I had a sociology prof at Penn State who liked to make Eisenhower jokes. Nothing substantial mind you, and I can’t really remember any of them, but the punch line was always something like, “But we still had four more years of Eisenhower.”
I know that the big knock on Eisenhower used to be that he didn’t do anything, and I remember reading an article (I think it was in the New York Times magazine section) back in the 1970s where the author listed all the things that Eisenhower hadn’t done, but which succeeding presidents had, much to the country’s dismay. I’ve tried several times to find that article without success, so I’ll make my own little list.
Eisenhower didn’t
- Escalate a war and then lie about it the American public.
- Interfere with peace negotiations in order to win a presidential election.
- Approve a break-in of a psychiatrist’s office to try to get dirt on a political critic.
- Approve a break-in of a political party’s headquarters to set up an illegal wiretap.
- Pardon a criminal before he could be brought to trial for his misdeeds.
- Illegally sell arms to a foreign country.
- Go to war over faked evidence of weapons of mass destruction.
- Solicit foreign interference in a US election.
- Incite an insurrection.
Just for some random examples.
But it isn’t really true that Ike was a do-nothing president.
He backed and signed the bill that authorized the Interstate Highway System. He created ARPA, the Advanced Research Projects Agency, which in turn created ARPANET, the predecessor to the Internet. And he used federal troops to enforce the integration of the public school system when the bigoted southern Arkansas governor Orval Faubus refused.
Of course, he was responsible for putting Richard Nixon in the Veep spot, thereby boosting Tricky Dick’s national profile, and he didn’t oppose McCarthy’s red-baiting, so it wasn’t all good. And his choice of the brothers John Foster Dulles and Allen Dulles for Secretary of State and the CIA led to some foreign affairs disasters. So I can understand those who might question my rating.
Eisenhower was reluctant to get into politics and no one was really sure whether he was a Democrat or a Republican, but after the war he was wooed by both parties. By early 1952 the wooing by the Republicans had become much more intense, and Ike did believe that Truman’s domestic policies were a disaster.
To persuade Ike of the groundswell in his favor, a group of well-heeled enthusiasts concocted a rather brazen effort to charm the reluctant candidate. On February 8, with an eye on the New Hampshire primary just four weeks away, they staged a rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden to demonstrate the wide base of Eisenhower’s popular appeal. Billed as a “Serenade to Ike,” the affair was organized by John “Tex” McCrary and his stunning wife, the model and actress Jinx Falkenburg, who together had pioneered a number of radio and television talk shows. McCrary was a Texan but had schooled at Exeter and Yale, where he joined the DKE fraternity, was tapped for Skull and Bones, and played football. He was a journalist, editor, and public relations consultant with wealthy friends like fellow Yalie Jock Whitney, who bankrolled the event. McCrary made sure the “Serenade” was broadcast by NBC to radio and television markets in a dozen major cities, though with the time difference, Eisenhower in France was sleeping soundly while the raucous event unfolded.
McCrary used his connections to rope in some of the country’s most famous talent to tout the Ike-for-President movement. Clark Gable, Henry Fonda, Ethel Merman, television hostess Faye Emerson, Noel Coward, and a dozen other high-profile entertainers popped up on the stage. Fred Waring, the universally popular bandleader, acted as emcee for the night and led the audience in songs from the popular Broadway shows South Pacific and The King and I. Merman belted out “There’s No Business Like Show Business” to delirious applause. Irving Berlin crooned a humorous confection called—what else—“I Like Ike” and was joined on stage by a comical Truman look-alike, who received the loud jeers of the crowd. To top it off, the composer Richard Rodgers accompanied singer and Broadway actress Mary Martin in a rendition of “I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy”—the theme of the night.
— The Age of Eisenhower by William I. Hitchcock
Reels of film of the “Serenade” were packed up and flown to Paris where Ike watched them with Mamie at his side. That was the final push that he needed. He was in. He decided to resign from NATO and return to the US to campaign after a crucial round of NATO meetings was wrapped up.
I failed to find those videos on YouTube, but here’s one that gives a short overview of Ike’s time as president: