May 26 2008
Ike
I received a request… and I’m going to try to honor it.
As far as political goodnesses…how ’bout a Memorial Day tribute to Ike?
Well, today is Memorial Day, so let’s do this.
General Eisenhower had a long and storied career. He was appointed in charge of Allied forces in World War 2, which he then parlayed into a Presidential bid in 1952. From there, he did three things that would change this country forever:
- He created the Interstate Highway system.
- He forced the integration of Little Rock High School.
- He was the first President to articulate the “Domino Theory” approach to foreign policy.
That’s right - as if it wasn’t enough that he organized D-Day, he also overhauled our transportation system and enforced Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka. In short, he became the first President to do something for Civil Rights since Ulysses S. Grant (another former General and Republican, interestingly enough).
Unlike Patton, Eisenhower was not a line commander - he never commaneded at the front and only came under fire once in World War 2. Where Eisenhower excelled was logistics - as so many have said before, battles are won in the trenches, but wars are won in the supply lines. He was also one heck of a diplomat, juggling successfully the egos of Montgomery, Patton, Bradley, and even the Soviets, harnessing them towards the end goal of defeating Germany and Japan.
Consequently, I cannot think of a better man to honor today than Ike.
“I like Ike!” was Indiana Jone’s comeback line to his upteenth Soviet captors. The “Crystal Skull” movie was so-so and Indy kept getting captured by the Soviets over and over and over again.
Ahh, the good old days when an ex-military republican could still be human… Of course, I think McCain is older than Ike by a century or two, so there goes my theory.