Sublime

Eisenhower was in charge. He not only set the tone, but made the major decisions.

In 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower returned from his inaugural parade and entered the White House for the first time as president late in the evening. As he walked into the Executive Mansion, his chief usher handed Eisenhower two letters marked “Confidential and Secret” that had been sent to him earlier in the day. Eisenhower’s reaction was swift: “Neve

Six years before we installed it, I experimented with the moving final assembly line which is now the crowning touch of American mass production. Before the eyes of Henry Ford, I worked out on a blackboard the figures that became the basis for his $5 day and the overwhelming proof of the present economic truism that high wages beget lower-priced ma

Ford knew when to give praise when it was due and when to make fair criticism when that was due. These are two of the strongest attributes of wise leadership, particularly when dealing with the imaginative and creative personalities so much needed in industry.

On the very day in 1931 on which he had been appointed to his new job, he had begun planning to leave it. To Ella So Relle’s congratulations on that day, he had replied that the post of congressional secretary was only “a stepping stone”—only the bottom rung on the political ladder he was so anxious to climb. Now, however, it was 1935—and he was st

During the court fight over the contested election, Rauh recalls, “Corcoran called to get me on the defense team and said, ‘This wonderful congressman …’ In [Abe] Fortas’ office these people were talking about what a great man we were defending. I just sort of automatically assumed it.… But it soon became clear that Johnson was not the shining knig

Eisenhower had served much of his military career in Europe and Asia, and understood the elemental forces at work there. The Middle East was terra incognita, and Ike initially accepted the advice of diplomatic and intelligence professionals who tended to see Communists lurking on every street corner.

Unlike his successors who went to academia for their national security advisers, Eisenhower did not need foreign policy advice.