Richard Nixon was a young Navy officer when he first saw Dwight D.
Eisenhower through a storm of tickertape as Manhattan celebrated the end
of the war in Europe. Seven years later, Nixon was Eisenhower's running
mate on the Republican presidential ticket—the beginning of a political
and personal relationship that lasted for nearly twenty years. Despite a
gulf that separated them by age and temperament, their association
evolved into a collaboration that helped to shape the nation's political
ideology, foreign policy, and domestic goals, from civil rights to the
civilian space program.
Ike and Dick relates much
that occurred out of public view, such as the sensitive discussions
among senior staffers concerned about Nixon's proper role when
Eisenhower suffered illnesses that might have incapacitated him. Based
on deep archival research and interviews with dozens of men and women
who knew and worked with both men, including family members, it offers
fresh views of Nixon, the striving tactician, and the legendary general,
a distant man with a warm smile who could, and did, make Nixon's life
miserable.
In rediscovering the circle that surrounded
them and a cast that includes Billy Graham, Senator Joseph McCarthy,
Martin Luther King Jr., powerful newspaper columnists, early television
personalities, and even the chilly young adman H.R. Haldeman, Ike and Dick provides an intimate view of America during the Cold War and of two men whose influence has never waned.
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"This book was a really interesting read. I think there was some bias towards Nixon on the part of Frank, which didn't really bother me, but it would be interesting to get more of the details about why Eisenhower waffled so much on Nixon. But all in all, very informative and well-written."
—
Davida (4 out of 5 stars)