Offered without comment, other than to observe that Eisenhower was no big-government liberal. But he also was not a kook.
Now it is true that I believe this country is following a dangerous trend when it permits too great a degree of centralization of governmental functions. I oppose this–in some instances the fight is a rather desperate one. But to attain any success it is quite clear that the Federal government cannot avoid or escape responsibilities which the mass of the people firmly believe should be undertaken by it. The political processes of our country are such that if a rule of reason is not applied in this effort, we will lose everything–even to a possible and drastic change in the Constitution. This is what I mean by my constant insistence upon “moderation” in government. Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.
–Dwight D. Eisenhower, to Edgar Newton Eisenhower, November 8, 1954
(Ike was president of Columbia intermittently from 1948 to 1953.)
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p>Add him to Jeffrey Sachs and Eric Foner among those recently featured on BMG.
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p>What is Harvard University doing with its time?
I’m not sure it’s fair to assign credit for Ike to Columbia. He was educated at West Point, and his brief presidency at Columbia “was described as not being a good fit in either direction,” according to Wikipedia.
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p>Harvard, of course, has Larry Summers (Ph.D. 1982, faculty 1983-present, president 2001-06). So there’s that.
Thanks for posting this, David. Ike was no fool. yestrday I happened to see a CSpan rebroadcast of Ike’s farewell address to the nation in which he warns against foreign entanglements. Today’s Administration, House and Senate members would do well to listen to and heed the advice Eisenhower gave us. It would surely make a difference today.
And no pacificst or socialist either. Yet —
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p>
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p>Chance for Peace Speech
American Society of Newspaper Editors
April 16,1953
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p>The first time my parents voted in a presidential election, they voted for Eisenhower. The last time they voted in one, they voted for Obama.
Though my grandfather would beat me up since he was a big Stevenson fan, and he would’ve voted for Stevenson a third time but felt “Kennedy’s a winner and we need one of us in there for a change”. But history has shown that Eisenhower is the picture perfect example of a moderately liberal sensible leader. He continued the safety net of the New Deal, attached sensible and significant investments in national education, national infrastructure, and health care in the name of national security. The first and until Obama, only President to successfully run on an anti-war platform, and unlike Obama he ended the war he inherited. Rolled back the extremism of the anti-communists in his own party, enforced the law and used the might of the federal government far more than Truman or JFK did to enforce civil rights, he supported and enforced Brown v Board when it was nationally unpopular even in the North. He appointed several liberals and moderates to the Supreme Court who would go on to be distinguished including Earl Warren, Potter Stewart, and William Brennan. He advised Kennedy not to fight a land war in Asia and get us dragged into Vietnam and he warned him that the Dulles brothers had a terrible plan for Cuba. A foreign policy genius, domestic policy stalwart, and probably one of our most underrated Presidents. Also a true intellectual which few people then or today recognize either. Republicans like Ike, Nelson Rockefeller, Charles Mathis, Lowell Weicker, Bill Schweiker, Barry Goldwater, John Heinz, Mark Hatfield, Gerald Ford, Howard Baker, Nancy Kassenbaum, and more recently Jim Leach and Mike Castle are no longer welcome in their own party. Kassenbaum gave way to Brownback, Castle to O’Donnell. Only Dick Lugar is left as a respectable Republican in Congress, and occasionally Tom Coburn (at least he is realistic on the budget, and his personal friendship with Obama makes him more civil than most of his peers).
Eisenhower did later declare that appointing Warren and Brennan to the Supreme Court were his two biggest mistakes.
I had heard that before about Warren but was told by a history prof that it was unattributed and part of the broader ‘dump Warren’ movement amongst Birchers and Goldwaterites in the early 60s, but I’ll take your word for it. I also never had heard that about Brennan, though I did read he had a far more conservative record for a Northeast Democrat before he came to the court (mostly on law and order issues), kinda like a Souter in a lot of ways. Well while Ike might have regretted those appointments they are positive accomplishments of his time in office, along with the many other proposals he more actively favored and never regretted.
and he did away with price controls đŸ™‚
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p>Great Stephen E. Ambrose biography of him Eisenhower: Soldier and President
Embarrassed Republicans Admit They’ve Been Thinking Of Eisenhower Whole Time They’ve Been Praising Reagan
As The Onion is wont to do every so often, that article hits the nail on the head, hard. Most of the time they’re just full of silly stuff, but sometimes you get a real biting article like this. Awesome.
He bluffed the Chinese out of the Korea game with the quiet threat of a nuclear ace. Before he was candidate for president he was wooed by both parties. He didn’t owe them anything. They wanted him and this gave him strength and standing. Something we don’t see today.
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p>When he accepted the Republican nomination they hadn’t seen the Whitehouse in twenty years. He could write his own ticket. And he did. When Britain, France and Israel invaded Egypt and called Ike to bail them out he let them stew in their own failure.
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p>He wasn’t perfect. but for the most part he played his own cards.
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p>“Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels – men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.” –Dwight D. Eisenhower
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p>“You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away, know when to run
You never count your money, when you’re sittin’ at the table
There’ll be time enough for countin’, when the dealin’s done.” –Don Schlitz, Jr. The Gambler