John Eisenhower, the son of General Dwight David Eisenhower (Ike) wrote this excellent book about the professional, military, and personal relationships between Ike and important military leaders from the early days of Ike as a young army officer to when he commanded the allied forces in Europe during World War Two. He discusses the military, professional, and personal relationship beginning with an Army General that greatly influenced his life and career General Fox Conner. This is the man that Ike would forever be in gratitude to for his friendship, support, and ideas that Ike would use later on during his army career. John Eisenhower gives the history of General Eisenhower and the leaders as follows: - Early Influences: George S. Patton, Fox Conner, and John J. Pershing. Mr. Eisenhower says that Ike and George Patton were close friends, yet had an exasperating friendship because of Pattons brash personality and passion. Both knew each other during their days at West Point, and had been stationed together over the years. Ike as Supreme Commander had to censure Patton a few times but realized that Patton was the best fighting General the allies had. - Ike and MacArthur: A Study In Contrasts: Ike was MacArthurs Deputy in the Philippines. It was a good working relationship though they didnt have that much in common. MacArthur once said that Ike was the best clerk I ever had. That is typical MacArthur. They didnt spend any time together during World War II since Ike was in Europe and MacArthur was in the Pacific. They did share a love of Army Football and both shared a bond because of it. The rest of the book John Eisenhower shared his thoughts on the relationships between Ike and such leaders as Sir Bernard Law Montgomery. Montgomery was always a thorn in the side of Ike and the rest of the American Generals. He was a difficult man to say the least and a few times almost derailed the important American-British allied relationship because of his vanity and ego. There was always a good relationship between Ike and General George Marshall, they both realized that they agreed on many of the strategies that was needed to defeat NAZI Germany and worked closely together at times to accomplish final victory. I was suprized to read that Ike and Charles De Gaulle had a semi-good relationship during World War II. Ike held his tongue and temper in dealing with De Gaulle (and a lot more with Montgomery). De Gaulle saw himself as the LEADER of France and Ike didnt do anything to countermand De Gaulles assumed leadership. Ike and Sir WInston Churchill had a close enduring friendship and worked together jointly many times to make sure that the Normandy Invasion was a success and the worked towards the goal of Allied Victory in Europe. Of course John Eisenhower goes into much more detail and history in his book. This review would be much to long to get into the specific history of the leaders and their working relationship and friendship with Ike. In this great read the author doesnt call Ike Dad or his mother Mom, but Mamie this helps distance the reader from the personal feelings the author had and it contributes greatly to the impartiality of the author. This is a MUST READ to any scholar, historian, or enthusiast of World War II. The author gives the great history of the high allied command and the history and relationships between these leaders during World War II. This book was published in 2003, and John Eisenhower recently passed away (2014). I am grateful that he wrote this book and it contributes greatly to the published history of World War II. A GREAT READ!
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 01:31:42 +0000
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