower who appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren and who enforced desegregation in the schools.
Rare interviews with John Eisenhower, along with access to newly declassified documents, make for a gripping and revealing narrative.
©2011 Jim Newton (P)2011 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Gently In Manner, Strongly In Deed...
- By Gillian on 01-20-17
By: Bret Baier, and others
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Those Angry Days
- Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America's Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941
- By: Lynne Olson
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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At the center of the debate over American intervention in World War II stood the two most famous men in America: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who championed the interventionist cause, and aviator Charles Lindbergh, who as unofficial leader and spokesman for America's isolationists emerged as the president's most formidable adversary. Their contest of wills personified the divisions within the country at large, and Lynne Olson makes masterly use of their dramatic personal stories to create a poignant and riveting narrative.
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Incivility in Politics - A Real Shocker!
- By Carole T. on 04-24-13
By: Lynne Olson
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The Presidents Club
- Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity
- By: Nancy Gibbs, Michael Duffy
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 22 hrs
- Unabridged
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The Presidents Club was born at Eisenhower’s inauguration when Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover first conceived the idea. Over the years that followed - and to this day - the presidents relied on, misunderstood, sabotaged, and formed alliances with one another that changed history. The world’s most exclusive fraternity is a complicated place: its members are bound forever because they sat in the Oval Office and know its secrets, yet they are immortal rivals for history’s favor.
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Engaging subject, but fact-checking needed
- By loix on 04-25-12
By: Nancy Gibbs, and others
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LBJ's 1968
- Power, Politics, and the Presidency in America's Year of Upheaval
- By: Kyle Longley
- Narrated by: Paul Brion
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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1968 was an unprecedented year in terms of upheaval on numerous scales: political, military, economic, social, cultural. In the United States, perhaps no one was more undone by the events of 1968 than President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Kyle Longley leads his listeners on a behind-the-scenes tour of what Johnson characterized as the 'year of a continuous nightmare'. Longley explores how LBJ perceived the most significant events of 1968, including the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy, and the violent Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
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Worst year in my lifetime - LBJ tragedy of his own making - but not according to this Author.
- By charles wartelle on 05-17-19
By: Kyle Longley
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Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher
- A Political Marriage
- By: Nicholas Wapshott
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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It is well known that Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were close allies and kindred political spirits. During their eight overlapping years in office, the U.S. president and the U.K. prime minister worked together to promote lower taxes, deregulation, free trade, and an aggressive stance against the Soviet Union. But according to Nicholas Wapshott, the Reagan/Thatcher relationship was much deeper than an alliance of mutual interests.
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A Better Half
- By peter on 06-01-11
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Bush
- By: Jean Edward Smith
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 25 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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In Bush, Jean Edward Smith demonstrates that it was not Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, or Condoleezza Rice, but President Bush himself who took personal control of foreign policy. Bush drew on his deep religious conviction that important foreign-policy decisions were simply a matter of good versus evil. Domestically, he overreacted to 9/11 and endangered Americans' civil liberties.
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Delusions of Competence
- By Rick on 11-18-16
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The Restless Wave
- Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations
- By: John McCain, Mark Salter
- Narrated by: John McCain, Beau Bridges
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In a time when Washington, DC and the country are more polarized than they have been for decades, John McCain is the rare public figure who has earned the respect of people on both sides of the aisle. He is a model for bipartisanship and political integrity. In his 40 years in politics, McCain has never been afraid to buck trends or ruffle a few feathers. His words are more important today than ever.
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A true patriot
- By Diane Peresie on 05-29-18
By: John McCain, and others
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Ministers at War
- Winston Churchill and His War Cabinet
- By: Jonathan Schneer
- Narrated by: Matthew Brenher
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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In May 1940, with France on the verge of defeat, Britain alone stood in the path of the Nazi military juggernaut. Survival seemed to hinge on the leadership of Winston Churchill, whom the king reluctantly appointed prime minister as Germany invaded France. Churchill's reputation as one of the great 20th-century leaders would be forged during the coming months and years as he worked tirelessly first to rally his country and then to defeat Hitler.
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Welcome addition to the literature of World War II
- By Mike From Mesa on 05-02-15
By: Jonathan Schneer
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Counselor
- A Life at the Edge of History
- By: Ted Sorensen
- Narrated by: Ted Sorensen
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Abridged
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Ted Sorensen, John F. Kennedy's closest advisor, recounts in full, for the first time, his experience counseling Kennedy through some of the most dramatic moments in American history. Rising from legislative assistant to speechwriter and advisor, the young lawyer from Nebraska worked closely with JFK on his most important speeches, as well as his book Profiles in Courage. Sorensen encouraged the junior senator's political ambitions and was later named special counsel to the president.
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Rare Insight
- By Robert on 05-10-08
By: Ted Sorensen
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The Hopkins Touch
- By: David Roll
- Narrated by: Fleet Cooper
- Length: 18 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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The Hopkins Touch offers the first portrait in over two decades of the most powerful man in Roosevelt's administration. David Roll shows how Harry Hopkins, an Iowa-born social worker who had been an integral part of the New Deal's implementation, became the linchpin in FDR's - and America's - relationships with Churchill and Stalin, and spoke with an authority second only to the president's.
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Hopkins - the glue of the tripartite coalition
- By Chrissie on 05-19-13
By: David Roll
What listeners say about Eisenhower
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Erich
- 10-16-17
Smooth the rough edges
Every biographer seems to fall in love with their subject. Any of their blemishes are smooth off their failings explained away. This book is no exception but it still seems a worthwhile chronicle of Eisenhower's life and presidential years.
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- Dot Wilson
- 03-06-22
This is an important book.
Every American should read this book. The narration was extremely good. Histrical and important.
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- Timothy Flynn
- 02-12-23
Great leader….perhaps not as great as author wished
Seems a little too one sided, not critical enough.. I think it needs more balance.
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- Caleb
- 12-03-12
Historically in-depth with a nice flow
The book dives into interesting details of Eisenhowers and attempts to give you a glimpse into his thought process. I enjoyed book and felt like I knew more about the man after reading it.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jackson R.
- 02-01-18
No complaints!
Excellent overview of the life and presidency of one of the most under rated US Presidents. Would recommend to anyone interested
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1 person found this helpful
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- Ray
- 11-12-11
A simpler time?
Straightforward account of Eisenhower’s White House years. Pleasant narration. Not nearly as deep (or as long) as the Truman biography, this book provides some insight into Eisenhower’s beliefs and management style. He was a leader, not a politician. He seems to have taken an active role in international diplomacy, an area in which he had much experience. But in the case of domestic issues he relied on the advice of his staff. He was not an active promoter of civil rights, but when his Supreme Court made it the law of the land, Eisenhower provided the leadership to get it done.
We tend to think of the 50s as a simple, harmonious time – but it was anything but that. If there is nostalgia for this time, it is for the type of leader who seeks office not for self-serving purposes, but because he believes he can help shape a better nation. We could use that today.
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5 people found this helpful
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- jack lichtenstein
- 12-27-15
I like Ike
This book outlines in intricate details the day to day workings of the 8 years of the Eisenhower presidency. The impression of him as a kindly but muddled godfather does not wash. He was a brilliant, detail oriented president who knew every detail of the White House and its workings. He placed his stamp on every detail. He took immense pride in his accomplishments. During his tenure, there were no wars despite ample opportunities and only one American soldier died on foreign soil. He balanced the budget and kept the American economy stable. Although he did not overtly support civil rights, he named 5 liberal judges to the supreme court, forcing the end of segregation and the liberalization of racial relations. He was supremely confident and had few regrets or second thoughts. Eisenhower and Washington stand out as the two warrior presidents and patriots in our History. We miss him and will probably never have another president of his caliber.
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4 people found this helpful
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- JK
- 11-21-17
Awful narration ruins a good read
I just finished the audio on Eisenhower's war years, The Supreme Commander by Stephen Ambrose, a real masterpiece. This book of the presidential years seemed like a logical followup. What a disappointment!
First, the level of scholarship is far below Ambrose's work. It is much more general, lacking detail and documentation that the length of the audio implied.
Worse, this is one of the most irritating audio narrators I've heard in 30+ years of audio books. What a mismatch! This man sounds like what we used to hear in dog food commercials on TV. He spends so much effort trying to put emotion in his voice that it eds up negating the gravity of some very trying times during Ike's administration. I skipped hours of this book in an effort to learn something new about these years while minimizing the goofy narration.
A real disappointment. There are other, better books on Eisenhower with more complete information. Every other audio on Ike is bound to be read by better than this narrator.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Larsk034
- 01-28-20
Book is Incorrectly Titled
"The White House Years"????
Why am I over an hour in and the story is NOWHERE near the White House?
I want to know about President Eisenhower - not General Eisenhower. Important parts of his life can woven into the story of his presidency, but I am WAY too far into this book and it has NOTHING to do with the "White House Years".
***3 hours in...finally elected. Please change the title of this book***
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