Ulysses S. Grant, leading general in the Civil War and subsequent president of the United States during reconstruction. He was a brilliant military leader but suffered from alcoholism which limited his performance. This is a five star biography and a must read.
Garfield
Garfield was elected President of the United States after Hayes but he only served as president for a few months when he was shot by an assassin in the train station in Washington, D.C. He survived the shooting only to die a few months later of infection. He had great potential. Four stars.
McKinley
William McKinley, the 25th President of the United State, was assassinated in office by a lone gunman. McKinley served one term in office and established the United States as an imperial power, before he was gunned down. He led the United States to victory in the Spanish American War and acquired the Philippines and Hawaii in the Pacific. Four stars and an excellent biography.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt is rated as one of the best presidents we have ever had. He led us out of the Great Depression and provided the winning leadership for the major part of World War II. He is the only president of the United States to serve for more than two terms but he died in the early months of his fourth term in April 1945. A five star biography.
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt when he died unexpectedly in 1945. Truman was not prepared to assume the presidency but he followed his characteristics of integrity, hard work, and honesty to become one of the more respected presidents of the United States. He set up the Berlin Airlift and led the country through the Korean War. This is a four star biography and a must read.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Executive Summary
Born in Texas but raised in Kansas, Dwight D. Eisenhower was a well-recognized and promoted military officer in World War II who later became the 34th president of the United States for two terms, from 1953 to 1961. Ike, as he was known to most of his friends, graduated from West Point in 1915 and began his lifetime career as an officer in the United States Army.
Ike married Mamie Doud from Denver, Colorado in 1916. Mamie was not well-educated, but she was from an affluent family, charming and good-looking. She had some set-backs but became a good Army wife, supporting him throughout his army and presidential career. They had two sons. Little Ikey, died at a young age and second son, John, grew up to be a West Point graduate supporting his father throughout his life.
Ike gained early recognition in the Army for his organizational skills and his ability to articulate solutions for complex ideas. He reported to General Douglas MacArthur who took a liking to him and transferred with him to the Philippines where he was Chief of Staff. Ike learned a lot about the Philippines during his tour there.
On December 7, 1941, Ike and Mamie were just getting settled into their new post in San Antonio, Texas, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and World War II started in the Pacific, quickly followed by a declaration of war in Europe.
Ike was called to Washington where he was assigned to lead the development of the plan to conduct World War II. Ike reported to George C. Marshall in Washington, Chief of Staff of the Army, and he soon became known to Franklin D. Roosevelt, the president of the United States. Mentally honest and with great moral courage, Ike was up to any task the government gave him,
Marshall became convinced that Eisenhower was ready to take over the War Plans Division (G3). The Army was reorganized under three forces: Air, Ground, and Supply. Ike was promoted to Major General and he became not only Chief of the War Planning group but Marshall’s deputy for the disposition of all army forces on a global scale.
In his new job, it was Ike’s responsibility to translate FDR’s strategy into a war plan against Hitler. Ike’s initial plan called for a cross-channel invasion of France from England.
Eisenhower was not happy with progress with U.S. forces in England. General Marshall assigned him and General Mark Clark to go to London to evaluate the situation. Clark and Eisenhower arrived there on May 26, 1942. Kay Summersby, a British driver, met them and she developed a relationship with Eisenhower throughout his term in Europe. When the war ended, they parted, and Ike returned to Washington and Mamie.
On his trip report, Ike indicated that the current leadership in Europe was lacking. Marshall told Eisenhower to draft a memo outlining the duties of a Supreme Allied Commander in Europe–A plan to prepare for and carry out military operations in the European Theater. On June 11, 1942, after getting FDR’s approval, Ike was named the Supreme Commander.
Ike and his staff planned and executed D-Day, the largest amphibious landing the world had ever seen. D-Day was scheduled for June 5, but weather moved in preventing the kind of air support that Ike required. He pushed the invasion back by 24 hours. Ike’s weather man predicted that the climate would turn favorable late on the fifth of June and last through the next day. Ike made the decision to “Go”.
Shortly after midnight on June 6, 1944, American paratroopers began landing on the flanks of the Allied invasion in Normandy, France. At 3 a.m. British and American bombers began their raids on the coastal defense. Over 13,000 sorties were launched. Next, Admiral Ramsay’s fleets opened with an offshore bombardment. A total of 6,483 ships steamed towards the beaches. At 0630 the American First Army under General Omar Bradley came ashore at Utah and Omaha beaches. An hour later, the British Second Army invaded Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches. A total of 132,000 troops came ashore that day.
The fighting in Normandy lasted 75 days. Germany lost 500,000 men killed, wounded, or captured and the Allies had lost 200,000. Allies quickly replaced their losses, Germans could not replace their losses.
Ike and his Allied forces continued into Germany somewhat in competition with Soviet Forces for the control of Berlin. Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945; Hitler committed suicide on April 30 and the Germans surrendered on May 7, 1945.
Ike returned to Washington after the War and held positions as Chief of Staff of the Army, President of Columbia University, and Supreme Commander of NATO. In 1952 he ran for President of the United States as a Republican and defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson.
Eisenhower served two terms as President. The American people took Eisenhower for what they wanted an American to be–fresh, strong, decent, and generous. He was likeable, had a marvelous smile, and spoke off-the-cuff with conviction, passion, and persuasion. He was a great example of American values and family virtues. The American people loved this war hero, the first since Ulysses S. Grant.
Eisenhower’s greatest achievement as President was the passage of legislation which authorized the Interstate Highway System. The highway system was the largest public works project ever attempted. Ike sold the country and Congress on the need for the vast system based on the need to move industrial products across the nation in the event of war with the Communists.
Ike proposed that the highway system be funded by a gasoline tax. The tax was initially 4 cents per gallon of gasoline, but it is now 18.4 cents per gallon. Today the highway system covers 46,876 miles and contains 55,512 bridges and 14,756 interchanges.
All the highways and bridges need repair as of writing this report in 2018.
In America, in the Deep South, “separate but equal” had been the policy which allowed for segregation of black citizens in schools, restaurants, and churches. Blacks in the South were required to ride in “the back of the bus.”
In 1954, the Supreme Court, in a decision written by Chief Justice Earl Warren, declared that racial segregation was a denial of “equal protection under the law.” The now-famous case of Brown vs. The Board of Education expressed for the first time that a new series of racial equality laws was now the law of the land. The Eisenhower administration expressed their belief that school segregation was unconstitutional.
In Little Rock, Arkansas, 1957, the school segregation issue came to a head. When nine black students persisted in their determination to integrate the Little Rock High School, Governor Faubus called out the national guard, citing his fear of violence as the reason. The Guard was there to prevent harm to citizens, the Governor said.
The president disagreed and ordered General Maxwell Taylor to lead the 101st Airborne and to use force in Little Rock if necessary. Ike offered no conditions. “the black students will be admitted to Central High using whatever force may be necessary.”
Eisenhower spoke to the nation and appealed to the “decent” people of Arkansas to support the rule of law. Using his 101st Airborne forces allowed the nine students to enter the school and desegregation of American schools to continue. “Thus, will be restored the image of America and all its parts as one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon for the presidency in the 1960 election by a small margin. Kennedy carried 303 electoral votes to Nixon’s 219 votes but with only a 112,000-vote margin in the popular vote.
In a farewell address in January 1961, Eisenhower warned the nation about the dangers of the military industrial complex. “The dangers of a disastrous rise of misplaced power exists.” The U.S. must avoid becoming a nation of fear and hate and instead be a nation of mutual trust and respect.
The Eisenhowers retired to their farm at Gettysburg. Ike was restored to permanent five-star rank. He concentrated on writing his memoirs. On March 27, 1969, Ike instructed his son to remove him from life-support devices.
Ike was still considered one of the most admired men in America.
John F. Kennedy
TBD
Lyndon B Johnson
Richard M. Nixon
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan rose from the ranks as movie star in Hollywood to President of the United States. He is given credit for starting the conservative movement in U.S. politics. He urged the Soviets to tear down the wall that divided East from West Berlin and he is credited with the U.S. winning the Cold War although the actual event took place later. A four star biography.