Dwight D. Eisenhower: The American Presidents Series: The 34th President, 1953-1961

An American icon and hero faces a nation-and a world-in transition

A bona-fide American hero at the close of World War II, General Dwight Eisenhower rode an enormous wave of popularity into the Oval Office seven years later. Though we may view the Eisenhower years through a hazy lens of 1950s nostalgia, historians consider his presidency one of the least successful. At home there was civil rights unrest, McCarthyism, and a deteriorating economy; internationally, the Cold War was deepening. But despite his tendency toward "brinksmanship," Ike would later be revered for "keeping the peace." Still, his actions and policies at the onset of his career, covered by Tom Wicker, would haunt Americans of future generations.


About the Author

For over thirty years, Tom Wicker covered American politics at The New York Times, where he began writing the Times's In the Nation column. He was the author of several books, including One of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream and JFK & LBJ, as well as two novels.

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., was arguably the preeminent political historian of our time. For more than half a century, he has been a cornerstone figure in the intellectual life of the nation and a fixture on the political scene. He served as special assistant to John F. Kennedy; won two Pulitzer Prizes for The Age of Jackson (1946) and A Thousand Days (1966); and in 1998 received the National Humanities Medal. He published the first volume of his autobiography, A Life in the Twentieth Century, in 2000.