Ike and Dick: Portrait of a Strange Political Marriage

Frank, Jeffrey

ISBN 10: 1452611173 ISBN 13: 9781452611174

Publisher: Tantor Media Inc, 2013

Synopsis

Richard Nixon was a young Navy officer when he first saw Dwight D. Eisenhower through a storm of tickertape as Manhattan celebrated the end of the war in Europe. Seven years later, Nixon was Eisenhower's running mate on the Republican presidential ticket-the beginning of a political and personal relationship that lasted for nearly twenty years. Despite a gulf that separated them by age and temperament, their association evolved into a collaboration that helped to shape the nation's political ideology, foreign policy, and domestic goals, from civil rights to the civilian space program. Ike and Dick relates much that occurred out of public view, such as the sensitive discussions among senior staffers concerned about Nixon's proper role when Eisenhower suffered illnesses that might have incapacitated him. Based on deep archival research and interviews with dozens of men and women who knew and worked with both men, including family members, it offers fresh views of Nixon, the striving tactician, and the legendary general, a distant man with a warm smile who could, and did, make Nixon's life miserable. In rediscovering the circle that surrounded them and a cast that includes Billy Graham, Senator Joseph McCarthy, Martin Luther King Jr., powerful newspaper columnists, early television personalities, and even the chilly young adman H.R. Haldeman, Ike and Dick provides an intimate view of America during the Cold War and of two men whose influence has never waned.

About this title

Review

"Jeffrey Frank knows a good story when he sees one, or sees two....Ambition and hesitation, intrigue and indifference, scheming and serenity, infuse 31 chapters. His saga evokes the seamy underside of the sunny 1950s.....[A] detailed and charming history."--Martin F. Nolan "The San Francisco Chronicle "

"This is superlative, compelling, can't-put-it-down history. Jeffrey Frank is an elegant writer, with a novelist's eye; the relationship between Eisenhower and Nixon, in all its complexity and weirdness, is a treasure chest that he unpacks brilliantly. This is the perfect time for us to reconsider the trajectory of the Republican Party in the late twentieth century, and this book is a perfect way to do it."--Joe Klein "Time columnist "

""Ike and Dick" is enthralling, innovative, and judicious. It rivets the reader. Jeffrey Frank knows Washington and national politics inside and out. He employs numerous interviews and recently declassified information superbly. In critical respects, and by using their own words with meticulous care, he peels away layers of disingenuousness from both men. The cast of characters, including indiscreet aides, ranges from bright red to shady gray."--Michael Kammen "Pulitzer Prize-winning author and past president of the Organization of American Historians "

A "New York Times Book Review" Editors' Choice

Best Books of 2013: "Slate "Staff Picks

One of Jay Strafford's 10 favorite books of 2013: "Richmond Times-Dispatch"

Best Books of 2013: "Kansas City Star"

Books of the Year: "The Spectator" (Australia)

One of the Eight Best Books for "Potus Geeks in 2013"
One of Jay Strafford s 10 favorite books of 2013: "Richmond Times-Dispatch""

About the Author

Jeffrey Frank is the author of the novels TheColumnist, Bad Publicity, Trudy Hopedale, and The Creep.
Arthur Morey has recorded over two hundred audiobooks in history, fiction, science, business, and religion, earning a number of AudioFile Earphones Awards and two Audie Award nominations. His plays and songs have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Milan, where he has also performed.

About this edition

• Publisher: Tantor Media Inc
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1452611173
• ISBN 13: 9781452611174
• Binding: Audio CD