Ike and Dick : portrait of a strange political marriage

An absorbing account of “the most intriguing—and dysfunctional—political marriage in history” (The New York Times Book Review, front page review). One of the most acclaimed political biographies of our time, Jeffrey Frank’s Ike and Dick takes you inside the strained and complex relationship of two fascinating American leaders—hailed as “top-drawer as political history" (Russell Baker, The New York Review of Books) and “one of the best books ever written about Richard Nixon” (Thomas Mallon, The New Yorker). For nearly twenty years, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon shared a political and private association that deeply affected both men and their turbulent era. In a work of “compelling can’t-put-it-down history” (Joe Klein, Time columnist) filled with “marvelously cringe-inducing anecdotes” (The Wall Street Journal), Frank reveals sides of the two that you’ve never seen. He offers fresh views of the striving, uneasy young Nixon and of Eisenhower, the legendary commander in failing health, far more comfortable with international affairs than with problems besetting the United States. Behind the scenes and beyond the headlines, Ike and Dick, informed by deep archival research and dozens of interviews, provides a captivating look at the presidency and the nation. It will become essential reading for generations of Americans. A groundbreaking narrative of the relationship between Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixonfrom the politics that divided them to the marriage that united their families. D wight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon had a political and private relationship that lasted nearly twenty years, a tie that survived hurtful slights, tense misunderstandings, and the distance between them in age and temperament. Yet the two men brought out the best and worst in each other, and their association had important consequences for their respective presidencies. In Ike and Dick, Jeffrey Frank rediscovers these two compelling figures with the sensitivity of a novelist and the discipline of a historian. He offers a fresh view of the younger Nixon as a striving tactician, as well as the ever more perplexing person that he became. He portrays Eisenhower, the legendary soldier, as a cold, even vain man with a warm smile whose sound instincts about war and peace far outpaced his understanding of the changes occurring in his own country. Eisenhower and Nixon shared striking high intelligence, cunning, and an aversion to confrontation, especially with each other. Ike and Dick, informed by dozens of interviews and deep archival research, traces the path of their relationship in a dangerous world of recurring crises as Nixons ambitions grew and Eisenhower was struck by a series of debilitating illnesses. And, as the 1968 election cycle approached and the war in Vietnam roiled the country, it shows why Eisenhower, mortally ill and despite his doubts, supported Nixons final attempt to win the White House, a change influenced by a family his grandson Davids courtship of Nixons daughter Julieteenagers in love who understood the political stakes of their union.

Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon had a political and private relationship that lasted nearly twenty years, a tie that survived hurtful slights, tense misunderstandings, and the distance between them in age and temperament. Yet the two men brought out the best and worst in each other, and their association had important consequences for their respective presidencies.

In Ike and Dick, Jeffrey Frank rediscovers these two compelling figures with the sensitivity of a novelist and the discipline of a historian. He offers a fresh view of the younger Nixon as a striving tactician, as well as the ever more perplexing person that he became. He portrays Eisenhower, the legendary soldier, as a cold, even vain man with a warm smile whose sound instincts about war and peace far outpaced his understanding of the changes occurring in his own country.

Eisenhower and Nixon shared striking characteristics: high intelligence, cunning, and an aversion to confrontation, especially with each other. Ike and Dick, informed by dozens of interviews and deep archival research, traces the path of their relationship in a dangerous world of recurring crises as Nixon’s ambitions grew and Eisenhower was struck by a series of debilitating illnesses. And, as the 1968 election cycle approached and the war in Vietnam roiled the country, it shows why Eisenhower, mortally ill and despite his doubts, supported Nixon’s final attempt to win the White House, a change influenced by a family matter: his grandson David’s courtship of Nixon’s daughter Julie—teenagers in love who understood the political stakes of their union.

D wight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon had a political and private relationship that lasted nearly twenty years, a tie that survived hurtful slights, tense misunderstandings, and the distance between them in age and temperament. Yet the two men brought out the best and worst in each other, and their association had important consequences for their respective presidencies. In Ike and Dick, Jeffrey Frank rediscovers these two compelling figures with the sensitivity of a novelist and the discipline of a historian. He offers a fresh view of the younger Nixon as a striving tactician, as well as the ever more perplexing person that he became. He portrays Eisenhower, the legendary soldier, as a cold, even vain man with a warm smile whose sound instincts about war and peace far outpaced his understanding of the changes occurring in his own country. Eisenhower and Nixon shared striking characteristics: high intelligence, cunning, and an aversion to confrontation, especially with each other. Ike and Dick, informed by dozens of interviews and deep archival research, traces the path of their relationship in a dangerous world of recurring crises as Nixon's ambitions grew and Eisenhower was struck by a series of debilitating illnesses. And, as the 1968 election cycle approached and the war in Vietnam roiled the country, it shows why Eisenhower, mortally ill and despite his doubts, supported Nixon's final attempt to win the White House, a change influenced by a family matter: his grandson David's courtship of Nixon's daughter Julie—teenagers in love who understood the political stakes of their union. For nearly twenty years, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon shared a political and private association that deeply affected both men and their turbulent era. In a work of "compelling can't-put-it-down history" (Joe Klein, Time columnist) filled with "marvelously cringe-inducing anecdotes" (The Wall Street Journal), Frank reveals sides of the two that you've never seen. He offers fresh views of the striving, uneasy young Nixon and of Eisenhower, the legendary commander in failing health, far more comfortable with international affairs than with problems besetting the United States. Behind the scenes and beyond the headlines, Ike and Dick, informed by deep archival research and dozens of interviews, provides a captivating look at the presidency and the nation. It will become essential reading for generations of Americans. --Provided by publisher A groundbreaking narrative of the relationship between Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon--from the politics that divided them to the marriage that united their families. Despite being separated by age and temperament, their association evolved into a collaboration that helped to shape the nation's political ideology, foreign policy, and domestic goals Examines the relationship between Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, from the politics that divided them to the marriage that united their families. Despite being separated by age and temperament, their association evolved into a collaboration that helped to shape the nation's political ideology, foreign policy, and domestic goals.