Book Review: Ike’s Bluff

Discussion in 'Reading & Writing' started by Joe Riley, Jan 28, 2017.

  1. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2015
    Messages:
    13,934
    Likes Received:
    22,555
    IKE’S BLUFF: PRESIDENT EISENHOWER‘S SECRET BATTLE TO SAVE THE WORLDBy Evan ThomasLittle, Brown and Co., $29.99, 485 pages
    [​IMG]
    "After leaving the White House in 1961, Dwight D. Eisenhower fretted about what future generations would think of his legacy, stating that the peace and prosperity that marked his two terms “didn’t just happen, by God.” But as Evan Thomas writes in his study of the Eisenhower presidency, “[Ike] had trouble articulating just how that had happened. He never could admit that he had kept the peace by threatening all-out war. His all-or-nothing strategy worked brilliantly.”

    "A mystery that will never be resolved to the satisfaction of most historians is whether Eisenhower would have used the U.S. nuclear arsenal in the event of war with the Soviet Union. At one point, Mr. Thomas hedges the answer by writing that “It is likely that Eisenhower had no intention of ever using nuclear weapons, as his closest aide, Andy Goodpaster, believed.”

    "But who can be sure? Ike kept his own counsel on the subject of how to maintain credible deterrence in eight years of incessant confrontation with Moscow. In years of meticulous research, Mr. Thomas found not a person — nor a document — that revealed Ike’s intentions. But Mr. Thomas hints at his own conclusion in the very title of his book “Ike’s Bluff.”
     
    #1
    Bill Boggs likes this.
  2. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2015
    Messages:
    13,934
    Likes Received:
    22,555
    #2
  3. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2015
    Messages:
    55,669
    Likes Received:
    23,294
    That was interesting reading, @Joe Riley . Ike maintained the peace by maintaining a strong defense. I think that would be a good idea for us today.
     
    #3
    Joe Riley likes this.

Share This Page