Comments on: Do This! Do That! And Nothing Will Happen…Why Obama Should Not Have Given Tuesday’s Speech

By: Matthew Dickinson

Matthew Dickinson — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 01:44:44 +0000

Dale – A very astute observation. As you note, Eisenhower’s reputation has risen since Neustadt first wrote Presidential Power in 1960, partly in response to the opening of archives that demonstrate that Eisenhower was much more of hands-on president than contemporary accounts suggested. Also, eight years of peace and relative prosperity began to look a great deal more impressive after Vietnam, the stagflation of the 1970′s, and budget deficits of the 1980′s.

Neustadt took account of this new information, and in the last edition of Presidential Power, which came out in 1990, he included a case study that positively appraised Eisenhower’s handling of the French request to intervene on their behalf at Dien Bien Phu. For Neustadt, Eisenhower drew on his knowledge of military tactics to avoid allowing the U.S. to be sucked into a land war in Asia. So he did reappraise Eisenhower’s performance somewhat, although he remained convinced that Eisenhower was slow on civil rights and not quick enough to take on McCarthy.

By: Dale Steinacker

Dale Steinacker — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 00:57:18 +0000

I remember reading Truman’s comment about Eisenhower in Neustadt’s Presidential Power in my freshman year at college (1963). At the time it made sense to me. But, I have noticed that the assessment of Presidents usually changes with time, some go up and others go down.
Eisenhower’s reputation seems to have been on a generally upward curve over the years. We now know that he preferred to work behind the scenes and let others be out front. Apparently the avuncular old man concerned about his golf game was a carefully crafted image.
Also, Eisenhower worked in a variety of very political environments before he became President. He once worked for Douglas MacArthur and, during World War II; he dealt with FDR, Churchill, Montgomery, Patton, De Gaulle and all kinds of political situations. Truman’s view that Eisenhower was a political naïf is kind of hard to believe.
I have often wondered if Professor Neustadt’s view of Eisenhower changed over the years, and would be interested in knowing if he ever discussed that.

By: Jack Goodman

Jack Goodman — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:37:20 +0000

Matt, not only should he not have given the speech; it will cost him dearly politically. What ever happened to a “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste.”

And you are right; his body language was awful and all the media, left and right picked up on that immediately.

Will he get by this, or will it be an Iran Contra or a Katrina for him?