Works about Ike, Doolittle offer informative reads

President Dwight D. Eisenhower

I recently completed reading two engaging books — a biography and an autobiography — that I enjoyed and wish to offer a few comments about them.

The first was a biography about President Dwight David Eisenhower, and the second was autobiography produced by General James “Jimmy” Doolittle. 

Jean Edward Smith’s “Eisenhower in War and Peace” (Random House, 2012) is a thorough work about Ike, and a fine addition to the body of work about his service as supreme allied commander in Europe during World War II and his terms as President. 

Smith offers a good account of Eisenhower’s early years and devotes a large portion of the book to Eisenhower’s military career, particularly his years directing the war in Europe. Students of World War II history will find the time spent with this section of the book rewarding.

I particularly enjoyed Smith’s work on Eisenhower as president. Smith presents a principled political and world leader deeply involved in the key decisions of his administration, despite serious health problems. 

General histories of the 1950s and ‘60s typically portray Eisenhower as a pleasant but benignly neglectful president, particularly when compared to the younger, more energetic John Kennedy. Smith’s work compels the reader to question such a simplistic view of Eisenhower and asserts that Eisenhower was as successful as any recent American president, but far less dramatic than most. It is a valuable point.

General James "Jimmy' Doolittle

Doolittle’s “I Could Never Be So Lucky Again” (Bantam Books) was published in 1991 and was sitting on my bookshelf for many years. I started reading it as I was nearing the completion of the Eisenhower biography. I can’t explain what led me to pick it up now, after neglecting it for many years. That was my loss. I learned much about Doolittle, including details of his formative years in Alaska, where he was raised as a boy. 

Doolittle spends a fair amount of time recounting his legendary raid on Tokyo and other Japanese cities in April of 1942, and it’s fascinating stuff. He also commits a good portion of his book to his years as commander of America’s Eighth Air Force, leading the bombing campaign against Nazi Germany. Much of this was new material to me, although I have read other books about the allied air offensive in Europe. 

An interesting item of candor from Doolittle is his inclusion of the poor relations he shared with Eisenhower, his overall commander in the European Theater.  He attributes the poor relations to professional disagreements, but acknowledges that many believed they were rooted in a personal dispute.

I don’t often comment about books, but I can endorse these two, even to readers who do not have a deep interest in either World War II or presidential politics. 

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