While there have been many biographies of Dwight D. Eisenhower that focus on his military career or the time of his presidency, none clearly explores the important role faith played both in his personal life and in his public policy. This despite the fact that he is the only US president to be baptized as a Christian while in office.Alan Sears and Craig Osten invite you on a journey that is … that is unique in American history and is essential to understanding one of the most consequential, admired, and complex Americans of the 20th Century. The story begins in abject poverty in rural Texas, then travels through Kansas, West Point, two World Wars, and down Pennsylvania Avenue. This is the untold story of a man whose growing faith sustained him through the loss of a young son, marital difficulties, depression, career disappointments, and being witness to some of the worst atrocities humankind has devised. A man whose faith was based in his own sincere personal conviction, not out of a sense of political expediency or social obligation.
You’ve met Dwight Eisenhower the soldier and Dwight Eisenhower the president. Now meet Dwight Eisenhower the man of faith.
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Dwight Eisenhower is remembered as a man skilled in the arts of both war and peace, a leader whose instinctive civility is sorely missed in an age of bitter political acrimony. Biographers have captured many of Ike’s finest qualities, but they often overlook one of the cornerstones of his character: his guiding faith in a provident God. Alan Sears and Craig Osten have added that final, essential element to our understanding of the man in their superb and engaging book.
The best leaders are those who recognize that they’re not self-sufficient. The bigger the decision, the more we must rely on God for wisdom. Dwight Eisenhower learned that as a general and applied it as a president, quietly seeking insight through prayer, Bible reading, and godly counsel. That’s a recipe for success at any level.
One of the main impacting thoughts I had while reading the book is the fact that every marriage comes to a crossroad where either it will grow stronger from that point or not. The other thought I had was how the Eisenhowers’ lives were not about riches but of service that developed over the course of their lives along with their faith.
It was interesting to note the different paths both of the Eisenhowers walked in their faith and how that changed from one of privacy to one of public. They didn’t proclaim their beliefs from the mountaintop; they first lived it out and lived it well they did. While the book focuses on Ike, one cannot help but be touched his wife’s story too.
I believe the book’s timing is one of providence as today we wrestle with similar issues, facing evil head on, and the wisdom of how marriages can last with faith at the core. While Ike certainly made mistakes, had a temper and other human qualities, Ike allowed himself to question, be molded and of use to God as a leader who lived his faith long before he spoke about his faith.
I think the book reminds us of the devastating affects evil can have on individuals such as the concentration camps, and the death viewed by both Ike and Patton. I was taken aback to read that the scene these men viewed made Patton vomit, which shows us that no one cannot be troubled by the results of evil when allowed to grow.
I think the book too is a reminder of those who have gone before us, what they endured, fought for, learned from and passed on to the next generation. While it is true Ike has been gone for decades, the writings he left behind are instructive in many ways, as well as challenging and encouraging. Ike was a man who loved his family and America, but above all he loved God.
Thanks to the authors and family members of those who were closest to Ike who shared their treasures of legacy, so we can glimpse the man and his soul. May we bear the torch passed to us as well as they did when it was passed on to them!