Author: D.J. Haycock
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 078641894X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 241
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Book Description
On August 14, 1942, Chief of Staff George C. Marshall appointed General Dwight D. Eisenhower Commander of the European theater of operations for North Africa. Eisenhower had no prior training or experience in warfare and no experience commanding an army. Frequently, he was subjected to unjustifiable interference from Marshall (who was 3,000 miles away from the fighting). This book explores the idea that both Eisenhower and Marshall made too many decisions which were based not on sound military principles, but rather on nationalism and well-intended generosity. Beginning with his appointment and the planning of the invasion of North Africa (codename "TORCH"), this work suggests that Eisenhower's involvement in political situations weakened his effectiveness on the battlefield. One chapter focuses on the poorly organized Allied air command in Algeria and discusses Eisenhower's reluctance to be part of a unified air command. Another records his appointment to the position of Supreme Allied Commander North African Theater of Operations, and also explores Eisenhower's inconsistencies and indecisiveness during the planning of the invasion of Sicily. Chapter Seven covers the much-disputed "DRAGOON" operation--the invasion of Southern France to the detriment of the Italian campaign--and Eisenhower's insistence on "broad front" warfare and resistance to the idea of indirect attack. Much of the book provides detailed insight into the rationale--both sound and questionable--that was behind many of the strategic decisions made by Eisenhower during World War II and suggests that with more experienced leadership, the conclusion could have come much sooner and with fewer casualties.
Author: David Eisenhower
Publisher: Outlet
ISBN: 9780517065013
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 977
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Book Description
Focuses on Eisenhower's conduct of the war and provides an extensively documented analysis of the political ramifications of the course of the war and Eisenhower's decisions
Author: James Ledbetter
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300168829
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 280
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Book Description
In Dwight D. Eisenhower's last speech as president, on January 17, 1961, he warned America about the "military-industrial complex," a mutual dependency between the nation's industrial base and its military structure that had developed during World War II. After the conflict ended, the nation did not abandon its wartime economy but rather the opposite. Military spending has steadily increased, giving rise to one of the key ideas that continues to shape our country's political landscape.In this book, published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of Eisenhower's farewell address, journalist James Ledbetter shows how the government, military contractors, and the nation's overall economy have become inseparable. Some of the effects are beneficial, such as cell phones, GPS systems, the Internet, and the Hubble Space Telescope, all of which emerged from technologies first developed for the military. But the military-industrial complex has also provoked agonizing questions. Does our massive military establishment--bigger than those of the next ten largest combined--really make us safer? How much of our perception of security threats is driven by the profit-making motives of military contractors? To what extent is our foreign policy influenced by contractors' financial interests?Ledbetter uncovers the surprising origins and the even more surprising afterlife of the military-industrial complex, an idea that arose as early as the 1930s, and shows how it gained traction during World War II, the Cold War, and the Vietnam era and continues even today.
Author: Jean Edward Smith
Publisher: Random House Incorporated
ISBN: 140006693X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 977
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Book Description
In his magisterial bestseller "FDR," Smith provided a fresh, modern look at one of the most indelible figures in American history. Now this peerless biographer returns with a new life of Dwight D. Eisenhower that is as full, rich, and revealing as anything ever written about America's 34th president.
Author: Evan Thomas
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0316217271
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 365
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Book Description
Evan Thomas's startling account of how the underrated Dwight Eisenhower saved the world from nuclear holocaust. Upon assuming the presidency in 1953, Dwight Eisenhower set about to make good on his campaign promise to end the Korean War. Yet while Eisenhower was quickly viewed by many as a doddering lightweight, behind the bland smile and simple speech was a master tactician. To end the hostilities, Eisenhower would take a colossal risk by bluffing that he might use nuclear weapons against the Communist Chinese, while at the same time restraining his generals and advisors who favored the strikes. Ike's gamble was of such magnitude that there could be but two outcomes: thousands of lives saved, or millions of lives lost. A tense, vivid and revisionist account of a president who was then, and still is today, underestimated, Ike's Bluff is history at its most provocative and thrilling.
Author: Carlo D'Este
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1627799613
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 1272
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Book Description
The acclaimed biographer presents an intimate and comprehensive portrait of the legendary president and WWII general: “An excellent book.” —The Washington Post Book World Born into hardscrabble poverty in rural Kansas, the son of stern pacifists, Dwight David Eisenhower graduated from high school more likely to teach history than to make it. Yet he went on to become one of America’s most important military leaders. Then, on the wings of victory, the career soldier ascended to the nation’s highest political office. Casting new light on this profound evolution, Carlo D’Este chronicles the unlikely, dramatic rise of the supreme Allied commander. With full access to private papers and letters, D’Este has exposed for the first time the countless myths that have surrounded Eisenhower and his family for over fifty years. In this revealing biography, he identifies the complex and contradictory character behind Ike’s famous grin and air of calm self-assurance.
Author: David A. Nichols
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439139342
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 370
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Book Description
Draws on hundreds of newly declassified documents to present an account of the Suez crisis that reveals the considerable danger it posed as well as the influence of Eisenhower's health problems and the 1956 election campaign.
Author: John J. Pitney, Jr.
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 9780806133829
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 260
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Book Description
Drawing parallels between war and politics, the author explains why military principles can be applied to an understanding of the events, concepts, concerns, issues, and practices of political life.
Author: Kenneth Weisbrode
Publisher: Anthem Press
ISBN: 1783088397
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 112
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Book Description
"Eisenhower and the Art of Collaborative Leadership" examines the theory and practice of collaboration, and collaborative leadership, in the life and career of Dwight Eisenhower. It relates his collaborative style to his ideas about friendship, his Kansas upbringing and his family, his military training and career, and his particular practice of presidential leadership, which operated through teams and a deliberate, sophisticated system of bureaucratic consensus-building. "Eisenhower and the Art of Collaborative Leadership" elaborates an alternative interpretation of such leadership, describing Eisenhower not merely as a “hidden-hand” president, but also as a visible one at the head of a well-managed team. It is a concise portrait of one of America’s most important and talented leaders, and a case study in sound leadership.
Author: Harry Laver
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813173124
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 295
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Book Description
What essential leadership lessons do we learn by distilling the actions and ideas of great military commanders such as George Washington, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Colin Powell? That is the fundamental question underlying The Art of Command: Military Leadership from George Washington to Colin Powell. The book illustrates that great leaders become great through conscious effort—a commitment not only to develop vital skills but also to surmount personal shortcomings. Harry S. Laver, Jeffrey J. Matthews, and the other contributing authors identify nine core characteristics of highly effective leadership, such as integrity, determination, vision, and charisma, and nine significant figures in American military history whose careers embody those qualities. The Art of Command examines each figure’s strengths and weaknesses and how those attributes affected their leadership abilities, offering a unique perspective of military leadership in American history. Laver and Matthews have assembled a list of contributors from military, academic, and professional circles, which allows the book to encompass diverse approaches to the study of leadership.
