Rating: 
Summary: Biased, but wonderfully readable
Review: Ambrose edited the Eisenhower Papers project for many years and finally turned his talents on writing a large-scale biography of Ike. The Ike opus is infinitely superior to Ambrose's earlier biography on Henry Halleck and his research and knowledge about Ike is obvious throughout.The only "criticism" I have is that Ambrose is blatantly biased in Ike's favor and makes no bones about it. The first words in his introduction are, 'Dwight Eisenhower was a great and a good man," which is undoubtedly true, but a biographer should take more pains to disguise their own feelings. There is very little criticism of Ike in Ambrose's work, which borders on the hagiography. Perhaps a bit more of Harry Truman's invective towards Eisenhower could have infused these pages. Still, Ambrose is a wonderful writer and his works are always fun to read and informative. This is still the definitive look at Eisenhower, even if it is a completely uncritical examination.
Rating: 
Summary: Eisenhower: A Very Brief Overview
Review: Ambrose writes a book worthy of an eighth-grade primer. An overview of Eisenhower's life and major accomplishments, however, lacking much of any in-depth substance. For instance, Eisenhower had a number of very complex and intriguing relationships throughout his life with people such as his brother Edgar, General Marshall and General Patton. Yet, Ambrose barely mentions his caustic relationship with Edgar, references Marshall just once after WWII and gives no insight to the deep and convoluted relationship with Patton. In fact, Eisenhower's reaction to Patton's death isn't even mentioned. I found D'este's book much deeper and insightful. It only deals with Eisenhower's life up to the end of WWII (which I found unfortunate) but is well written and extremely descriptive, even for a biography.
Rating:
Summary: Eisenhower: A Very Brief Overview
Review: Ambrose writes a book worthy of an eighth-grade primer. An overview of Eisenhower's life and major accomplishments, however, lacking much of any in-depth substance. For instance, Eisenhower had a number of very complex and intriguing relationships throughout his life with people such as his brother Edgar, General Marshall and General Patton. Yet, Ambrose barely mentions his caustic relationship with Edgar, references Marshall just once after WWII and gives no insight to the deep and convoluted relationship with Patton. In fact, Eisenhower's reaction to Patton's death isn't even mentioned. I found D'este's book much deeper and insightful. It only deals with Eisenhower's life up to the end of WWII (which I found unfortunate) but is well written and extremely descriptive, even for a biography.
Rating:
Summary: A better general than president.
Review: But he was ok as president realizing than in his own sphere of influence you have more power as general than president. Steve Ambrose has done a skillful job condensing two volumes into one. I'm not sure what he left out. Having read "At Ease" written by Ike just before the presidency & "At War" written by his grandson this book dwelt on his presidency. Although it is a whole life biography there is not a lot of attention spent on his greatest accomplishment in life: Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe.
The image of Ike as a do nothing golfer is changing. While there was relative calm at home he was in his element dealing with international affairs. This required a disipline & organized mind, so in that sense his military background served him well. His political instincts were good & he did not rush to judgement. Stevenson looked foolish running against him but how could have anyone have beaten him? He virtually ignored McCarthy & he eventually self destructed.
In race relations he was lost & did a poor job. He could have done more to advance civil rights but he merely enforced the law. Ambrose goes into some detail on how he basically managed the "cold war". That it did not become hot is an accomplishment. You don"t get credit for bad things that never happen. The most unfortunate event of his administration was the U-2 that was shot down over the Soviet Union. Ike was striving for a nuclear test ban treaty that was to be the capstone of his career. Ambrose was a well known cheer-leader for Eisenhower but takes the reader through the painful cover-up that ensued. A sorry chapter in the saddest year of his presidency & the last. Ike wasn't comfortable with Nixon as the Republican canidate for president in 1960 but except for Rockefeller there wasn"t anyone else. He disliked JFK but his less than whole hearted support for Nixon may have cost him the election. This was a surprise admission of the author near the end of the book.
That he ranks in the top third of all out presidents is probably a fair accessment.
Rating:
Summary: A better general than president.
Review: But he was ok as president realizing than in his own sphere of influence you have more power as general than president. Steve Ambrose has done a skillful job condensing two volumes into one. I'm not sure what he left out. Having read "At Ease" written by Ike just before the presidency & "At War" written by his grandson this book dwelt on his presidency. Although it is a whole life biography there is not a lot of attention spent on his greatest accomplishment in life: Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe.
The image of Ike as a do nothing golfer is changing. While there was relative calm at home he was in his element dealing with international affairs. This required a disipline & organized mind, so in that sense his military background served him well. His political instincts were good & he did not rush to judgement. Stevenson looked foolish running against him but how could have anyone have beaten him? He virtually ignored McCarthy & he eventually self destructed.
In race relations he was lost & did a poor job. He could have done more to advance civil rights but he merely enforced the law. Ambrose goes into some detail on how he basically managed the "cold war". That it did not become hot is an accomplishment. You don"t get credit for bad things that never happen. The most unfortunate event of his administration was the U-2 that was shot down over the Soviet Union. Ike was striving for a nuclear test ban treaty that was to be the capstone of his career. Ambrose was a well known cheer-leader for Eisenhower but takes the reader through the painful cover-up that ensued. A sorry chapter in the saddest year of his presidency & the last. Ike wasn't comfortable with Nixon as the Republican canidate for president in 1960 but except for Rockefeller there wasn"t anyone else. He disliked JFK but his less than whole hearted support for Nixon may have cost him the election. This was a surprise admission of the author near the end of the book.
That he ranks in the top third of all out presidents is probably a fair accessment.
Rating: 
Summary: Ambrose's labor of love
Review: Dwight Eisenhower helped make Stephen Ambrose's career as a historian after reading the author's biography of the obscure Henry Halleck. Ambrose repays the debt in spades with this well written authoritative account of Eisenhower's life. This is history writing at its most readable. Ambrose portrays Ike as a genuine American hero, but does not ignore the negative, such as his suspected affair during World War. Most importantly, this is a book for readers who do not want to get bogged down in the minutia surrounding every event in Eisenhower's life. What you get is a good overview, detailed enough to give a good portrait of the man behind the legend.
Rating:
Summary: A nice condensed edition of a remarkable life
Review: Dwight Eisenhower is one of the great American historical figures of the 20th century. Stephen Ambrose - one of Ike's primary biographers - is one of the great American historians of the 20th century. Put the two together, and the expected result is a great book. Mostly, this expectation was fulfilled. I must admit to being somewhat partial to Mr. Ambrose's work. I read a tremendous amount of historical pieces, and his always rates very high with me for sheer readability, quality presentation, and non-revisionist sense of writing. I try very hard to not let this "bias" affect my reviews; however, when you write so well time and time again, it is hard not to become a big fan of any author. I noted some earlier reviews where people wanted more "meat" out of this book. These people failed to note in the introduction that the book was a condensed edition of the multi-volume work Mr. Ambrose wrote several years before this. It is impossible to not be "lean" in some areas - as one reviewer put it - when there is so much material to draw from and only one book to put it in. I will concede that a few of the "lean" portions are a drawback in this book, but given the nature of the beast, it is a minor nuisance. Eisenhower's life in the military and the presidency are remarkable in that both facets affect government and the military to this day. From a political standpoint, it is almost amusing to read of the strong similarity of the issues (and solutions to them) from his time and now. Issues like the balanced budget, defense spending, etc, were all things Ike coped with then. The arguments on both sides in the '50's are so much like today's that if it were possible to transport Ike to the year 2000, he wouldn't miss a beat! Having read large portions of Mr. Ambrose's multi-volume set in the course of study for research papers, I commend him for being able to condense it all down into this one book. Mr. Ambrose's prose usually flows so smoothly, but this book is an exception. However, it's choppiness in places is really to be expected in the process that spawned this book. It is still highly readable for virtually all audiences, and is a worthwhile read to gain some knowledge of the remarkable man that Dwight Eisenhower was.
Rating:
Summary: Concise and captivating
Review: Eisenhower is one of the greatest leaders of our century. Ambrose really gives you the details without boring, and mundane facts. Feel what is must have been like to plan the D-Day invasion, and then deal with the Cold War. Eisenhower was a masterful leader often practicing Carnegie principles to motivate his people. Charismatic, and brilliant, people instinctively followed him. Ambrose does an awesome job of putting us in Ike's shoes.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: Having authored several related books, including the popular books on WWII: D Day & Citizen Soldiers, Ambrose reveals extensive research on President Eisenhower. He captures the essence of his life and, moreover, a lifetime of contributions to our nation & its peace and prosperity. Thorougly researched, informative, this book is an easy read that's packed with information about this general turned President.
Rating:
Summary: Absorbing and Balanced Account
Review: I admit a favorable bias toward anything Ambrose writes. True to form, this biogrpahy is meticulously researched and detailed. It is a fascinating account of a true American hero whose military genius and grit is sadly no longer talked or written about nearly enough. What most impressed me about this book, however, is that Ambrose the Ike admirer didn't get in the way of Ambrose the historian. He describes with the same detail as Ike's successes the many poor and disappointing decisions that Ike made in his miltiary and politcal career. This biography is simply suberb.
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