Eisenhower

Rating:
Summary: Bland, a disappointment, but useful
Review: Rather colorless writing, not even up to his earlier bio of MacArthur, but useful never the less, largely because of the interview material from John Eisenhower. Some new light on the relationship with MacArthur, very little new from the WWII period, and not up to the Ambrose study of the presidential years. In short, just not very original; he even closes the last paragraph as Ike dies almost verbatim from Ambrose's bio.Perhaps I have a somewhat jaded view here because I had a number of rather lengthy personal conversations with Eisenhower after he left the Presidency and I remember much more color and personality than this book portrays. It wont add very much to the story of one of the finest men of this sad century.One final comment: the Kirkus reviewer refers to the Eisenhower presidency as "mediocre." That is a comment in nitwiteracy and any historian today worth his salt would make a mockery of it.

Rating:
Summary: Readable and interesting
Review: This biography, written with an obvious affection for its subject, focuses largely on Ike's activities in WWII and immediately after. I would have liked a little more about his early life - Perret uses only about 1/5th of the book to get to Ike as a senior officer preparing for US entry into the war in 1940. That was, after all, the first 50 years of his life. By moving through them so quickly, I don't think that Perret gives as much insight as he could into the man.

The war years and just after are covered well. Perret gives sketches of the other major figures Ike dealt with. MacArthur is portayed as an egomaniac and comes off rather badly; Patton and Marshall are seen more positively. Perret is rough on Ike's alleged lover, Kay Summers, who he concludes lied, but he's roughest of all on Bernard Montgomery, who is presented as insubordinate, afraid to commit troops to battle, and incompetent to use them properly when he does. I don't recall anything positive that Perret has to say about Monty.

The post-war years are interesting, but I was not really satisfied with the coverage of the Presidential years. The story hits the main points - Little Rock, the Sherman Adams scandal, the Checkers speech, Sputnik, the U2 incident, but doesn't give enough of an insider perspective to give any new insight on most of them. One thing that is covered fairly thoroughly, and the only real surprise I got from this section, is finding out how weak Ike was in standing up to McCarthyism, even when McCarthy and his supporters went after Ike's old friend George Marshall.

In summary, this is hardly a great biography, but it is easy to read despite the considearable size, and has enough value that you'll get a good return for the time spent reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Readable and interesting
Review: This biography, written with an obvious affection for its subject, focuses largely on Ike's activities in WWII and immediately after. I would have liked a little more about his early life - Perret uses only about 1/5th of the book to get to Ike as a senior officer preparing for US entry into the war in 1940. That was, after all, the first 50 years of his life. By moving through them so quickly, I don't think that Perret gives as much insight as he could into the man.

The war years and just after are covered well. Perret gives sketches of the other major figures Ike dealt with. MacArthur is portayed as an egomaniac and comes off rather badly; Patton and Marshall are seen more positively. Perret is rough on Ike's alleged lover, Kay Summers, who he concludes lied, but he's roughest of all on Bernard Montgomery, who is presented as insubordinate, afraid to commit troops to battle, and incompetent to use them properly when he does. I don't recall anything positive that Perret has to say about Monty.

The post-war years are interesting, but I was not really satisfied with the coverage of the Presidential years. The story hits the main points - Little Rock, the Sherman Adams scandal, the Checkers speech, Sputnik, the U2 incident, but doesn't give enough of an insider perspective to give any new insight on most of them. One thing that is covered fairly thoroughly, and the only real surprise I got from this section, is finding out how weak Ike was in standing up to McCarthyism, even when McCarthy and his supporters went after Ike's old friend George Marshall.

In summary, this is hardly a great biography, but it is easy to read despite the considearable size, and has enough value that you'll get a good return for the time spent reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Worth reading...
Review: This book has earned the mixed reviews that it has received, both here and elsewhere. It's not the last word in Ike bios. But I found some insights here that I had not read elsewhere (and I've read most of the standard works.)

I think that the influence of Fox Conner is somewhat understated, and there's not enough here on Ike's dealings with Marshall before going to Europe. But the relationship with MacArthur was covered well. I enjoyed it. It compares well with Miller's biography, but the standard work remains S. Ambrose 2 volumes.

Someone needs to do a study on the influence of Fox Conner on WWII generals. He was a major influence on Marshall, Patton and Ike, as well as a key officer in the AEF in WWI.

Rating:
Summary: Worth reading...
Review: This book has earned the mixed reviews that it has received, both here and elsewhere. It's not the last word in Ike bios. But I found some insights here that I had not read elsewhere (and I've read most of the standard works.)

I think that the influence of Fox Conner is somewhat understated, and there's not enough here on Ike's dealings with Marshall before going to Europe. But the relationship with MacArthur was covered well. I enjoyed it. It compares well with Miller's biography, but the standard work remains S. Ambrose 2 volumes.

Someone needs to do a study on the influence of Fox Conner on WWII generals. He was a major influence on Marshall, Patton and Ike, as well as a key officer in the AEF in WWI.

Rating:
Summary: OK Biography
Review: This effort was not on the par with the authors other biographies. There were errors(Hitler committed suicide on April 30 not May 3) and after a great deal of discussion about Ike and Patton, old blood and guts simply vanishes. I would have like more about Eisenhower and the concentration camps as well. Overall, this was an Ok attempt

Rating:
Summary: Sloppy writing; shallow thinking
Review: This is a pedestrian narrative that focuses on what "Ike" DID rather than who he WAS. Relationships with Patton, MacArthur, Roosevelt and Churchill -- and Mamie -- are reported incoherently and the "did they or didn't they" discussion of Eisenhower's relationship with Kay Summersby reads like a bad National Enquirer piece. In sum, if you like the kind of biography written by Ambrose and Manchester you will be disappointed with Perrett's Eisenhower.

Rating:
Summary: Abysmal
Review: This is a truly poor book, filled with errors and mistakes. There is abslolutely no new information or any new insights into Ike. I was greatly disappointed in the lack of research and the sloppy writing.

Rating:
Summary: Mixed opinion about this book
Review: This is the first biography I've read about Eisenhower and I'm not exactly an expert on World War II, so I really cannot comment on the degree to which the author does or does not offer new information. As my first biography on Eisenhower, Perret did an excellent job of elevating the former president's reputation in my own mind. In school, I was taught that, "...the American people believed that all Eisenhower did while president was play golf. They were right." After reading Perret's biography, I can see that this is clearly untrue. Eisenhower played a great role in the early years of the Cold War. Furthermore, unlike some of the men who became president after him, Eisenhower had a good understanding of world events, a vision of the United States' role in the world (esp. relations with the USSR), and went about making that vision a reality. The narrative, for the most part, flowed. However, there were several times in the book when I had to stop, shake my head a little and re-read a paragraph just to make sure I read an odd statement correctly as Perret makes some very odd remarks in this book. For instance, he advances the notion that General Marshall (of Marshall Plan fame) might have been gay; he laments the fact that Dwight and his son John S.D. Eisenhower never shared father-son moments such as urinating together; Eisenhower becomes angry because Russian ICBMs are larger than American ICBMs "like a man becomes upset when comparing his penis to another man's to find that the other man's penis is larger." Statements like this detract from the book rather than illuminate the facts. Overall, the book was very much worth my time, but I'm sure there are better Eisenhower biographies out there.

Rating:
Summary: Truly outstanding
Review: This latest biography of Eisenhower adds depth and understanding to this very complex man. His role as supreme commander in the European Theatre and as president is extremely well researched and well written. The character and foibles of the generals around Ike are presented in such a way that the reader feels he is in the same room. An excellent read.