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Eisenhower 1956

The President's Year of Crisis—Suez and the Brink of War
by David A. Nichols
Eisenhower 1956: The President's Year of Crisis—Suez and the Brink of War. S. & S. 2011. c.336p. photogs. index. ISBN 9781439139332. $28. HIST
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Eisenhower scholar Nichols (A Matter of Justice: Eisenhower and the Beginning of the Civil Rights Revolution) chronicles the biggest international crisis in that President's term: the 1956 Suez Crisis that brought Israel, France, and Britain into armed conflict with Egypt. Readers will appreciate how Eisenhower effectively ran his administration by using financial pressure, the United Nations, and informal discussions with key advisers to push for a resolution. Nichols lays to rest the common misconception that Secretary of State John Foster Dulles ran foreign policy while Eisenhower played golf. It was Eisenhower's leadership that helped bring an end to a conflict that threatened to widen into a larger war but instead developed the Eisenhower Doctrine to contain communism and help countries in the region. During this crisis, Eisenhower also had to deal with the Soviet invasion of Hungary, conduct a reelection campaign, and recuperate from both a heart attack and abdominal surgery. Nichols uses a wide range of sources from secondary materials to oral history interviews and printed primary sources to develop and analyze the captivating buildup of events. VERDICT This book will appeal to both 20th-century presidential history specialists and general presidential history buffs. Recommended.—Bryan Craig, Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville
Eisenhower scholar Nichols (A Matter of Justice: Eisenhower and the Beginning of the Civil Rights Revolution) chronicles the biggest international crisis in that President's term: the 1956 Suez Crisis that brought Israel, France, and Britain into armed conflict with Egypt. Readers will appreciate how Eisenhower effectively ran his administration by using financial pressure, the United Nations, and informal discussions with key advisers to push for a resolution. Nichols lays to rest the common misconception that Secretary of State John Foster Dulles ran foreign policy while Eisenhower played golf. It was Eisenhower's leadership that helped bring an end to a conflict that threatened to widen into a larger war but instead developed the Eisenhower Doctrine to contain communism and help countries in the region. During this crisis, Eisenhower also had to deal with the Soviet invasion of Hungary, conduct a reelection campaign, and recuperate from both a heart attack and abdominal surgery. Nichols uses a wide range of sources from secondary materials to oral history interviews and printed primary sources to develop and analyze the captivating buildup of events.
VERDICT This book will appeal to both 20th-century presidential history specialists and general presidential history buffs. Recommended.—Bryan Craig, Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville
Reviewed by Bryan Craig , Apr 15, 2011
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